To say I’m excited to show him, Noah, and Odette the final menu is an understatement. I just have to get through today and tomorrow, and then I’ll have my opportunity.
It’s not a group date—not technically—but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t feel like it a little bit, especially after our time in the arcade the other night.
I’d never been with anyone like that before. I was always too scared. But with Ezra? It just made sense.Hemade sense, as scary as that is.
Terrifying or not, it was incredible. I’d never felt so close to someone before while being so exposed, and I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.
“Who are we daydreaming about, and why is it our hot boss?”
Fuck.
I glance over at Warner. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He laughs dryly, then hops up on the counter, even though said boss would rip him a new one if he saw it. “Come on. I have eyes, Summer. I know what being in love with someone looks like.”
Now it’s my turn to laugh. “I amnotin love with Ezra.”
He holds his hands up. “Okay, maybe not in love with him, but you’re certainly in lust. You’ve been staring at him for the last ten minutes. And I don’t just mean like a faraway kind of stare either. You’re tracking him like he’s your lifeline.”
“I am not,” I say automatically, pushing off the counter. Needing something to do with my hands, I start rearranging a set of glasses.
But he’s right. I have been.
Ezra’s been chasing Tootsie around at least five of those minutes, and I really have been following his every move through the big glass windows that take up the back side of the cidery. Not just because it’s comical to watch, but because I can’t help it. I like looking at him. I like being around him. And I really,reallylike kissing him.
“It’s just funny watching him try to corral the chicken, that’s all.”
“While that is absolutely hilarious, that’s not why you’re staring at him. You like him,” he teases, stretching out the wordlikeobnoxiously.
I cut him a glare. “Stop it.”
“Stop being so obvious. If anyone else were here, they’d also know something was going on with you two.”
I pause. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about you sneaking around. I’m talking about you sleeping with our smokin’-hot boss.”
“Shh!” I admonish, glancing around the cidery. There are far too many people in here for him to be saying stuff like that. Luckily for us, though, nobody is up at the bar. Everyone is spread out among the tables, the outdoor seating, and the arcade. And thank god for the music that’s pumping through the speakers, which hopefully masks this conversation.
“Sorry,” he says, leaning closer. “But I’m right, aren’t I? You two are together?”
I should probably deny it. Should tell Warner to fuck off and get out of my business. But I’ve been bursting to tellsomeoneabout this since it began.
“Yes,” I answer quietly. “We’re together. Well, kind of.”
“Kind of?” he asks, his eyes sparking with interest. “Do tell.”
“We’re not labeling it. We’re just ...”
“Fucking?”
“Warner!” I hiss at him and tug him off the counter. I pull him away from the crowd as much as I can while still being behind the bar.
“Well, that is what you’re doing, isn’t it?”
I could dignify that question with a response, but I don’t have to. The answer is apparently written all over my face, based on the way Warner grins.
He holds his hand up for a high-five. “Good for you, Summer.”
