“Oh, he’s going to. Trust me. I saw the way he looked at you,” Sutton says, and I glare at her.
“Be serious. The man can barely stand me. I’m working on getting him to accept that having friends is a required human experience. He’s never even smiled. In fact, I’m not sure he even has the correct muscles to do so. He’s the grumpiest person on earth. I don’t foresee him coming to a dive bar just because I gave him puppy dog eyes.”
“You gave him puppy dog eyes?” Lainey asks, entertainment spreading across her face.
I roll my eyes.
“It's my signature move. I just wanted him to come out. He’s super stressed with the opening,” I say.
“What other signature moves of yours has he seen?” Claire says, and I shoot her a glare.
“All I’m saying is you guys are reading far too much into things. Yes, we hooked up once before I formally worked for him. That was all. We haven’t ever talked about it since, and he’s barely shown the tiniest interest in beingcoworkers, much less friends or anything beyond that,” I say, though if I’m being honest, that feels like a lie.
“Maybe he’s just grumpy because he’s totally, irrevocably in love with you, but it’s against the rules to date you, so he’s secretly angry that he has to watch you from afar, knowing he’s never going to get you.” We all look at Lainey, who wears a dreamy face as she rubs a cloth over an already dry glass. When she realizes no one is responding, she blinks, then shrugs as if that was a normal response. “What? It could happen.”
The silence lingers for a moment before Claire leans into me, still watching our friend.
“That was weird, right?” Claire says in a stage whisper.
“Definitely,” I say, narrowing my eyes at my childhood best friend.
“Oh, shut up,” Lainey says with a roll of her eyes. “Everyone knows forbidden romance is the hottest trope out there. I mean,I want her so badly, but I can’t have her, so now I’m going to be an asshole so I can keep my distance?Elite.”
I want to say something, to ask questions that I’m not sure if I want the answers to, especially not with my brother on the other side of the bar, glaring at her the way he always does, but before I can think of what to say, Sutton speaks.
“As…highly in-depth and definitely not at all from personal experience as that was,” she says, side-eyeing Lainey. “That’s not the case here. Daydream doesn’t have a non-fraternization rule. No one would be in trouble for starting something. The hotel industry is inherently horny, and everyone is always hooking up, so if they were to enact that rule, it would be more of a headache than it’s worth.”
With her words, thoughts I didn’t realize I had locked away came to the surface of my mind, taunting and teasing me with possibilities.
“Look at her.” Claire nudges Sutton and points at me. “She’s contemplating it. She’s so into him.”
“I’m not! He’s myboss!” I deny.
“You can keep telling yourself that. All I’m saying is if Graham Hawthorne looked at me the way he looked at you today, I would beallover that. Have you seen his forearms?” Sutton says.
I have, of course, seen those forearms, though I don’t need Sutton to know that. Or that I’ve daydreamed about them.
“Why don’tyoufuck him if you’re so into him?” I ask, an edge I can’t hold back in my voice.
“Ooh, testy,” Sutton says, a smile in her tone. “Unfortunately, Graham and I would be terribly incompatible. He’s too dominant for me. We’d be in a stalemate nonstop. If he ever tried to tell me what to do in bed, it would be an immediate turnoff.” Unbidden, the memory of Graham tellingmewhat to do in bed runs through my mind, and heat moves through me.
Oh, I am so fucked.
Reaching for my drink, I take a long gulp to cool myself down.
“Something tells me June didn’t have the same issues,” Claire says with a knowing look.
“Oh my god, please drop it,” I groan, dropping my head onto the bar, and the girls all laugh at my misery.
“Hey, ladies,” Decker asks, eyes on Sutton. Her face screws up in irritation, but he just smiles wider, something I file away for later inspection. “What’s so funny over here?” Panic moves through me because while we’re all friendly with him, he’s also friends with the guys and works with my brother, and I don’t think Deck could keep a secret if it would save his life.
“I just got my period today,” Sutton says deadpan.
“Got it, my condolences, I’ll be over there if you need me,” Decker says, lifting his hands and turning around to the guys as fast as he came over. I let out a little laugh, but Sutton groans.
“God, I thought he’d never leave,” she says, annoyed as she watches his retreat.
“He was there for a total of two seconds,” Claire says.
