The Matchmaker's Replacement

by Rachel Van Dyken

  “I think I already took it . . . a few times,” I joked.

  “Let me go check my bedpost. I’ve been carving out notches.”

  “Ass!” I slapped him on the arm and motioned back to the computer. “Can you please just . . . trust me to do my job? Remember, you and I are exclusive, and my official job for Wingmen Inc. is to help him get his dream girl, who just so happens to be some chick in his business class. Give me a week and then he’ll be gone.”

  “I love a girl who’s confident in her abilities to seduce.”

  “That’s me: seductress.” My phone started buzzing. I frowned and shoved it back in my pocket, planning on ignoring it.

  Instead, Lex reached into my pocket and pulled it out. “Answer it. I’ll still be here when you’re done.”

  “It’s my dad. I can call him back.”

  “Exactly.” Lex pressed the phone into my hand. “It’s your dad. Talk to him. I know how close you are.”

  With that, he kissed my temple, walked back over to his computer, and exited out of all the screens.

  Leaving me speechless.

  Because the Lex I’d always known would choose sex over anything.

  And unless I read it wrong, I thought that’s why he’d texted me. I thought I was a glorified booty call.

  Instead, he was pulling up the Wingmen Inc. software while I held my phone in my hand.

  “Gabs . . .” Lex sang, without looking at me. “Call your dad.”

  So I did.

  And when my dad answered and wanted to know how I was doing in school, I ignored the pang of guilt. And when he once again thanked me for the money but voiced his concern about my working too hard, I brushed it off like I’d been brushing everything off lately.

  Lex was polite enough to put on his headphones while he worked, and it kind of made me fall a bit harder—that he’d provide me privacy and that, without realizing it, he knew exactly what I needed.

  I needed to tell them, not just because they were my friends, but because I was beginning to realize I wanted to—I wanted to open up to Lex, and if Lex found out and Ian didn’t . . .

  He’d kill us both.

  My nerves were completely shot—I’d never been in this type of situation before, lying not only to my best friends but my entire family. But as far as lies went, there were worse things to lie about, right? At least that’s what I kept telling myself.

  Chapter

  Thirty-Four

  Lex

  So.” Gabs walked back into my room and placed her phone on the nightstand. It was weird, constantly having her in the only sacred place I had. What was weirder? Had she announced that she was going to redecorate it with hearts, flowers, and Ryan Gosling unicorn heads, I probably would have allowed it.

  What. The. Hell?

  “So?” I put my computer to sleep and swiveled in my chair, lacing my fingers behind my head.

  Gabi’s gaze fell to my naked chest.

  “Gabs, up here.”

  “Shh, the towel girl’s looking for sweat.”

  I burst out laughing. “Find any?”

  “Not yet. Give me ten minutes, maybe fifteen.”

  “If you start breathing heavy I’m cutting you off.”

  She gave me a dismissive wave through the air and slowly approached. With a look of pure concentration on her face, she crawled into my lap and straddled me. Her legs went under each of the chair’s arms, which was so freaking adorable I fought to keep myself from just hugging her.

  Right, hugging her.

  Like a sad bastard who didn’t know how to kiss and was afraid to make the first move.

  “My parents’ anniversary is this weekend, and they specifically asked if you and Ian could come hang out for Sunday dinner.”

  “Hmm, that depends . . . Is your mom making her famous tamales with homemade salsa?”

  “I’m pretty sure I can convince her to.”

  “Sure, I can go as your . . . friend.”

  She let out a heavy sigh—of what? Relief?—as her forehead touched my chin. I kissed her head, waiting for her to say something.

  “This is . . .”

  “I know.” I tightened my grip on her arms. “I know.”

  Maybe we knew each other too well and that was the problem. We’d launched our little enemy ship into an entirely foreign land, and neither of us knew what to do.

  “I don’t want you kissing him,” I admitted softly.

  Gabs pulled back, her eyes narrowing. “I won’t, or at least if it can be avoided, I’ll avoid it.”

  “No tongue.”

  “Getting kinda bossy for a friend.” She emphasized the damn word.

  I gripped her ass and jerked her against me. “We were never friends.”

  Gabs let out a little whimper. “And now?”

  “We’re so much more.” My mouth found hers in a heated kiss as she snaked her arms around my neck.

  I kissed her until my lips hurt, until my ass felt like it was going to sleep, until the need to have her was so intense it was all that consumed my thoughts.

  “Lex . . .” Gabi pulled back, her green eyes locked onto mine. “Four years ago—”

  “Four years ago”—I looked away, breaking all eye contact—“I was an ass.”

  “Yes.”

  “Hell, four weeks ago even . . .”

  “Yup,” she agreed.

  “I . . .” Cursing, I gave her hair a little tug with my right hand, then let her dark locks slip through my fingers. “Have I ever told you how beautiful you really are?”

  Gabi’s eyes filled with tears.

  And I realized in that moment just how much of a dick I really had been to her, that behind all the teasing, she never truly realized how wonderful she was.

  “I wanted you then.” I cupped her face. “I want you more now, only because now I know you. And every day since knowing you, I’ve fallen a little bit harder, a little bit deeper, a little bit more . . .” I didn’t say “in love.” But I wanted to.

