Page 22 of Hello Tease

I could feel eyes on me and glanced over to see Fletcher watching me.

“You okay?” he asked.

I let out a heavy breath as I passed him my phone. He swiped through, his eyebrows raising. Then he cringed.

“What?” I asked.

He flipped the phone my way to show me a lewd GIF Garth sent.

“That fucker,” I muttered.

Fletcher looked at the screen again. “Why didn’t you call dibs?”

I rolled my eyes at my brother.

“We all know you’re interested. Plus, you look like you want to punch someone over some locker room talk.”

“Of course I’m interested. Have you seen her?” I shook my head. “But she’s fresh out of a divorce. I wanted to give her space, a chance to settle into town.”

Fletcher handed me my phone back. “Garth’s not giving her space. He’s getting as close as he possibly can.”

I nearly broke my phone in half.

He laughed.

“Fuck you too.”

He reached beside the couch, getting a throw blanket and settling it over his lap. “Why don’t you just text Garth and tell him to fuck off? Or heck, go to Twisters and stake your claim. Make a move.”

“I can’t leave the kids here when I’m supposed to be babysitting.”

Fletcher coughed and mumbled something that sounded a heck of a lot like “friend zoned.”

“Oh no.” I stood up, pacing my living room floor. “I amnotgetting friend zoned.”

“Uh huh,” Fletcher replied. He sat back like he wished he had some popcorn. Ignoring him, I continued my trajectory back and forth in front of the coffee table.

“I just have to ask her out tonight, right?”

“After Garth’s put his greasy mitts all over her and given her enough free drinks to ease her inhibitions, right?” Fletcher asked.

“We might be grown, but I’m not above roughing you up,” I replied, only half joking.

Fletcher laughed. “Look, you just...”

But I didn’t hear the rest because another text came through my phone.

Garth: Fuck. She’s got kids. Not worth the trouble.

Garth: But then again if she’s got a sitter we can have a fun night.

I saw fucking red.

“Take this before I say something I’ll regret,” I said, handing Fletcher my phone.

He read the message as I ground my teeth together and clenched my hands into fists. Fletcher let out a low hiss.

Silence passed between us for a beat before my vision cleared a bit and Fletcher said, “What are you gonna tell him?”

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