Even his baseball cap is normal.
Plain black.
No fake Yankees fan energy where I’m going to be disappointed if I ask him to name one player for the roster and he replies with I just like the aesthetic and colors.
Respect.
Charlie beams the second she sees me. “There she is!”
Cute guy’s eyes widen. “You’re the roommate?”
Why does his voice sound familiar? Like I’ve heard it a million times before. I’m still frowning when I slide into the booth and slowly stretch out my hand. “Um…yeah, Lilah.”
“No shit.” He points directly at me then slams a hand down onto the table. “I’m your boss!”
I blink. “I’m sorry, what?”
“At the reading app?” He laughs. “You seriously never recognized my voice. I guess I’m more your manager but still boss sounds cooler?”
My jaw drops. “No way!”
Everything clicks at once.
The hat.
The voice.
The stupidly expensive sneakers. Duh.
“I’ve literally never seen your face,” I whisper. “You’re always in a hat or hiding in your office like Batman.”
“Corporate Batman,” he corrects proudly. I instantly like him though. He seems easy to be around and I’m suddenly excited about the best friend. Guys like this aren’t friends with douche bags right?
“This is so weird we’d finally meet like this.” I say. “I would thank Charlie but that’s just going to give her an even bigger ego.”
“No, this is awesome and her ego’s impossible already.” I like him already. His grin widens. “Do you know how exhausting it is pretending I’m not twenty-four and wildly underqualified to run things? God, it feels like a gift now that my disguise is out in the open!”
Charlie snorts into her half empty drink. “Please, you think a hat can really hide that pretty face?”
“Aww, she said was pretty.” He winks at me. “She gets me.”
“And now I’m starting to think having both of you together is going to be extremely entertaining and exhausting all at once.” I lift up a drink. “Cheers to more of this.”
We all drink and that’s when I notice it, the way the light hits his face, the jawline, the hair. Oh God. He looks like he could be Jude’s brother. No, no that would be crazy. Right?
“You must know who owns the company then? To be able to get into management so young?” I prod carefully.
“Nepo baby, deluxe edition.” He lifts his drink while mine instantly goes sour in my stomach. “My uncle’s the VP. Whole family’s tied up in the business.”
Uncle.
My stomach tightens slightly.
No.
No way.
Nope!