  Gabi blinked back tears. “I don’t understand. Then why didn’t you say something?”

  “One word,” I confessed. “Ian.”

  “Right, he’d be pissed, but . . .” Her eyes narrowed. “Has he said anything else about us?”

  “Other than telling me I’d never be good enough for his best friend? Someone he considers a sister? He told me that if I touched you he’d cut my hand off, or what’s worse . . . if I pursued you, our friendship would be over.”

  “WHAT?” Gabi roared. “Are you serious?”

  “Yeah,” I croaked. “Look, I’m not proud of the way I treated you, but I keep my promises, and the idea that he would just cut me out of his life, well, I felt like I had to choose you or him.”

  “But it doesn’t have to be that way!”

  “Doesn’t it?” I fired back. “Do you know Ian?”

  “He’ll get over it!”

  “Gabs, you are the only family he has other than his sister, and you and he are closer than they’ve ever been. You were there when his parents died, you were there for all the birthdays they missed, and when I moved away, you were still there for him. You are everything to him, and as stupid as it sounds, he’s like a brother to me. Hurting him . . .” I sighed.

  “What do we do?”

  “Sex.” I nodded confidently. “It solves everything, like coconut oil.”

  “Huh?”

  “Coconut oil. Premed, hmm? And you don’t know the many uses of coconut oil?”

  “Guys!” Ian’s voice traveled from downstairs.

  Gabi panicked while I tried to lift her out of the chair only to realize her legs were stuck u
nder its arms.

  “Help!” she squeaked.

  “Stop squirming!” I hissed as I shoved one leg out of a hole and nearly fell on top of her. “Bend your knee!”

  “If I bend it any further it’s going to snap!” she yelled.

  “Gabi! If there was ever a time to impress me with your flexibility, this is it!” I tried to ease to the right at the same time she went left.

  “Ouch!” Gabi smacked me in the leg. “That hurts!”

  “Oh I’m sorry, did you want our best friend to find us pretzeled up in my room?”

  Gabi’s eyes widened as we heard Ian climb the stairs. “Maybe if you push my foot left, I’ll pull right—”

  “Shit!” I was about to give up when her leg came free, causing her to tumble to the floor with me on top of her as the chair slammed backward against the bed.

  “Whoa!” Ian stepped into my room. “Have we moved past the verbal insults? Are you guys getting physical now?”

  “Yes!” Gabi shouted as she started pounding my chest with her tiny fists. “Now get off, you ass!”

  “YOU LOVE IT!” I yelled back, unable to think of what else to say while my body responded so exquisitely to her wiggling. I tried to send her a silent plea to stop moving, but her hips rocked.

  Damn it!

  “Dude, get off her, she’s a quarter of your size. We’re lucky we don’t have a Gabi-sized pancake on the floor.”

  “Hah,” I laughed in fake amusement and moved away from Gabi, trying to stay hunched on the floor so Ian couldn’t see just how much I enjoyed our little wrestle time.

  “Geez.” Ian held out his hand to her. “Are you okay, Gabs?”

  She took it and stood. “Sure!”

  “You look . . .” Ian’s eyes narrowed. “You’re seeing the guy again, aren’t you? The one who stole your treasure!”

  “She’s not a pirate,” I commented as Gabi smacked Ian in the chest.

  “My treasure?”

  “Your booty.” I laughed.

  “Not helpful, Lex!” Gabi glared and then turned to Ian. “And why do you even care? I’m a woman. I have needs!”

  “Oh, hell no!” Ian raised his voice. “You can meet your . . . needs in other ways!”

  “How’s that?” I loved Angry Ian. He usually made no sense at all, and it was hilarious as hell to watch.

  “There are . . .” He gulped and looked to me. “I’m not going to sit here and talk to you about sex toys.”

  “Oh, so you want me to use sex toys? Is that what this conversation is about?” Gabs crossed her arms.

  “NO!” Ian roared. “Just—” His helpless gaze found mine. “No guys, no toys, no sex. Aren’t you Catholic? There really aren’t enough nuns in the world, Gabs.”

  “I’ll become a nun the day Lex becomes a priest.”

  I stood and held out my hand to Ian. “Bless him, Father . . .”

  “You’re not funny,” Ian said through clenched teeth.

  “You’re such a . . . dad!” Gabi blurted.

  Ian sucked in a breath. “That’s it! Go to your room!”

  “But—”

  “Go!”

  Gabi stomped away from us and slammed the door to her room.

  “Chin up, it’s like practice for the future.” I chuckled. “Want me to go talk to her?”

  Ian’s shoulders slumped. “You’d do that? I mean, you were already fighting before I came in.”

  “Eh, she’s exhausted most of her energy trying to get me off of her and verbally sparring with you.” I shrugged. “I’ll wear a cup just in case.”

  “Thanks, I just . . .” Ian wiped his face with his hands. “I can’t lose her.”

  “I know.” Me either, Ian. Me either. “I’ll, uh, just go over there.”

  Ian watched while I knocked on the door twice. Gabi opened it wide and let me step in. I turned around and nodded at Ian while he slowly made his way down the stairs.

