The Matchmaker's Replacement - Rachel Van Dyken Page 0,96
“Also, man, can you please address her shoe situation? She looks homeless.”
“I am homeless!” I shouted.
“No, you live here.” Ian smiled. “Across the hall from your boyfriend.”
I beamed. I couldn’t help it.
Ian rolled his eyes. “Okay, stop looking so happy.”
We stepped outside together.
“A limo?” Lex frowned. “Wait, has that been here the whole time?”
Ian burst out laughing. “I honestly thought it would take hours to get you to admit you loved her. Hours! And then you go and handle it all like a man, ruining everything. You’re supposed to be fighting your feelings, not planning your wedding! I thought you’d either bail or finally admit that you loved her, not threaten me.” Ian rolled his eyes. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m still mad as hell, but . . . if it’s a match, it’s a match, right?”
“Right.” Lex breathed out a heavy sigh as his hand found mine. “Now, why is there a limo? You getting hitched?”
Ian shrugged. “Not now. Besides, I have news about Gabs’s dad.”
The driver opened the door. Blake was already sitting in the limo. I appreciated the fact that as a total tomboy she was wearing basically the same thing I was, minus the Uggs. Though she had on the ugliest rubber flip-flops I’d ever seen. Apparently Ian always hid them, but she found them every time. He’d finally given up.
“Hey!” Blake handed me a glass of champagne. It felt good to see her. During volleyball season it seemed like we were just passing ships. “That didn’t take long.”
“Yeah, well . . .” I scooted in next to her and drank from my glass. “Apparently Ian thought he was going to have to convince Lex of his feelings.”
“But”—Lex barreled into the car and took a seat next to me—“I’m a fast learner, genius and all that, so I already knew I loved her.”
Ian jumped in and slammed the door. “You guys ready?”
“Ready for what? And what does this have to do with my dad?” I asked.
“Lex and I will be in charge of hiring.”
“Hiring?” Lex’s eyebrows shot up. “Okay, what exactly are we hiring for?”
Ian grinned. “You’ll see.”
We drove a few miles until we hit downtown Seattle. We stopped near the Amazon campus and walked a block until we came face-to-face with a giant black skyscraper.
A sign in front said, “Office space available.” And across the sign it said, “Sold.”
“Ian?” Lex said. “Help me out.”
“Facebook offered ten.” Ian sighed. “Match offered twelve.”
“For the building?” I guessed.
Ian turned. “Nope. For Wingmen Inc.”
“Really?” Lex’s eyes narrowed. “And as partner you didn’t tell me?”
“Didn’t have to.” Ian sobered. “Hacking’s your drug. Working for the man is the last thing you want for your life, especially since you have a good thing going. Microsoft can suck my ass.”
They high-fived.
Men.
“So we’re moving the business into this office?” I asked. “Isn’t that really expensive?”
Both Lex and Ian grinned.
“What? What am I missing?”
“Sunshine . . .” Lex grabbed my hand. “Our app alone is worth more than eight million dollars, not including Wingmen Inc. and our software, if we expand.”
“Eight,” I repeated, “million?”
“We’ll need to hire a team. Gabi’s dad doesn’t take shit from anyone.” Ian looked between us. “And since Lex is still living, they clearly get along. I already texted him his starting salary and signing bonus.” Ian swallowed. “Your mom called five minutes later, yelling in Spanish, and then she cried.”
Tears filled my eyes. “Sounds like Mom.”
“So . . .” Ian gripped Blake’s hand, then brought it to his lips to kiss her knuckles. “What do you girls say? Work for us when you graduate?”
We both laughed.
“What?” Ian frowned.
“Can my signing bonus be Pirate’s Booty?” I asked.
“Oooo, that’s a good idea!” Blake agreed with an evil chuckle.
Ian rolled his eyes. “You’ll have to take that up with HR.”
“Damn HR, damn yellow tape!” I argued with a laugh while Lex pulled me in for a hug. “What do you think?”
“Me?” Lex’s mouth found mine. “I think I want to buy you a car that can go more than one mile without dying. I think I want to be by your side until you kick me to the curb for being clingy. I’ve loved you for a long time . . . I’ll continue to love you even longer.”
My eyes filled with tears as Blake sighed heavily next to me.
But then fighting broke out as Blake smacked Ian. “You need to learn to say lines like that!”
“I’m romantic!” Ian argued. “Last week I bought you flowers!”