Sammy’s head snapped toward Olivia, who looked like she wanted to sink beneath the water and stay there. Why thefuckdid she have Edison’s number? Had their kiss been more than a kiss? Had theydated,and Sammy didn’t know about it?
Lydia leaned over with a worried frown. “You okay? There’s a vein throbbing in your forehead,” she whispered.
“I’m fine.”Or I will be after I murder Eddie in the most gruesome way possible.
His sister-in-law looked unconvinced.
“Actually, I don’t,” Olivia said stiffly. “I got a new phone years ago and lost all my contacts.”
Lie.She still had Sammy’s contact, at least.
“Wait. You guys knew each other before this?” Lyle’s head swiveled between Olivia and Edison. “How?”
Olivia’s mouth opened, but Edison beat her to the punch. “Oh, we met when I visited Sammy in New York. Remember when he was interning for NASA?” He chuckled. “Good ol’ days. Everyone thought he would be a big-time engineer or something along those lines, but he turned out to be a...baker. Which isfine.But it ain’t NASA. Right, Sammy boy?”
A heavy, awkward silence suffused the air.
“Uh, we’re gonna grab some snacks,” Kyle said. “Man, we’re hungry.”
“Yeah, we’re growing boys.” Lyle chuckled nervously. “Be right back.”
The twins hauled ass out of the hot tub and disappeared into the house. Lydia, who hated confrontation, murmured something about checking on Amy and slipped out as well, leaving Kevin, Edison, and Olivia behind.
“Dude, not cool.” Kevin glared at Edison.
“What? It’s the truth. Besides, Sammy knows I didn’t mean anything by it.” Edison smirked at Sammy. “Right?”
“Right. But hey, you didn’t go to New York to visitme,remember?” Sammy lifted his shoulder in a casual shrug. “You went to meet with the dean of Columbia Law.”
Edison’s face clouded.
“Shame you never convinced him to let you in,” Sammy continued. “Not many people would’ve gone to the extra effort to show up in person to dispute an admissions decision.”
“Fuck you,” Edison snarled. “I got intoHarvard.I fucking madepartnerbefore I’m forty. Who cares about Columbia?”
Updated “partner” word tally: fourteen. Sammy was definitely winning the bet.
“Weren’t you on the waitlist for Harvard?” Kevin draped his arms along the edge of the tub. “And didn’t you get in after banging the dean’s daughter? Funny how that works.”
“Shut up, Kevin. You didn’t even attend an Ivy League.”
“Where you go to school isn’t the be-all-end-all,” Olivia spoke up. She glared daggers at Edison, and damn if the sight didn’t send satisfaction curling through Sammy’s stomach. “I know plenty of Ivy League graduates who are jerks or miserable in their job, and plenty of non-Ivy League graduates who are happy and thriving. And I think being your own boss and building a business empire from scratch—the way Sammy did—is way more impressive than being a run-of-the-mill lawyer.”
Warmth glowed in Sammy’s chest.
“Really?” Edison’s eyes glittered with danger. “That’s not what you said when you called and asked me to come over after you and Sammy broke up in New York.” He flicked a triumphant glance in Sammy’s direction. “Oops. You didn’t know that, did ya? But you two were alreadykaput,so there was no reason for you to know.”
Just like that, the warmth died, and Sammy’s skin iced over. Olivia hadcalledEdison? He’d assumed this cousin had come looking for him and they ran into each other. What the fuck was Edison insinuating? Had they done more than kiss? Had theyslepttogether?
Sammy wanted to throw up.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kevin’s jaw drop and Olivia’s face turn bone-white.
“You’re a real fucking asshole, you know that?” Kevin shot a death glare at Edison.
“Aw, so sweet that big bro is coming to little bro’s defense. Maybe if Sammy wasn’t such a pussy—” The rest of Edison’s words came out as a strangle when Sammy closed the distance between them and slammed the asshole against the side of the tub. He closed his hand around his cousin’s throat—not enough to kill the guy, but enough to make himthinkhe might kill him.
The smugness melted from Edison’s face, replaced with fear.