  The minute the door slammed behind me, I looked up at Gabi. “He’s just scared.”

  “I know the feeling.”

  “Yeah, I think we all do,” I whispered as we reached for each other and picked up right where we left off.

  Chapter

  Thirty-Five

  Gabi

  I braced myself for what I knew was most likely going to go down as one of my least favorite experiences ever. Lex had tried to prep me the night before, but no amount of prepping could make a girl totally comfortable with helping her ass of an ex get a girl he thought he deserved. I honestly felt sorry for the girl he liked. Then again, maybe she was just as bad as he was? Lex said the program had judged them a good match, so who was I to argue with science?

  My nails dug into the palms of my hands. I didn’t just despise Mark, I loathed him. Every girl has one. The Game Changer. The one guy in your life who, when you look back on things, makes you want a total do-over. Mark was mine, because in my immaturity I’d allowed him to chip away at my confidence until I was consumed with making him happy.

  My life had been Mark.

  In a completely unhealthy way.

  I was so worried about upsetting him I even stopped answering Ian’s phone calls, which lasted all of a day before Ian came over to my house and unleashed hell. Mark earned a black eye—and later that day told me I probably wasn’t even worth it.

  Right. I wasn’t worth getting hit over.

  Desperate to keep him, I offered the one thing I’d always held close to me: my virginity, my innocence.

  I could still remember his cruel smile.

  And the fact that later that night—the night I had promised to go back to his parents’ house while they were out—I mistakenly picked up his phone, thinking it was mine, and saw a naked pic of one of the cheerleaders on the squad.

  The text that accompanied it read: “Last night was great. Repeat?”

  Ugh.

  So the fact that I was sitting with Mark—a guy who still, somehow, had a way of twisting me up inside just by me looking at him—yeah, let’s just say Lex owed me big. Then again, who needed Mark when I had Lex? That thought alone gave me enough confidence to straighten my shoulders a bit and march into the restaurant.

  Mark was sitting in the back corner of the dimly lit coffee shop, hunched over a book, his eyes squinting as if he was trying to figure out a complicated puzzle. Years ago that look used to do me in. I’d thought it was adorable, the way he scrunched up his nose while he was concentrating.

  Then he’d gone and called me Sara. Another girl’s name. The girl he was cheating on me with, and well, everything about him had just made me feel like strangling someone—him, mainly. I guess it was a stroke of luck that I’d found that picture and text a few minutes before to prove that he was cheating. At least I wasn’t stupid enough to believe it was a Freudian slip.

  I ordered a scone, then made my way over to his table. “This seat taken?”

  “Yes.” He didn’t look up. “I was actually expecting someone.”

  “Hmm.” I sat down anyway. Last night, after Lex had grudgingly left my room, I’d pored over Mark’s folder. A lot of the stuff I knew, except what he’d been doing for the past four years. The gaps weren’t hard to fill, and after two hours I knew exactly how I would help him get the girl.

  Then again, the guys’ handy playbook was really helpful in regards to the steps someone like him needed to go through in order to gain a girl’s trust and affection.

  “Hey, I said—” Mark’s eyes met mine. “Gabi?”

  “Mark.” Was it wrong that saying his name out loud made me wince a little? What had I ever seen in him? His sandy blond hair was way too long, his blue eyes a little too light. Even his face was too ro
und.

  He was Lex’s opposite.

  Huh, imagine that.

  “Gabi.” The gap between his two front teeth appeared more pronounced. “I can’t believe you’re here. I mean, we should catch up sometime.” He swallowed and nervously glanced around the coffee shop. “But really, I am meeting someone and—”

  I slid the Wingmen card across the glass table, then took a large bite of my scone. “You were saying?”

  “You?” he blurted. “You work with Wingmen? I highly doubt you’re the brains.” Sigh. And we were off to such a promising start.

  “The brawn, actually,” I corrected, half tempted to flex. “And my best friend owns the company. Now, why don’t we talk about the object of your affection?”

  Mark’s ears burned bright red as he quickly averted his eyes and drummed his fingers against the table. “I, uh, wow.” He coughed into his hand. “This is awkward.”

  You’re telling me. But I offered a professional smile. “Only awkward if you make it awkward, and I’m here to help.”

  I didn’t trust him. But that didn’t mean I could walk away either. If he’d applied to Wingmen Inc., and if the stats matched him, then I needed to follow through.

  Besides, I needed the paycheck.

  Especially after my dad’s text that morning. I shook it off and tried a different approach. “Charlie’s pretty.”

  Mark snorted. “She’s gorgeous.”

  “Smart too.”

  He started playing with the straw in front of him, twisting the crap out of it before finally dropping it onto the table. “Look, Gabi, how exactly are you supposed to help me, when—” He pointed at me. I looked down. Did I have something on my shirt?

  “When . . . ?” I prompted.

  “Well, I’m not trying to be rude, but how’s a seven supposed to get me a ten?”

  I almost gasped out loud. The rat bastard! Was he insulting me? To my face? I gripped the bottom of my chair to keep myself from grabbing his straw and stabbing his throat with it a few hundred times.