Page 34 of Twisted Beauty

He also liked it better when she didn’t know so much about him. How did she know he was a chef? He was pretty sure he hadn’t told her. If she was asking Katie about him, that would mean she was interested. And that would not end well.

Liv took a sip of her beer and licked her lips. She groaned in appreciation and the sound reverberated through his body. Damn it. He needed to walk away and leave her with Nate. But the thought made his stomach turn.

“Please tell me you’re not speaking to him,” Katie called out from her seat near the opposite wall of the living room.

Liv glanced up at her friend with a sly little smile. “I thought that’s what you wanted.”

So it wasn’t just him. She was sassy with everyone.

Another knock at the door stopped Katie from answering.

“Come on up,” Nate yelled from above. Obviously he only got off his ass to open the door if he thought there might be a particular auburn-haired girl on the other side with “legs up to here.”

Another group of people came stomping up the stairs, and Matt had to wonder what “just a few mates” actually meant to Nate. By his count, there were already nine or ten people here and it was only eight o’clock.

Katie got up to greet them and motioned for Liv to join her.

“Looks like I’ve been summoned,” Liv said. After she left, the space next to him felt empty.

What the fuck was his problem?

Seconds later, music began to flow from an incredible sound system, something he wasn’t expecting in a place that looked like this. The melodic voice of Rihanna bellowed some version of “Diamonds” Matt had never heard. And he’d heard plenty, since his younger cousin was a rabid fan.

With music playing full blast, Nate returned to the living room and welcomed the new arrivals before heading straight for Liv.

Matt tried to ignore it. He had to believe Liv was smart enough to see through Nate’s act, and even if she didn’t, he wasn’t going to give her the wrong idea by coming to her rescue.

He recognized a couple of students from his intro class at the Spanish Learning Center, so he went over to say hello to them instead. After a few minutes of small talk, Matt left the group to grab another beer from the cooler, and then snuck off to sit in one of the folding chairs along the wall by himself. He already needed a break.

He sat back and stared out at the crowd, which had grown to probably twenty or thirty people by now. He spotted Liv’s auburn locks, though she looked more brunette in the dimmed light, and watched as she charmed everyone she met. And as far as he could tell, there wasn’t a man in the entire room who hadn’t noticed her.

“Dude, you might want to make your move soon.” Zach slid a chair over and sat down. “Skol,” he said as he clinked his beer to Matt’s.

“My move?”

Zach chuckled, and gestured with his beer toward Liv. “You haven’t taken your eyes off her all night. Then again, neither has Nate. Hate to see you lose out to that arse-hole.”

Matt took a gulp of beer. “I thought you were friends with that fucker.”

“Sure, but I’d prefer if he stayed the hell away from Kat’s friends. She thinks he shits gold, but I’ll never hear the end of it if he pulls his usual bullshit with one of her friends.”

“He really is an ass, isn’t he?” Matt watched as Nate weaseled his way over to Liv yet again. “But it looks to me like you’re already on Kat’s shit list anyway.”

“Nah, that’s all you, man.” Zach grinned. “I shit gold too.” His gaze slid over to Katie, who was standing awfully close to some random guy, chatting away. He swore under his breath. “Looks like a rescue’s in order.”

“Pathetic,” Matt muttered as he watched Zach make his way toward Katie and wrap a possessive arm around her shoulder.

A lull in the music sent Nate running upstairs, so Matt glanced around the party until he spotted Liv. He stood and wove his way through the crowd toward her, not sure what, if anything, he planned to say when he got there.

Before he reached her, Katie stepped in front of him to block his path. She folded her arms and glared at him. “Stay away from her, you jerk.”

Matt sighed. “I know you’re mad at me, Kat, and you have a right to be. I overreacted the other day at the shop, and I’m sorry. I already apologized to Liv.”

Katie’s eyebrows shot up. Clearly he’d surprised her, and for one brief moment she was speechless. It was a beautiful thing to see, almost worth having to apologize. He had to work at keeping a straight face.

He took advantage of her silence and continued. “I was having a bad day, and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you and Liv. Can you forgive me?”

Katie narrowed her eyes. “Are you screwing with me right now?”