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“Holy shit,” Ethan said, eyes on the chip Gareth just threw in after he’d dealt the last card. “Is that a favor chip?”
“Focus on Weston,” Gareth grumbled, then cut his eyes to me. “Fix it.”
“Well, that’s easy enough,” I said sarcastically.
“It is,” Gareth said. “That girl loves you and we’ve all known it for years.”
I raised my brows at him.
“What, we have,” he said, eying the rest of the guys, who nodded. “You’re the one who kept yourself on a leash. So fix it.”
“I have to agree,” Serenity said after throwing in her last bet, then cringed and pinched her lips shut, like she hadn’t meant to speak out loud. “I’m sorry. You didn’t ask me. I shouldn’t have—”
“No,” I said. “Go on.”
Serenity cleared her throat, her shoulders curled in slightly like she didn’t enjoy all of the attention on her. “She’ll forgive you for whatever you did as long as you change whatever behavior led to it in the first place.” She bit her lip. “If you have no intention of changing that, then there is no point going after her. It would be a false apology if there’s no real intent behind it.”
“Well said,” Asher said, smiling at her.
“Call,” Gareth finally said, throwing in the last chip.
Serenity turned over her cards. “I have a flush,” she said. “If you have the full house then good job.”
“Fuck,” Gareth said, folding his cars. “I put you on two pair.”
Serenity allowed the smallest of smiles to shape her lips as she raked in the chips, taking one out of the stack and slipping it into her purse when she thought no one was looking. I didn’t know which chip it was, but I worried about the repercussions if Doyle found out she’d stolen something from him. Even if she’d won the hand, I knew for a fact Doyle would still consider all the winnings as his.
“So,” Ethan said after he dealt another round. “What are you going to do?”
Serenity fell quiet, her eyes flickering around the table while she folded her cards.
I looked at my friends, feeling out of sorts in a way I never had before. I shrugged, my heart less than hopeful. “I’ll try to fix it.”
BRYNN
“Ireally love the versatility you’ve shown here,” Janice—the head female exec at Nike—said over the line.
I smiled brightly, nodding even though she couldn’t see me. I had her on speaker, working from my little home office in my apartment. I’d used my own contacts to get another meeting with her, and she’d just finished watching my proposal.
“It embodies what we’re trying to show with the new line,” she said. “A line of products to fit all types of women-identifying people no matter the profession, body type, or athletic level.”
“And with a range of styles to fit all personalities,” I added.
“Exactly. You really captured that here, Ms. Allen,” she said. “Unfortunately, we have another proposal meeting in an hour, and I can’t say any specifics until we’ve seen that one as well.”
“Completely understand,” I said. “I just wanted to make sure you saw all your options. I’m grateful you took the time to speak with me today.”
“I am too,” she said. “I can’t speak for everyone here, but this is the best one I’ve seen. You really listened to what we wanted. I know we’ll talk soon.”
I managed to get the phone hung up before I squealed.
She liked it.
She liked my idea, my hard work. That was all me and my team, not Weston or his company. And sure, she had other proposals to consider, but at least I knew I’d done everything I could to seal the deal. It was out of my hands now.
Which meant I was no longer distracted by work, and any time I wasn’t distracted, I was…hurting.
Not only because of the fight with Weston, but also because of the stark realization after.
