The Matchmaker's Replacement by Rachel Van Dyken
“Went to Yakima. Airport taxi picked me up. Don’t call,” I read, each word sounding like an explosion in the hushed kitchen.
“Shit.” Lex wiped his face. “Isn’t his sister in Yakima?”
I nodded dumbly. “They don’t really get along anymore. The last time he was there was—”
“After Ian got injured,” Lex finished.
I stared at the counter, at the note. “What do we do?”
“Well . . .” Lex wrapped an arm around me. “I think the only option we have is to give him space and, of course, take a lot of ibuprofen. Be honest, has the swelling gone down?”
I winced and then scrunched up my nose.
“Good thing I wasn’t wearing my glasses.”
“Yeah.” I wrapped my arms around Lex’s neck. “I’m sad, Lex.”
He sighed, his forehead touching mine. “Me too.”
“It’s my fault,” we said in unison.
“No way!” I smacked his chest. “I’m the one who wanted to wait.”
“Right, but I’m the one who, in a moment of pure insanity, decided I was going to go after the girl that got away . . . even though I knew I could lose my best friend in the process.”
“I’m not worth this,” I admitted, shaking my head. “I’m not worth your friendship.”
“And you think I’m worth you losing a family member?” Lex fired back. “Ian’s a hothead. You know how he gets. Let’s just wait it out.”
“I think it would help if he knew . . .”
“Knew?”
“That I love you.” I shrugged.
Lex’s face fell as he pulled me into his arms. His mouth caressed mine with a soft kiss. “And the damsel fell for the villain. Write that, Disney.”
I rolled my eyes, then finished it off with a yawn.
“Bed.” Lex smacked me on the butt and stepped back. “Let’s go.”
Was he serious? He couldn’t be serious. “Lex, as much as I love you, I can’t have sex with you right now. I don’t think I have the focus to pay attention to the manual.”
“Manual,” Lex said gruffly. “When have I ever made you use the manual?”
“True.” What I needed was our banter, our joking. I needed to know that even after everything, we were still us, Lex and Gabi.
“And what type of guy sleeps with his girlfriend after she’s been sobbing her eyes out over losing her best friend? Am I that bad of a person?”
“Do you really want me to answer that?” I teased, turning my back so he wouldn’t see the fresh tears forming. “You’re Lex.” I shivered as he wrapped his arms around me from behind. “The world could come crashing down around you, and if I flashed boob—”
“Shh.” Lex nipped my neck. “My sensitive ears send bad signals to my body when I hear trigger words.”
“Any other words I should know about?”
“Gabi, don’t make me talk dirty.”
I squirmed as he kept kissing my neck and then untangled me from his arms. I slowly led him up the stairs and over to his bed. I lay down, waiting for him to follow.
Lex watched me, a playful smile crossing his features as he pulled off my shoes, pants, and shirt, then tucked me in, drawing the covers all the way up to my chin.
When he didn’t join me, I frowned. “Where are you going?”
He sighed and pointed to his computer. “Crime doesn’t fight itself, Sunshine.”
I fell asleep with a smile on my face.
Even though my heart hurt.
Chapter
Forty-Two
Lex
Ian finally showed up three days later. I had spent most of the evening finishing the new coding and then gone downstairs to hook up the coffee machine when my steps faltered.
Ian was sitting at the breakfast bar, reading the freaking newspaper and drinking coffee as if he hadn’t just basically kicked both Gabi and me out of his life.
“Ian,” I mumbled as I walked over to the coffeepot and poured a generous amount in my favorite Yoda mug.
“How long?” he said from behind the newspaper. I couldn’t see his face, didn’t need to see it to know he was pissed. “How long have you been sleeping with her?”
I was running on three hours of sleep.
Not the conversation I wanted to have, especially before my first sip of coffee.
“Does it really matter, Ian?”
“Yes.” He slammed the newspaper down onto the table. “It matters. How. Long.”
I did the mental calculations. “A month.”
“A month!” he roared, jumping to his feet.
I calmly set down my mug. “Ian, I’ve had a thing for her since freshman year.”
Holy shit, did he just stop breathing?
Hell. I killed my best friend.
Ian’s left eye started a slow tick while I backed away to put space between us just in case he decided to slam me against the oven.
“Four years,” he repeated. “So, what? You’ve been practicing with all those women since then?” Voice raised, he covered his face with his hands. “Lex, what the hell do you expect me to do with this?”
“Not kill me, for starters,” I grumbled. “I’d like to live to have children someday.”
Not the right thing to say, not at all.
“SHE’S PREGNANT?”
Damn me to hell. “No, you bastard, she’s not pregnant.” Though I’d be lying if I said the idea didn’t make my heart flip a bit. Any child of ours would be . . . a complete and total hellion.
“Stop smiling,” Ian barked.
I was smiling?
