Wild Tendy (IceCats 2)

“Google shows all.”

I’m disgusted. “You Googled me?”

“I did when I found out who you were, and I saw the girls you were with. I saw you with Shelli Adler. She’s a fucking goddess compared to me.”

“Google can kiss my ass, ’cause when I think of my type, I see you.” I shake my head as I push off the counter. “And Shelli isn’t even comparable to you.”

Her cheeks fill with color. “Nico, you could do better.”

“Stop it with this fucking pity party. You are perfect to me, even when you piss me the fuck off.”

“Hardly.”

“I don’t agree.” I start for the door. “Let me know when you find your confidence and realize that who you are is more than I could even fathom wanting me. When I say I want someone, I want them. And, Aviva, I want you. Only you.”

As I slam the door behind me, I’m startled when Callie looks over at me. She lets out a long breath. “So, my sister found her match.”

I scoff. “I don’t think she’d agree.”

“Well, she’s an idiot.”

Funny, I want to defend Aviva. “See ya, Callie.”

“Bye, Nico. Hopefully not for long.”

Hopefully.

Chapter Fourteen

Aviva

“Vee, the game is on!”

I ignore Callie in the living room, even though she is only five feet away from me. Our living room and kitchen area are attached. It’s old, but eh, it’s charming. I can see the team on TV, and oh look, the camera is zooming in on Nico. I roll my eyes as I lean on my counter. Jaylin is sitting on the barstool in front of me with a glass of wine dangling from her fingers. There is a glass in front of me too, but I’m on a whole other level of annoyance. Which probably means I should be drinking it. I’m not, though. I still can’t believe the phone call I just got. My car is totaled, and I have to get another one. And also, Nico is an asshole.

Someone pass the lube.

“I don’t even know what I am going to do.”

Jaylin, with compassion in her eyes, taps my hand. “I told you. I have an extra car. You can buy it.”

I shake my head. “I don’t take handouts.”

“It’s not a handout. I’m legit selling it to you.”

I give her a skeptical look. “You’re gonna sell it to me?”

She nods, looking prissy as all fuck in her beautiful, expensive suit. I should have gone to law school too. Maybe my life would have been different. “Yes, for the fair price of a hundred dollars.”

I squint at her. “Isn’t it a new car?”

She shrugs. “It’s like a 2017. It’s old.”

Pain in my ass. “No, I’ll figure it out.”

“I’ll have Kirby drop it off tomorrow.”

I raise my brow. “No. And Kirby? You’re still seeing him?”

She gives me a pointed look. “Yes, Aviva. I give my number to the guys I fuck, and I leave notes.”

I glare. “Whatever. You weren’t here when Nico came in. I just don’t know who the hell he thinks he is. He was so upset, like I had kicked his dog or some shit. I just didn’t leave a note!” I say in a yell-whisper because I don’t want Callie hearing my drama. Since I’ve never had boy drama, it figures mine would involve the hottest dude in Carolina.

Jaylin shrugs. “I don’t know why you didn’t leave a note.”

“You know why,” I sneer at her, glaring. “I didn’t know if he wanted to see me again. I wasn’t putting myself out there.”

“’Cause God forbid, he did and would call and things would be good.” With an annoyed shrug, she says, “You sabotage yourself.”

I gawk at her. “Do you even love me?”

She giggles around her wine before taking a sip. “Keeping it 100, sis.”

I let out an annoyed sigh. “I don’t self-sabotage things.”

“No, like, for real. Shitty things happen so much around here that it’s the only thing you know. So, why wouldn’t this turn out that way? Which is why you self-sabotaged it.”

I just blink at her, and before I can tell her she’s stupid, Callie yells out, “Ooh, Nico is pissed. The other team scored in like two minutes.”

I want to yell that I don’t care. I don’t want to care. Screw him! “You should have seen him, though,” I say, waving my hands in the air. “He was pissed, but not like an ‘I’m gonna beat you up’ kind of pissed, but a ‘hurt’ pissed. Like I’d really hurt him. It was one night!”

“You would know. You ride that hurt-pissed train a lot.”

I hold out my hand to her. “Are you done? Can you listen without calling out all my faults?”

She shrugs, but that little smirk doesn’t leave her full lips. “I think you should call him.”

“No, I’m not calling him. I don’t want to see him.”

“Yous a damn lie.”

“I don’t,” I say more sternly. “He probably won’t want to see me either.”