Page 46 of Easy Out

“Matt never said anything?” I don’t want to know the answer to my question. If Matt has been running his mouth, it would take all three of them to keep me in my seat. Nash shakes his head.

“Not until recently.”

“What does that mean?” I bark.

“Chill, Hart.” I glare at Koa. Like he would be chill if we swapped Sydney’s name with Lauren’s. Yeah, he’s not fooling anyone. One day I will get to the bottom of that, but I have my own issues right now.

“He asked me about the girl from the club at practice last week. I blew him off. Told him there were lots of girls at The Warehouse that night.” Damn it. I thought my talk with him would have been enough.

“Text her,” Wyatt advises. “Focus on her. Not him. He would be a dumb fuck to mess with her if the two of you were together.” Did Wyatt just give good advice? “I know. Sometimes I surprise myself.”

After scrubbing a hand through my curly hair, I pick up my phone and stare at our text thread. There isn’t much besides setting up our work sessions. I tried sparking up conversations a few times, but she wasn’t very receptive.

“If you don’t say something, I’m going to do it for you,” Wyatt says. I don’t think so.

ME

Hi.

Wyatt leans over and reads the text. “That’s the best you got, Romeo? You need to flirt with her.”

“You’re a terrible flirt.”

“A bullshit.”

My phone pings before I can correct him.

LAUREN

Hi.

ME

What are you doing?

LAUREN

Why are you asking what you already know?

My eyes snap to Koa. “Asshole.” He just laughs. I’ll get him back when it’s his time.

ME

Am I interrupting?

LAUREN

No. We’re on a break. My hands start cramping after a few hours.

ME

A few hours? How long does it take?

LAUREN

Depends. Today’s style, about 8 hours. I’m almost done.

ME

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