“Lex, you’ve stuffed your dick into some pretty bad situations. And now you’re telling me you like my sister? You’ve been keeping it from me, and what’s worse, you’re inevitably going to break her heart. And you expect me to just stand by and do nothing? She’s always been off-limits for this very reason! You wouldn’t know commitment if it bit you in the ass!”
“Careful, kettle,” I warned as anger tore through me. “You do realize that two months ago you were screwing anything that looked at you cross-eyed, right?”
“That’s different!” Ian said defensively.
“How?”
“Blake wasn’t your sister!”
“And if she were?”
He opened his mouth and closed it.
“Would it have stopped you?”
Again, silence. And he wasn’t quite meeting my gaze.
We were at an impasse. I wasn’t going to back down, and he refused to give me an inch or any slight acknowledgment that I could be right.
Footsteps sounded behind me and then Gabi appeared on my right, and her hand gripped mine. It was hard as hell not to give Ian a smug smirk followed by the finger. Hey, I never said I was completely mature!
It would push him over the edge he was oh so ready to push me off.
“Ian.” Gabi’s voice was hoarse. In an instant she released my hand and jumped into his arms. He held her tight.
And I watched.
Like I’d always done when they had a moment, but this time it was different. Before, it was like watching from the outside.
Now? Even though she was in his arms . . .
She was mine.
I felt her even when she was a few feet away.
I knew her taste.
Her smell.
What made her laugh.
What made her cry.
And I wasn’t ever going to let her go, no matter what Ian might think. She was mine.
When he dropped her back to her feet and kissed her forehead, his gaze darted between the two of us as Gabi made he
“But—” He shook his head. “You hate each other.”
“We still do,” Gabi piped up. “Like last night, when he was working on your computer program . . . You know the one, right? The one you asked him to fix? He’s been up three nights straight, only going to sleep after I crumbled melatonin in his coffee.”
“Hey!” I barked. “I knew something was wrong with my vision!”
“You’re fine.” Gabi ignored me. “See? I still drug him, he still yells at me, and when I eat a donut, I feel his judgmental eyes.”
I choked out a laugh. “Bullshit! I just wanted the donut, and you promised to share!”
“See?” Gabi spread her arms wide. “Still very dysfunctional. But it works for us.”
“Damn right it works.” I tugged her harder against me, swearing to never let go.
“Okay.” Ian sighed and leaned back against the counter. “So help me God, if you break her heart, I will make your death look like an accident, Lex.”
“Still friends?” I asked.
“That depends.” Ian crossed his arms. “Do you love her?”
“Of course I do,” I said quickly. “I wouldn’t put our friendship through this if I didn’t.”
Ian looked ready to swallow his tongue. “I . . . thought that would be harder to get out of you.”
“He told me he loved me right before you beat the crap out of him at my parents’ house,” Gabi said sweetly.
“Talk about a mood killer.” I rubbed my still-sore jaw.
“You were . . .” Ian swallowed. “You were . . . fondling!”
“I don’t even know what that means.” I burst out laughing. “Really, man? Fondling is what you do in junior high when you don’t know if you’re touching a girl’s breasts or her stomach.”
Ian glared.
“No fondling.” I held up my hands.
“Ian.” Gabi stepped away from me. “Lex found out already, but I thought I’d tell you, um, about my parents—”
“I took care of it.” Ian dismissed her with a quick shake of his head.
“What exactly did you do?”
Ian shrugged. “It wasn’t me. It was my sister. I went to visit her in hell, and she talked some sense into me, gave me an idea, and I hauled ass back to Seattle to see if it would work.”
“To see if what would work?” I asked, confused.
“We’re getting too big. Gabi’s not going to want to make out with random clients, and we can’t work out of the house anymore. We’re almost ready to graduate. It only made sense.”
“What only made sense?” I had a bad feeling.
Ian smirked. “Ready for your field trip?”
Chapter
Forty-Three
Gabi
Ian told us both to hurry, which left me with no choice but to bust out the Uggs and hope that Lex and I didn’t have a repeat of the fight of 2014 where he nearly set them on fire.
The minute I stepped out of my room, Lex stepped out of his.
A slow smirk spread across his face as he took in my attire. “Yoga pants, Uggs, and a sweatshirt. You pledging today or what?”
“Very funny.” I shoved past him; he shoved me back. “Lex, I say this in the nicest way possible, but push me again and I’m literally putting my foot down so you trip and break your two front teeth.”
“I’ve got teeth of steel.”
“I wonder if that’s why my mouth hurts. Learn to kiss.” I winked and then took off running as he chased me down the hall.
“You can run! But you’re wearing Uggs . . . They slow you down!”
Ian was waiting at the door as Lex and I stuttered to a stop, nearly stumbling over each other. Clearly, Lex was in a mood because he took that opportunity to pinch my butt.
“Stop it!” I smacked him in the chest. “I will hurt you!” I turned back to Ian.
He looked confused. “So the fighting . . .” He shook his head. “It’s . . . still a thing?”
