“And I’m not it?”
“No.”
His glare cuts off my laugh.
“I could be, but she barely speaks to me because your family has probably poisoned her mind all these years.”
“Yes, Luca, we just sit around the dinner table every Monday night, passing garlic bread and sharing how much we hate you.”
He points his finger at me, and I don't know what it is about the gesture, but I want to smack him and tell him to stop.
“That right there is why, even if we did agree to this, it wouldn't work. I’m leaving.”
“No, no, no.” I run in front of him. “I’m sorry. Okay. You’re right. Grace’s image of you might be a little skewed because of me and my brother, so my answer is yes. I’ll help set you up with Grace.”
“No, that's not what I want. I can get a date myself. What I need from you is for you to say nice things about me so she can form her own opinion of me. A better one. Not the Parker family’s opinion, okay? Got it? I’ll do the rest.”
I nod over and over.
He’s saying yes, and all I have to do is say nice things about him to my best friend. Easy. Done.
“But make sure it’s things she would like, not stupid stuff like his hair was nice today and he smells so good I want to lick his body.”
I snort, and it earns me another glare.
“No stupid comments about how pretty you look. Got it.”
He rolls his eyes. “Don’t make me regret this.”
“I won’t. See you tomorrow night. Wait until after eight before you show up, and don’t bring a trailer.”
“How do you expect me to get anything done if I don’t have supplies?”
“Tomorrow will be more of a let's make a plan moving forward kind of night.”
“Let's just do that now.”
“No. Tomorrow,” I say and head for my car.
“I think I know why the other guy quit.”
The urge to flip him my middle finger consumes me, but he just agreed to help me, so I do the next best thing. Kill him with kindness.
I turn and give him my best smile.
“See you tomorrow.”
I unlock my car and grab the handle to open the door.
“No, don’t be all sweet with me now. I don’t want fake Shay. I want?—”
I shut the door and wave at him through the front window, having no idea what more he said.
His hands fly up into the air, and then he shakes his head and gets in his truck.
I wait for him to pull away, and as soon as he does, it’s like I can finally breathe.
With my head leaned back against the headrest, I close my eyes.