“I’d say Adelia’s a good friend for letting you stay here, and if you were a good friend to her, you would’ve respected the fact that she was having a party, instead of showing up late and covered in sweat like you just ran a marathon.”
His eyes narrowed. “You don’t know anything about my friendship with Adelia, so you should probably keep your opinions to yourself.”
Merritt huffed, and her blood began to boil. “And maybe you should’ve put a little more thought into your attire, rather than picking up the first thing you found laying on the floor.”
His mouth was now agape.
Adelia cleared her throat to break up their little spat. “Augustus Schultz, this is Merritt Christianson. Merritt, meet Gus.”
He reluctantly held his hand out between them, which annoyed her, so she didn’t bother reaching out to shake his.
“Spoiled brat.” He lowered his hand with disdain.
Her eyes shot to his. “Excuse me?”
“You’re not excused.”
“You know nothing about me, except my name.”
“And the fact that you’re as fake and pretentious as the rest of the people at this party.”
“Gus!” Adelia snapped.
He rolled his eyes as he walked toward the bar.
“He has some nerve.” Merritt was fuming.
Adelia raised an eyebrow at her. “Well, you didn’t exactly give him a warm welcome.”
Merritt shrugged.
“I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but he’s been through a lot lately. Maybe cut him a little slack.”
Merritt knew nothing about his troubles, but she knew how to be a decent human being, which was a skill he seemed to be lacking. She looked across the yard to where he stood, chatting with some other guests. His sandy brown hair fell loosely around his ears, and she noticed it was damp—at least he’d showered the sweat and dirt off. It was clear he took care of his body, which she’d noticed earlier, in spite of herself. She pushed that thought to the back of her mind, remembering how rude he’d been to her.
Gus glanced in her direction and caught her watching him, and she turned her attention back to Giovanni, who was chatting with Adelia. She was glad they hadn’t noticed her staring at him.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him coming toward them, and she was relieved when he moved to the other side of the table to sit next to Adelia.
“I should send you to the pool house with no dinner,” Adelia scolded him.
“You’re cute for thinking that would work.” He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek, which made Merritt wonder what kind of relationship they had.
Adelia gave him a dirty look. “Did you talk to your family?” she asked.
He took a sip of his water.
“You didn’t? Come on. It’s almost Christmas. They’ll want to hear from you.”
“I’ll call Skylar later.”
“That’s better than nothing, I guess.” She wrapped her arms around him from the side and hugged him before getting up and going to check on dinner.
Gus sat quietly, not talking to anyone, looking kind of miserable.
Merritt noticed the bandage on his arm and had the urge to say something, maybe even apologize for being so harsh at first.
His eyes met hers. “What?” he snapped.
“Nothing.”
“Oh, there’s something you want to say. I can see it in your eyes. So say it.” He paused for a millisecond then rolled his eyes again. “I don’t know why Adelia thinks any of you people are really her friends.”
She gritted her teeth. There was no way she was going to apologize now, and she was angry at herself for considering it.
“You’re one to talk.” She finally found her words. “You’re obviously close if she’s letting you live here. Yet you didn’t care one iota that she was having a party tonight.”
“Who says iota?”
“Furthermore, you insult her friends without a second thought. And yes, I am her friend. A real friend wouldn’t act the way you’re acting.”
He grunted.
She glared. “Haven’t you ever heard the phrase ‘think before you speak’?”
“I say what I’m thinking, and I don’t feel bad about it.”
She leaned forward. “Maybe you should.”
He angled his body to face her, leaning closer to the table. “Maybe you should mind your own business.”
“Maybe you should go back to the pool house.” She leaned in more, her body over the table now.
He leaned across the table, facing her down. “Maybe you shouldn’t text and drive.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, her blood reaching boiling level again. “Maybe you should run against traffic like you’re supposed to.”
“So this is my fault?”
“Hey!” Adelia was standing at the end of the table, staring back and forth between the both of them.
Gus looked up at Adelia with what appeared to be regret on his face and stood. “I’m sorry, Deals. I think I’ll just call it a night after all. Clearly, I don’t care one iota about this party.” He glared at Merritt when he spoke. “Furthermore, I’m not very good company tonight.”
Merritt had never wanted to punch someone before, but she came very close in that moment.
Adelia shook her head. “Obviously.”
Gus hugged her good night and walked toward the pool house, and Merritt was relieved to see him go.
Adelia’s eyes turned on Merritt. “What was that all about?”
“He’s rude and insulting and immature and—”
“That’s a pretty strong reaction to someone you just met,” Giovanni interjected with one eyebrow raised high.
“You heard him, Vanni.”
“Yeah, he wasn’t very nice. But then you weren’t too nice to him either.”
“Can you blame me?”
“I feel like you two need a do-over,” Adelia said. “Maybe a reintroduction when you’re both in a better mood or something.”
“I’m in a fine mood. At least I was until he walked in.”
Giovanni was right. It was a strong reaction toward someone she’d just met. But no one had ever provoked her that way before, and she’d lost control of her mouth over it. With that level of anger, she could’ve spit nails.
Merritt did her best to enjoy dinner, but she couldn’t shake the annoyance Gus had caused. At least he hadn’t stuck around and ruined the entire party for her.
THREE
Gus stared blankly, unable to pay attention to anything he was seeing on the television screen. All he could think about was the brunette spitfire, who was currently eating dinner with his friend, yards away from where he was sitting in the pool house.
So, she was Merritt. Her name had come up in conversation with Adelia, but they’d never had occasion to meet. She definitely wasn’t what he was expecting. Adelia had made her sound like such a great girl. She’d even teased about setting them up, which he wanted nothing to do with. He could find his own dates, thank you very much. And Merritt … well, she was definitely not his type. And he couldn’t deal with her attitude. She had no right to be rude to him after she nearly ran him down with her car.