“I’m alone, Matt. Tell me your life’s not that sad that your Friday night entertainment is calling me to see if I’m screwing some chick?”
“You know it’s not. My book’s full. Listen up, I have news. The wedding’s off.”
“You kept that quiet. I didn’t even know you were getting married.” I don’t know if it was because it was late, I was tired, and she’d been on my mind but I suddenly thought of Saylor with a burst of hope. I grabbed a bottle of water from the bar and took a long drink.
Matt laughed. “Saylor’s wedding is off. She’s dumped Rex.”
My heart stuttered. I wanted to whoop with joy, but I couldn’t risk giving away my true feelings. This was so much what I’d dreamed of. Rex didn’t deserve her. Maybe I didn’t either but that fucker Rex most definitely didn’t deserve a girl as fine as Saylor.
“You sound upset,” I said, hoping I’d kept the elation from showing in my voice.
“Right? Weeping over here. Tears of … joy. You have no idea how happy I am. I swear I’ve seen that little prick out with other women. I even made a call to him about it, but he denied everything.”
“He’s been lying since he could talk. Who broke it off?”
“Saylor. She said she caught him cheating.”
“Oh, shit, he won’t be happy. Nobody messes with Rex’s plans.” Inside I seethed. That entitled little prick thought he could treat people like dirt.
“Well, Saylor’s hurting at the moment, but we’ll get her through this. I guess there’s no need for you to fly out to Aspen now.”
“Shame, I was looking forward to some skiing. I might hit New York instead. I’ll let you know.”
“No problem. We can have New Year together. Sun or snow. Your choice. I think we’ve got a villa free in Tahiti, haven’t we? I’ll line up a couple of willing women and we’ll celebrate.”
“You’re such a whore, Matt.”
“At least I don’t cheat. Maybe we should forget the women and ask Saylor along. She’ll need cheering up.”
“I don’t mind either way, but you’ll probably find Saylor would rather spend time with her girlfriends.” I didn’t want to sound too eager.
“I know he’s your cousin, but I want to kill that little prick.”
Shit, we were back on to Rex again. “Well, don’t hold back on my account. There’s no love lost between Rex and me.”
“I’ll tell you something. The next guy who wants to lay a hand on my little sister will need my approval before he gets to so much as buy her a drink.”
“Yeah, I think you might find Saylor will object to that. She’s probably old enough to vet her own dates.”
Matt grunted a response. “I’ll have her next date followed then…”
I lay back on the sofa as Matt ran through the various ways he would ruin the next man who hurt Saylor, at one stage of the tirade even suggesting I wasn’t immune to his plans. Ridiculous as he sounded, I took his warning to heart. Matt and I had a business on the cusp of shifting from successful to wildly successful. Not only that, we’d been friends since middle school. I wasn’t about to do anything to damage our relationship.