Page 90 of I Saw You First

Finally, the gate gives, and he slams it open. He unlocks the interior set of doors and sprints to the beeping security panel on the wall. Once he’s punched in his code and the beeping stops, he walks back over to a group of confused employees.

“What?” He’s out of breath. “I’ve opened before.”

“Yeah, what, in like, the eighties?” Jimmy snorts.

“Very funny.”

“Where’s Wil? Everything okay?” Jimmy asks. Good. If he asks, I don’t have to.

“Everything’s fine. He has a family thing. In Arizona.” For some reason, Jeremy looks at me when he says this. I didn’t even know he had family in Arizona. I know very little about Wil Wilshire, when it’s all said and done.

“Good time to go to Arizona,” Jimmy says. “We’re supposed to get a foot of snow today.”

By mid-morning, we’ve gotten at least four inches of wet, heavy snow and maybe four fans. Kevin volunteers to go home early, and I call off one of the closers. Even I’m bored. I’m so bored, I get a wild hair and follow it up to the Dugout.

Jeremy’s sitting in the office, henpecking out an email. “Hey,” he says, not looking up. “Please tell me the cashiers are ringing people out and not standing around gossiping.”

“No, they’re seeing who can catch the most M&Ms in their mouth.”

Jeremy looks over and rolls his eyes. “Need something?”

“Is there an employee handbook around here somewhere?”

He waves at a shelf behind him. “Up there, maybe? Whatcha looking for?”

Not surprisingly, I don’t find a handbook. “Does Hometown have some sort of policy against… uh, spending time with your teammates outside of work?

“You mean dating your teammates?”

“Sure,” I say. “Yes. Dating.”

He’s quiet for a long time. So long, in fact, that I have to prod him. “Jeremy? Hello?”

“That policy is more of a technicality. We kind of turn a blind eye unless the alleged relationship causes problems.”

“If you’re going to go to the trouble of writing the policy, shouldn’t you make sure it’s enforced?”

He snorts. “This company wouldn’t exist if that policy was enforced. I can name at least a dozen Hometown Electronics marriages off the top of my head, including my own.”

“You met Annie at Hometown?”

He nods. “Look, I know why you’re asking, and I’m really sorry.”

My cheeks heat so fast and so hot, I could probably melt all the snow in the parking lot. “Sorry for what?”

“You know.”

“I do?”

“Yeah, you do.”

Wait, how does he know? This is humiliating. I never should have come up here. Damn this snowstorm, and damn Wil, and damn New Year’s Eve.

No. I’ll never regret New Year’s Eve. As long as I live, if that’s all I can have of him, I’ll never regret it.

“How are your interviews going?” Jeremy asks.

How in the world does he know about my interviews? “Wh-what are you talking about?”