Slater scoffed. “Own up to what? I still don’t know what we’re talking about.”
Axel just looked at him, and Slater held the stare for a beat too long. With a muttered curse, he knew it was pointless to keep playing this game. “There’s no vibe.”
“There is,” Axel countered. “Between you and Evie.”
Slater let out a sharp laugh that sounded nothing like amusement. “Evie’s a friend.”
“So?”
“She works for Milo. She’s going back to Seattle in a few weeks. Her life’s there, not here.”
“And?”
“And nothing,” he snapped wearily
Axel lowered his mug slowly. “Defensive, much?”
“I am not defensive.”
“You’re aggressively not defensive.”
Slater stood and paced behind his desk. “There’s nothing going on. So whatever you think you saw or whatever vibe you think you felt, you’re wrong. There’s nothing going on.”
Axel’s eyebrow lifted. “I didn’t say there was.”
They stood there in not-so-companionable silence for several long moments. Rain pounded harder against the windows. Unable to stand it, Slater looked away first.
Axel stepped closer, voice still easy. “You know I don’t care if there is.”
“There isn’t.”
“You’ve said that four times.”
“Because there isn’t.”
“Okay.”
Slater frowned. “Okay?”
“Yeah. Okay.”
“That’s it?”
Axel shrugged. “You’re not pacing because you miss her. You’re not staring at the office door like you’re waiting for her to walk by. And you definitely didn’t look like someone trying very hard not to touch her during s’mores last night.”
Slater went still. “You noticed that?”
“I have eyes.”
Slater exhaled through his nose. “It’s nothing,” he said again, but it came out quieter this time. Less certain.
Axel softened slightly. “Look,” he said. “If it’s nothing, fine. If it’s something, that's also fine. Just don’t pretend you’re bored because of the weather.”
Slater’s jaw tightened. “I’m not pretending.”
Axel gave him a look that said he absolutely was.
The office door down the hall creaked open, and both of them glanced instinctively toward Slater’s open door. Evie walked by and then stopped, laughing at something Milo was saying. Her hair was pulled back in a sleek ponytail, the sleeves of her blouse were rolled up, and she was completely unaware of the way Slater’s entire body shifted at the sight of her. She looked into his office and smiled at them both, but her gaze lingered on Slater for just a moment longer before her attention returned to Milo.
