The Wingman by A. Poland

Chapter Five

Lorcan had abandoned him.

Nathan was in a state of shock. An hour into the hike and Lorcan walked merrily ahead with Miles, deeply engaged in conversation, Lorcan even making the overzealous hand motions that emerged when he got especially excited about something.

Nathan couldn’t help but glower and didn’t stop himself from being obvious about it.

He was sweating and panting, and there was something in his shoe.

His scowl could be completely blamed on that, not his best friend abandoning him when he was completely out of his element. Not that anyone noticed, and Nathan wasn’t sure if he should be annoyed about that or find comfort in it.

Jordie walked just ahead of him. She hadn’t spoken a word to Nathan since the initial introductions were made, which was more than fine with him. Nathan wasn’t exactly in the mood for chatting, especially if the next two days were going to go by like this—Miles and Lorcan going off and doing their own thing.

Having sex in that nice two-person tent Lorcan had thoughtfully purchased.

Nathan’s frown deepened.

“You could try being less obvious,” Jordie said suddenly, as nonchalant as anything, only offering Nathan a cursory glance over her shoulder.

Nathan blanched. “Less obvious about what?” he managed through labored breathing.

Jordie stopped in her tracks so Nathan could catch up to her, and Nathan was more than happy with the break it offered.

“About how obviously desperate you are for Lorcan.”

For the second time that week, Nathan’s heart felt like it would lurch from his chest and out of his body.

How had she found out?

She couldn’t possibly know. She had to be making assumptions.

“No idea what you’re talking about,” he dismissed. After all, Jordie knew next to nothing about Nathan. She didn’t know what he acted like when he was bullshitting.

Jordie laughed sharply. “Please, you’ve been staring at Lorcan’s ass for the past hour.”

Shit.

Nathan was guilty of doing that. Not that anyone could blame him—Lorcan had a great ass. But before Nathan could open his mouth to argue, Jordie kept going.

“And I know how smitten that mountain of muscle is with Miles.”

Nathan furrowed his brows.

Nathan furrowed his brows because—was Lorcan being that obvious? To prove a point to himself, Nathan drew his attention up ahead just in time to spot Lorcan giving Miles a long, appraising look as he took a drink.

Okay. Double shit. Maybe she had a point.

“So that’s why you’re here, right?” she continued, taking off again, and Nathan was compelled to follow. It was difficult to keep up with both her pace and the conversation, but he just about managed. He wanted to pick her brain, learn her secrets. Someone like Jordie definitely knew a lot of secrets if she could read the room (well, forest) that quickly.

“I… What?” he managed, a little dazed.

“To keep them apart. That’s why you’re here.”

Nathan was faced with a decision. He could play it cool, deny everything, and then try to catch up with the others and avoid Jordie and her knowing gaze for the rest of the weekend. Or he could confess to this person he’d only met an hour ago but who’d somehow sussed him out quicker than Lorcan ever had.

“I… Kind of.” Nathan sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. Damp. Pulling a face, Nathan looked at his sweaty palm before wiping it on his pants. “Technically, I’m meant to be helping Lorcan get Miles interested. It’s kind of my thing.” Nathan shrugged, trying not to sound too proud of the fact that he was an excellent matchmaker.

“Oh, that’s you?”

Nathan stopped in his tracks, which was decidedly a bad move, considering he immediately tripped and stumbled over a rock. Balancing himself again, he focused his attention back on Jordie.

“You know me?”

“No.” Jordie was quick to burst that bubble of any notoriety Nathan thought he had. “But I know of Lorcan, and I know what kind of guy he is.”

They’d both stopped walking, eyes locked on each other, sizing each other up.

“What kind of guy he is?” Nathan asked, narrowing his gaze.

“He’s the kind of guy who’d sleep with someone and never call.” Jordie paused, giving Nathan a look he couldn’t decipher. “A guy who gets his friend to flirt with people for him.”

Nathan was gobsmacked, to put it lightly.

“That is so not the kind of guy Lorcan is!” Nathan was immediately on the defense. Of course he was. Jordie was painting Lorcan as some kind of fuckboy without fully knowing him.

Lorcan was too sweet to be a fuckboy.

And clueless.

“So he doesn’t do that?” Jordie countered innocently.

“I… He…” Nathan didn’t know how to answer that. “You caught me off guard with that question; that’s not fair.”

Jordie smirked, triumphant in getting an answer without Nathan actually answering fully.

Okay, so maybe Lorcan was a bit of a player. But wasn’t that what the people he hooked up with were interested in? A one-night thing? It wasn’t as though Nathan had been setting them up for failure. They got laid; fun was involved for everyone.

Lorcan hadn’t done anything wrong, per se.

“How would you know anyway?”