“Always.” Lex shook his head. “Also, man, can you please address her shoe situation? She looks homeless.”
“I am homeless!” I shouted.
“No, you live here.” Ian smiled. “Across the hall from your boyfriend.”
I beamed. I couldn’t help it.
Ian rolled his eyes. “Okay, stop looking so happy.”
We stepped outside together.
“A limo?” Lex frowned. “Wait, has that been here the whole time?”
Ian burst out laughing. “I honestly thought it would take hours to get you to admit you loved her. Hours! And then you go and handle it all like a man, ruining everything. You’re supposed to be fighting your feelings, not planning your wedding! I thought you’d either bail or finally admit that you loved her, not threaten me.” Ian rolled his eyes. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m still mad as hell, but . . . if it’s a match, it’s a match, right?”
“Right.” Lex breathed out a heavy sigh as his hand found mine. “Now, why is there a limo? You getting hitched?”
Ian shrugged. “Not now. Besides, I have news about Gabs’s dad.”
The driver opened the door. Blake was already sitting in the limo. I appreciated the fact that as a total tomboy she was wearing basically the same thing I was, minus the Uggs. Though she had on the ugliest rubber flip-flops I’d ever seen. Apparently Ian always hid them, but she found them every time. He’d finally given up.
“Hey!” Blake handed me a glass of champagne. It felt good to see her. During volleyball season it seemed like we were just passing ships. “That didn’t take long.”
“Yeah, well . . .” I scooted in next to her and drank from my glass. “Apparently Ian thought he was going to have to convince Lex of his feelings.”
“But”—Lex barreled into the car and took a seat next to me—“I’m a fast learner, genius and all that, so I already knew I loved her.”
Ian jumped in and slammed the door. “You guys ready?”
“Ready for what? And what does this have to do with my dad?” I asked.
“Lex and I will be in charge of hiring.”
“Hiring?” Lex’s eyebrows shot up. “Okay, what exactly are we hiring for?”
Ian grinned. “You’ll see.”
We drove a few miles until we hit downtown Seattle. We stopped near the Amazon campus and walked a block until we came face-to-face with a giant black skyscraper.
A sign in front said, “Office space available.” And across the sign it said, “Sold.”
“Ian?” Lex said. “Help me out.”
“Facebook offered ten.” Ian sighed. “Match.com offered twelve.”
“For the building?” I guessed.
Ian turned. “Nope. For Wingmen Inc.”
“Really?” Lex’s eyes narrowed. “And as partner you didn’t tell me?”
“Didn’t have to.” Ian sobered. “Hacking’s your drug. Working for the man is the last thing you want for your life, especially since you have a good thing going. Microsoft can suck my ass.”
They high-fived.
Men.
“So we’re moving the business into this office?” I asked. “Isn’t that really expensive?”
Both Lex and Ian grinned.
“What? What am I missing?”
“Sunshine . . .” Lex grabbed my hand. “Our app alone is worth more than eight million dollars, not including Wingmen Inc. and our software, if we expand.”
“Eight,” I repeated, “million?”
“We’ll need to hire a team. Gabi’s dad doesn’t take shit from anyone.” Ian looked between us. “And since Lex is still living, they clearly get along. I already texted him his starting
Tears filled my eyes. “Sounds like Mom.”
“So . . .” Ian gripped Blake’s hand, then brought it to his lips to kiss her knuckles. “What do you girls say? Work for us when you graduate?”
We both laughed.
“What?” Ian frowned.
“Can my signing bonus be Pirate’s Booty?” I asked.
“Oooo, that’s a good idea!” Blake agreed with an evil chuckle.
Ian rolled his eyes. “You’ll have to take that up with HR.”
“Damn HR, damn yellow tape!” I argued with a laugh while Lex pulled me in for a hug. “What do you think?”
“Me?” Lex’s mouth found mine. “I think I want to buy you a car that can go more than one mile without dying. I think I want to be by your side until you kick me to the curb for being clingy. I’ve loved you for a long time . . . I’ll continue to love you even longer.”
My eyes filled with tears as Blake sighed heavily next to me.
But then fighting broke out as Blake smacked Ian. “You need to learn to say lines like that!”
“I’m romantic!” Ian argued. “Last week I bought you flowers!”
“I got stung by a bee in said flowers!”
“You scared it!”
Lex smiled against my mouth. “Make love and war?”
“Always more interesting that way.”
“Let’s go in.” Ian smiled, leading us through the glass double doors. He snatched a few guest passes from the security booth in the lobby, and then we were riding the elevator.
To their offices.
“I can’t believe you did it,” Lex muttered. “I mean I can, but I can’t.”
“Yeah, well.” Ian shared a look with all of us. “You guys can thank the sister . . . She’s the one who said I needed to get my head out of my ass and stop feeling sorry for myself and be excited about the fact that my best friends had feelings for each other. It really does make the holidays so much easier.”