Page 31 of Set Play

Me:

That’s…not how you use that word…

Lukas:

Yes it is. It means a smart person who does stupid shit…Right?

Me:

No…

I wince as Reya leans into my personal space, digging her bony elbow into my ribcage and clearing her throat. My phone is snatched from my hands before I can even try to lock it.

She hasn’t looked at it yet, but the twinkle in her caramel eyes has “Busted” written all over it. “And who has you smiling at your phone like that?”

“I can assure you I have no idea what you mean. I wasn’t— Oh, look, it’s Niamh!” The thought of Reya possessing my phone is momentarily forgotten at the sight of that wild pale red hair. I jump to my feet to catch Niamh’s attention.

Flecked hazel eyes dance with excitement when they spot the two of us. I debate warning Reya about my roommate’s propensity for speaking at loud volumes and high pitches, but then remember she still has my phone.

You know what…let her find out the hard way. She deserves it.

Niamh launches herself the last few feet to wrap her thin arms around a stunned Reya. “Oh, my goddess! You must be Reya. I can’t believe Éllie finally made a new friend. It’s so nice to meet you!”

“Um, nice to meet you, too?”

I laugh, pulling Niamh off poor Reya before she hurts someone with her insane display of affection. Our butts are barely back in the booth before Niamh starts her twenty question interrogation of Reya. “So, Reya. Tell me about yerself! How old are ye? What do ye do for a living? Are ye seeing anyone? Wait, why do ye have Éllie’s phone?”

If I wasn’t sure that Reya is a good sport after nearly bulldozing her earlier this week, I am now. She doesn’t even bat an eye at Niamh’s excitement. “There’s not much to tell. I’m twenty-three, work in graphic design, and am single.”

Reya cuts her eyes over to me, giving me a sly grin. “And I have her phone because she was blushing at it like a schoolgirl and I wanted to see why.”

My mouth pops open, ready to object but Niamh cuts me off, “Oh, really? Now, Éllie, why were you smiling at your phone?” She leans forward in her seat, eyes locked on mine like she can see the answer in my head without me saying a word.

Reya quickly slides over so Niamh can look over her shoulder and the two of them giggle as they scroll through my phone, likely seeing the messages that Mateo and I exchanged earlier this week and recent ones from Lukas. I cross my arms, refusing to let their childish antics embarrass me, and glare at my former best friend.

“You like him.” She says the statement plainly, like it’s scientific fact.

“I most certainly do not! Why the hell would you say that? You know I hate him.” My protest comes out a bit too forced, but other than an inward wince, I don’t react to it.

They’re obviously wrong. There’s no way I like Mateo Reyes. Actually, I hate him.

“Oh.” She shrugs.“I don’t know. Where should we start?” Her coffee-colored nail taps against her lips as she ponders her own question.

“Maybe with these messages between you and Mateo. You two are clearly flirting. And don’t even try to argue that he was flirting when you know damn well that you would have stopped if you weren’t interested.”

My silence does nothing to discourage them as Reya takes up the effort to defend their case.

“Then there’s the messages with Lukas. You were clearly hoping he’d show his brother knowing that it would get a reaction from him. And of course, the coup de grace is the goofy grin you had when you opened your phone to see a picture of Mateo.”

A third voice adds to the debate, causing all three of us to jump at the intrusion. A gorgeous girl around Reya’s age stands at the head of the table with a tray in hand. Her dark hair is tied back into two braids and her coffee brown eyes glitter with muted laughter. “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”

Reya lets out a small shriek, “Iris! I didn’t know you were working here. Niamh, Élise, meet Iris. We went to high school together.”

We exchange pleasantries as Iris places our drinks down in front of us. “Yeah, I’m working here while I work on my architecture degree. But back to the argument…your face is so beet red, even I can tell you have the hots for this guy. Anyway,“ Iris continues over my huff of objection, “I can’t stay since I’m working, but I just wanted to come by and say hi. I hope I see you guys around!”

With one last glare in the direction Iris went, I turn back to the two that started this and sneer, “For your information, I was not flirting with him, directly or otherwise. The picture is good blackmail. End of story. This whole ‘relationship’,” I say the last word with an exaggerated eye roll and air quotes, “thing he has instigated is just for the cameras. Trust me, I am working on figuring a way out of this whole sham relationship as quickly as possible. I refuse to stay stuck to him. I hate him, remember?”

They look at each other, some unspoken communication passing between them before they turn back to me with eyebrows arched in skepticism. “We remember…do you?”