Nathan tried a different tactic, questioning her validity in making such sweeping claims about the sweetest guy Nathan knew.

“I’m doing my master’s at UCLA. Some of my friends have fallen prey to that little routine you two have.”

Nathan counted himself lucky he’d never encountered Jordie on any of those nights out, having the distinct feeling she’d have zero problem shooting him down—and not nicely.

Nathan grew silent in his guilt because how was he supposed to dispute that?

“I don’t want my brother getting involved with that.” Jordie crossed her arms over her chest, cocking her head to the side. “He has horrible taste in guys, and any time he gets involved with someone, it ends badly and he’s in pieces.”

All Nathan heard was that Miles was into guys.

“Lorcan wouldn’t do that.” Nathan stuck to his guns. He wasn’t going to stand there and let someone bad-mouth his best friend.

“No? So Lorcan wouldn’t suddenly go radio silent after sleeping with him?”

Nathan closed his mouth.

For as much as Lorcan seemed to be into Miles, there was no denying a lot of that might just be physical attraction. The sheer concept of Miles annoyed Nathan to his core, but he was hot. Even he could admit that. Maybe that was what all of this was about, without Lorcan being fully cognizant of the fact. Maybe doing the deed would get Miles out of his system.

But then again, should Nathan take that risk? Lock them in one of those tents, play some Marvin Gaye to set the scene, and hope Lorcan fucked Miles out of his system?

“Exactly,” Jordie proceeded, drawing him out of his plans. “So I think we should work together.”

That caught Nathan off guard, and he looked at her sharply with a raised brow.

“To do…what, exactly?” He spoke slowly, unsure of the direction Jordie was going with this.

“To keep Lorcan away from Miles.” Jordie copied Nathan’s inflection, drawing attention to how long it was taking for him to get with the program. “If we can get Lorcan interested in you, Miles doesn’t have to get involved with that shit show.”

Did she just call Lorcan a shit show?

“Hey, you guys all right back there?” Lorcan was a tiny dot at the very top of the steep hill Nathan had yet to tackle.

“Are you in?” Jordie asked, ignoring Lorcan.

Was he in?

Shit, was he in?

Jordie had made a very good proposition. If Nathan helped keep Lorcan and Miles away from each other, then maybe, just maybe, Lorcan might set his sights on him.

It was a small chance, but wasn’t life all about taking risks?

“I’m in,” Nathan quickly decided with an abrupt nod. And for the first time, Jordie smiled at him.

“We’re good!” Jordie yelled back with a thumbs-up. “Nathan just had a pebble in his shoe!”

Jordie turned back to continue walking, but Nathan reached out to stop her.

“About that. I actually do have a pebble in my shoe. Can I balance off of you while I get it out?”

Jordie kept on walking.

So it was like that.

*

Another two hours dragged by before the group stopped for a break. When Nathan finally caught up to them at the top of the hill, panting and flustered but admittedly feeling proud that he’d managed it by himself, he realized how deep in the forest they were.

If he looked above him, he could just about see the blue sky through the tops of the trees.

The way ahead couldn’t be described as a path. It was too overgrown and narrow. With even more spiky plants that somehow kept nicking Nathan like tiny needles. Lorcan, Miles, and Jordie were all in shorts as well and seemingly unaffected by the thick underbrush. Nathan conclusively came to terms with the fact that he was both a wuss and had a ridiculously low pain threshold.

He’d had his suspicions through the years, but this confirmed it.

When they happened across a stream, Nathan counted his blessings. The stream would have been idyllic if it weren’t for all of the slippery-looking rocks around it, but Nathan was happy to have an excuse to stop walking as Lorcan refilled their water bottles.

Jordie hadn’t mentioned anything more about their plan to keep Lorcan and Miles apart, and Nathan was coming up short on how exactly he was meant to achieve that. Maybe Jordie had forgotten about it, officially accepted how amazing a guy Lorcan was and that any person would be lucky to get involved with him.

Even some heartbroken musician who didn’t look one bit sweaty. How dare he.

“Water?” Miles asked, proffering a bottle. Nathan accepted it with a nod of gratitude and chugged, too parched to verbally say thank you.

“Do you have a tent with you?” Jordie was suddenly beside Nathan, unscrewing the cap of her bottle and looking far too casual to be conspiring any kind of plan. Miles stepped away, looking at the path that they were about to embark on, with Lorcan behind him, pointing out the trail.

Nathan smiled at Lorcan fondly. He was so good at this stuff.

“Yeah, why—” Nathan didn’t get the chance to finish before he was thrown off-balance, stumbling against the slippery rocks, reaching out for something to grab so he wouldn’t fall to his death.

But nothing was within his grasp, and Jordie had stepped away.

All Nathan could do was fall back into the icy-cold water.