Page 109 of Betting on the Best Friend
“Tell us,” Madison says.
I recap the library tea, Niles showing up (Sami hisses), the kiss (Madison demands a dramatic re-enactment, which I ignore), Charlie leaving, my conversation with my parents, and my visit to Charlie.
“He’s right,” Sami says. When I glare at her, she only shrugs. “No one hates Colorado.”
“Great exit line about the figurative doors, though,” Madison says, and Ava and Sami both agree. “Nerdy and on point.”
“So what now?” Ava asks.
I sigh and set down my mug. “Now I give you the bad news. I’m sorry, but you all lost the bet, and you need to help me figure out how to get Charlie.”
It’s quiet for a couple of seconds. Too quiet. I pin Ava with a stare.
She allows herself a slow, evil smile. “The thing is, Ruby, we all won.”
I glance to Sami, who smiles, then to Madison, who shakes her head like she pities poor Ruby.
“Madi.” My tone leaves no doubt it’s an order.
“We lied about the bet,” she says.
“There was no bet?” That’s . . . a twist.
“There was a bet,” Sami says. “We just lied about what it was.”
Eh . . . I’m going to need more coffee. I reach for my mug and wait. It’ll be Madison. She’ll have been behind whatever this is, and she’s dying to tell me. It takes two sips.
“The endgame was always you and Charlie,” Madison says.
See?
“We knew he knew it,” she continues. “We gave him a chance to let us orchestrate everything, but he wouldn’t do it.”
I frown. “What does that mean?”
“The day of the engagement post,” Ava says. “That was the catalyst. We knew that would be our best chance to get you moving, so we staged an intervention with Charlie at Oliver’s place.”
“The mind boggles.” It really does. I’m not sure I want to know, but I need to know. “Explain.”
“Oliver invited him over for the game, but we were waiting for him,” Sami says. “We offered our services to get you together. But he said no.”
“We thought he might,” Ava says.
“He played it like you were just friends, and we were imagining things.” Madison shakes her head in disbelief. “Doesn’t he have seventeen sisters? He should have known we’d see right through that.”
“Three,” I say. “But point taken.” Poor Charlie. It was overwhelming for each of my besties when they first discovered they’d been the sole focus of my matchmaking powers, and they know me better than anyone. But for Charlie to have all three of them gang up on him? Growing up with sisters may be the only reason he survived it.
“Anyway, we let him think he convinced us,” Ava says.
“Then it was time to turn our attention to you.” Sami shakes her head. “It was a bigger challenge because you’re difficult.”
I interrupt a swallow to object. “I am not.”
“You are,” Ava says. “We knew you would be. We had to figure out how to make you see that you and Charlie were meant to be, but we couldn’t agree on a strategy. Ridiculous, since I’ve known you the longest. We could have been done with this weeks ago.”
“Yours was the worst one,” Madison says.
When Ava looks like she’s about to argue, Sami jumps in. “Anyway, we decided we’d each try our own plan. The winner is whoever’s plan worked. So was it mine? The song? Getting you to a show together and singing about you so it forced you both to confess?”
