“It’s not about the guy, Pen. It’s about you. You need to tell him what you want.”
“I will.” I downed the alcohol. “But you know, everyone isn’t comfortable talking about sex as easily as the weather like someone I know.”
“That’s a shame.” His lips curved into a smirk. “That means that there are a lot of people in this world having terrible sex. Hopefully, you’ll stop being a member of that club before you turn thirty.”
I stood on my toes and slapped the back of his head.
He laughed and poured two more shots.
As we were tossing them back, Mack walked through the front door.
“Hey babe,” he said.
“Hey.” I walked over and kissed him. “Mack, this is Hayden. Hayden this is Mack.”
“Nice to finally meet you,” Hayden said, extending his hand. “I’ve heard a lot of good things.”
“I wish I could say the same.” Mack left his hand hanging, and the room suddenly became ten times smaller.
What the…
Hayden shot me a confused look, but I had no idea what to say.
“Should we wait for your brother to get here?” Mack asked.
“No, he cancelled at the last minute. He’s too deep into training for his next fight,” I said. “He did say he could video chat with us later tonight, though.”
“Oh okay, cool.” He walked into the kitchen. “Well, you two can sit down and I’ll present the food like a true chef. I’m still fasting, so I hope I used enough seasoning.”
We obliged, taking our seats near the window.
Minutes later, Mack placed a huge platter of alfredo and a basket of rolls at the center of the table. Hayden made me a plate before making one for himself.
“Penelope tells me that you work in the book industry?” Hayden asked, attempting to lighten the mood.
“Yeah.” Mack nodded. “I’m a senior editor.”
“Any books that I should be on the lookout for?”
“There’s a How Not to Be an Asshole: Part 2 self-help book coming this fall.”
“Interesting.” Hayden smiled. “Maybe I’ll finally get around to finishing part one.”
“I gave him a copy of that one for Christmas,” I said, looking at Mack. “He needs a year of intense therapy and a personality transplant, not a book.”
Mack laughed.
“Do you still have the book that I gave you for Christmas?” Hayden looked at me, and I narrowed my eyes at him.
“No, I burned it.” I refused to discuss his handmade How to Ask My Boyfriend for What I Want in the Bedroom book aloud. “The author didn’t know what the hell he was talking about.”
“I think he’s very skilled in that subject matter.”
“No, he just thinks that he is,” I said. “There’s a reason why his book has a one star average on Goodreads.”
“Because you’re the only reviewer. You’re also a terrible liar, Penelope.”
“And you’re an incredible shit-stirrer.” I changed the subject. “How’s Mack’s alfredo?”
“It’s pretty good.”
“Did I tell you that he was almost a chef?” I added more pepper to his plate. “His mom owns a restaurant in New Jersey.”
“You did tell me that. We went there for dinner a few weeks ago, remember?”
“Oh, yeah.” I sipped my wine. “I guess I forgot since your world has imploded since then, and I can’t tell if you’re laughing to keep from crying or crying on the inside.”
“It’s a bit of both.”
We laughed.
“Okay, fuck this shit.” Mack cut off our laughter, his voice terse. “I can’t do this anymore.”
“What?” I looked over at him. “What did you say?”
“I said, I can’t do this anymore.” He let out a breath. “Me, you, him. I literally cannot do this.”
I set down my fork, confused as to what the hell he was talking about. “You said you wanted to meet my family today.”
“Your family, not your …” His voice trailed off for a few seconds. “I’m sorry. I was thinking more along the lines of your brother. I don’t need a dinner date to meet Hayden. I mean, as much as he comes up in our conversations, I feel like I already fucking know him.”
“Mack, I’m not sure—”
“Every morning you talk to him about what we did the night before.” He interrupted me. “You click over when we’re on the phone if he calls, and you leave me hanging for hours.”
“I’ve only done that once, and it was an emergency.”
“Tinder suing him over Cinder for the umpteenth time is not an emergency.” He glared at me. “That shit happens every month, and you know what? One of these days, they’re going to beat him in court.”
“I highly doubt that,” Hayden muttered under his breath.
“I guess it’s good that he’s here, though,” Mack said. “Because I don’t have to hold back anymore and wonder how I should spend the next six months of my life. And I won’t bother being your roommate to help pay for a place that your best friend could easily buy for you if he wanted to.”