“Really.” She glanced toward the entrance, her gaze lingering on the door. What, did she wish she’d left with her high school ex? “He’s nothing.”
Tate didn’t argue. What was the point? She’d just deny whatever he had to say.
But he did know one thing. That Levi asshole didn’t look like nothing.
No, he looked more like competition.
Chapter Thirteen
SEXUAL FRUSTRATION RUINED a man’s mood like nothing else. Tate was a walking, talking, breathing example of it on this very shitty morning as he made his appearance at the fire station. On his day off, when he could be sleeping in with a fine-looking woman wrapped around him.
Not that any of that particular scenario happened. Damn it.
“What do you know about Levi Hamilton?” Tate tried his best to keep a straight face, not wanting to reveal even a hint of emotion in his voice or expression. If West noticed anything unusual, he’d jump all over it.
And he’d never stop giving Tate shit—one of West’s favorite things to do.
West turned to look at him, his eyebrows raised. “Levi Hamilton? Now there’s a blast from the past. I haven’t seen that guy in years. Pretty much forgot he even existed.”
Just the sort of answer Tate wanted to hear. He’d come by the fire station for a scheduled meeting with Josh Bailey, the arson investigator. He was giving them an update on the recent fires—specifically, details on Wren’s house. Tate promised he’d let Wren know whatever information he could find out.
“But you do remember him, right?” Tate asked.
“Of course I remember him. Little punk asshole that dated my sister and broke her heart before he left for college.” West grimaced. “Levi always did think he was better than the rest of us.”
“What do you know about him?” Tate asked, repeating himself but not really caring. Damn it, he wanted more details. Wren wasn’t talking. After seeing Levi at the BFD, the mood had shifted for the rest of the day. They went back to his place, watched a movie on Netflix, and went to bed early.
In separate beds.
Yeah. The night had definitely not gone as Tate had planned. The day had started with such promise too. Until she saw Levi and, for whatever reason, he threw a wrench in their unspoken plans, like an invisible third wheel looming in the background of his house.
Tate sort of hated Levi Hamilton.
“Why do you care? Did Wren mention him to you? I haven’t heard his name pass her lips since I don’t know when. Once he dumped her, she mourned and cried for a little bit, but then she moved on. Wren’s always been good at that. Moving on,” West explained.
Tate wasn’t so sure he liked the sound of that. “I met him yesterday at the BFD. He was there with his parents, visiting I guess.”
“Huh. Last I heard he graduated college and moved to Southern California. Orange County, I think. He’s some big financer type, makes a lot of money, his major life goal.” West sneered. “Was he decked out in designer clothes with a Rolex around his wrist?”
“I don’t remember seeing a watch, but his clothes didn’t have one wrinkle in them,” Tate said, his voice full of disgust.
West chuckled. “Sounds like Levi. He was nice enough when he and my sister were together and happy, but shit. They were just kids. My mom always claimed they weren’t right for each other, though she never told Wren that. They weren’t in the same league, she said.”
“What, like Levi was too good for her?” Tate was offended. Just because the asshole had money didn’t mean that he was better than anyone else. Screw that.
“Nah. It was just . . . Levi’s family was wealthy, and we weren’t, and it gave Wren an inferiority complex. Our mom hated that. I hated it too. Levi always acted like a smug bastard, like Wren was lucky to have him, you know? When it was more the other way around. That little prick was lucky to have my sister. She was the one who was too good for him,” West explained.
Exactly what Tate wanted to hear. West’s words proved Levi was an asshole, just like he thought. “Thanks for being so forthcoming,” he said wryly.
West chuckled and shook his head. “I don’t like it when my sister gets hurt. She’s the only one I’ve got. And since she’s the lone girl among all of us boys, we’re overprotective.” The chuckle disappeared and West sent him a meaningful look. “We still are.”
Tate got the hint loud and clear. “I’m not out to hurt Wren.” He wasn’t sure what he was doing with Wren. He’d kissed her once and he wanted more.
Needed more.
“The fact that you took her in when she had nowhere else to go earned you brownie points,” West said. “Though if your ulterior motive for this is to get her into your bed, I’ll beat your ass.”
Like he’d ever tell West that. He wasn’t an idiot. “We’re friends,” Tate stressed. “That’s it.”