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“Hey, is the woman in the corner taken care of?” Riley asks.
At first, I’m confused, until it dawns on me that she’s talking about Laiken. “Oh. Yeah, she’s good.”
Mali smirks, knowing exactly how she’s going to irritate Riley today. “Don’t worry, Riles. Hayes will make sure to take good care of her. I mean, he always has.”
Riley glances from Mali, to me, then over to Laiken before finally settling back on me. “What is she talking about? Who is that girl?”
“No one,” I spit, not trying to deal with a pissed-of bartender all day, but Mali answers at the same time I do with, “his wife.”
Surprise overtakes Riley’s features. “Okay, those are twovastlydifferent things.”
Mali narrows her eyes at me. “Don’t tell me you’ve shoved her back into the closet with the rest of your dirty little secrets.”
“Oh, fuck off with that,” I tell her. “You know that’s not true better than anyone.”
When we were together, officially and openly, I wasn’t hiding her from anyone. I would’ve shouted our relationship from the rooftops. I mean, I have her initial tattooed on my ring finger, for Christ’s sake. But after she left, everyone kept asking me where she was. Do you know how embarrassing it is to have to tell people that not only did your wife leave you, but you don’t have a clue where she is?
It's not something I’d like to go through again, that’s for damn sure.
I make myself busy before I say something I’ll regret, while the two of them continue their little ongoing war. Though, I think Mali is bound to win this one.
“I thought Hayes doesn’t do commitment,” Riley murmurs.
Mali hums amusedly. “He did for her.”
They’re talking like Laiken can’t hear them, assuming that to be true simply based on the headphones she’s wearing. But as I look up and her eyes meet mine, the sad smile she gives me proves otherwise.
“All right,” I tell them. “That’s enough gossiping. Don’t you have enough shit to get done or do I need to create more work?”
Before Mali can throw back at me that she doesn’t actually work here, Cam strolls into the room.
“What the hell did you two do that made him start sounding like a real boss?”
Riley nods over at Laiken. “Mali was just filling me in on whosheis.”
Cam looks confused. “You mean my sister?”
With brows raised, Riley turns around to smirk at me. “You’re just a whole cliché, aren’t you?”
I flip her off. “Back to work, before I fire you all.”
“You can’t fire me,” Mali sasses.
“Me either,” Cam agrees.
Jesus Christ, there is not enough money in the world to make this shit worth it.
BY THREE O’CLOCK, LAIKENis still laser-focused on her computer. She’s only stopped a couple times to refill her water, which is when she met Riley. Judging by her reaction and the look she and Mali shared, she’s already heard all about her. And I’m sure the fact that she has a thing for me was a main topic of that conversation.
Needless to say, she doesn’t like her. And Laiken not being in the position to start shit, when she drained her glass, she decided against getting up for another.
The place is dead for the most part, give or take a few people who wander in for something to drink before they head back to the beach. Normally, I’d be grateful for the break, but today, it leaves too much time to think, and there’s one thing that hasn’t left my mind all damn day.
I fill another glass with coke and add a piece of lime to it, just the way she likes it, and carry it over to her table. She looks up at me with surprise and takes off the headphones.
“Thank you,” she says.
I force a smile across my face and nod to the seat beside her. “Mind if I…”
