I smacked him hard on the arm, then started chasing him around the room to beat him. “You taught him to stare at my boobs? You’re disgusting!”
“Ow! Stop hitting me! I didn’t teach him to stare atyourboobs! Just boobs in general!”
I almost swung again, but he was already half-crouched, hiding behind his upheld hands. “Why would you need to teach him how to stare at boobs? Doesn’t that come naturally?”
“Yes, but you have to do it properly. It’s not like you want to get caught.”
“Then you did a shitty job,” I sneered. “His eyes never leave my chest!”
“Geez,” he grumbled, rubbing his arm. “You don’t have to hit me so damn hard. Just because I’m a guy doesn’t mean I don’t bruise.”
“Obviously, someone didn’t hit you hard enough.”
“Okay, look, I won’t ask you to spend time with Wes.”
I knew it was coming. He was doing the whole countdown thing where he started with the worst and worked his way to the one he really hoped I would help him out with. Usually, it was something I would say yes to anyway, but I liked making him work for it.
“Then what do you want?”
Wincing, he rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. It must be really bad if he was actually nervous about asking. “Look, I sort of need you to find out more about…Lizzy.”
My eyebrows shot up at that. “About Lizzy?”
“The pregnancy,” he muttered. “Look, I’ll do anything?—”
“Nope.” I walked away, not getting involved in that one.
“You don’t understand. Mike and Liam are up my ass, begging me to find out who the baby daddy is!”
“It’s none of your business!” I argued.
“You don’t actually have to find out!” he shouted, catching up to me and grabbing me by the arm.
I hissed as his fingers bit into the crook of my elbow, though his grip wasn’t all that hard. “Ouch!”
His eyes darkened and he grabbed my arm, yanking the sleeve up. I was as shocked as he was to find a bruise on the inside of my elbow.
“Who did this?” he snapped.
“What—”
His nostrils flared as a side of Jeff I rarely saw came out. “Who fucking did this to you?”
“No one,” I said, yanking back my arm.
“It was that fucker, wasn’t it? I’m gonna kill him,” he said, turning on his heel and marching for the front door.
Sighing, I rolled my eyes and followed. “Jeff, he’s not even here, and he didn’t do this.”
“Then how did you get it?” he called over his shoulder. “Did the fairy put it there?”
“Oh my God! If only I had all sisters instead of neanderthal brothers!”
He suddenly stopped and faced me, his anger still brimming, but his eyes holding a playfulness I was used to. “Neanderthal? Was I that convincing?”
Men. I hated having to placate their egos. “Yes, it was so believable.”
“You really thought I was gonna go track him down?”