“Perfect. Meesha loved Bora Bora. I’m pretty sure she wants to move there.” Connor follows my gaze. “You think they’ll get together?”
My hand tightens on the bottle. “Who?”
“Kamal and Jasmine.” Connor flips another steak. “We both know he’s into her. Tonight might be the night he finally makes a move.”
The bottle pauses at my lips. “Over my dead body.”
Connor stares at me sharply. “What?”
“They’re not together,” I say, trying to sound casual. “He’s not her type.”
“Not yet. But look at them.” Connor gestures with his spatula. “They’d make a cute couple.”
I watch Kamal lean closer to her, and the muscles in my jaw lock tight. “She’s just being polite. Besides, Kamal’s already working his way through half of Winter Bay’s female population. What’s his count this month? Three? Four?”
Connor chuckles. “You’re keeping track?”
“Hard not to when he brings a different woman to every company event.” I take another long drink. “Jasmine’s too smart to fall for his player bullshit. She needs someone monogamous. She needs someone with personality. Someone who can make her laugh.”
“Someone like you?” Connor’s tone is too knowing.
“I didn’t say that. I’m just saying she can do better than Mr. Casanova over there.”
Connor starts loading steaks onto a platter. “Right. Because you’re completely objective about this.”
“Completely,” I lie.
“Grab that chicken, will you?”
I help him carry everything to the table. Meesha has everyone sit down. I end up directly across from Jasmine.
The sun is almost down now, turning the lake golden. Meesha lights the candles. We pass dishes and fill plates, and everyone starts talking.
“So, how’s the new game doing?” Meesha asks.
Kamal grins. “Hit twelve million downloads this morning.”
“The Korean market loved it,” I add. I’m the lead developer at JAK Innovations. “We’re already working on the sequel.”
“Which means Connor’s investment just got even more ridiculous,” Jaxon says, raising his beer to my brother-in-law. “Remember when you gave three broke college kids a million dollars?”
Connor laughs. “Best decision I ever made. Well, second best.” He smiles at Meesha.
“Smooth,” she says, smiling.
“This is why I stay single,” I say, glancing toward Jasmine. “No one to suffer through bad lines.”
Meesha snorts. “Yeah. That’s the reason.”
Connor was fresh out of the NHL with an injury and wanting to invest his earnings. We were three college freshmen with a mobile game idea and no money. He took a chance on our business, and it was the best thing to happen to any of us.
A random group project in high school had somehow turned into a billion-dollar business partnership. Jaxon handled the business side, Kamal the finance, and I coded and designed like my life depended on it.
My mom had worked two jobs to get me here from São Paulo. Failure wasn’t an option.
The conversation flows around me. Connor’s latest real estate acquisition. Jessa’s promotion to principal of the elementary school where she teaches. Jaxon’s newest car. I contribute when required, but my attention keeps drifting to Jasmine.
I make jokes, tell an elaborate story about a disastrous meeting with Korean investors that has everyone laughing—everyone except Jasmine.
