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I pause. I’d kind of expected that reaction. Thinking back to a month ago, I wouldn’t have been caught dead playing board games with employees either. But things have changed a lot for me since then.
“Don’t worry about bringing anything. I’ll text you the address and information.”
“Sounds good,” he says, but then he pauses. “Man, what’s going on with you? Sure, you needed a break after being Dad’s puppet for the past twenty years, but you’re kind of going off the deep end. Why not just tell him you needed a break instead of living without money? Now you’re having a game night? Maybe you need to schedule an appointment with a shrink or something.”
I grin even though he can’t see it. “Everything’s fine. In fact, I don’t think I’ve been happier in my life. I’m broke, but I don’t care. And truthfully, after everything that’s happened in my life, I think I needed something pretty crazy.”
“I guess that’s true. I just worry about you. People crack under pressure, and Dad’s been squeezing you since birth. I don’t think anyone could have made it through everything without losing it a little.”
Maybe he’s right, and I have cracked. But maybe it’s not so much a crack as change. “Who knows? The only thing I’m sure of is that I’m excited to play stupid board games with people who have absolutely no ulterior motives. They just want to play, and I am absolutely ready for that.”
Andrew lets out a little laugh, and it’s almost like he gets it. “Well, if that’s what you want to do, then I’ll be there. I’m glad you called me, Phillip. It’s been too long since we’ve spent any time together outside of work.”
“It has. And on that note, I have to get back to work. I don’t know if my boss, James Pritchard, has the balls to write me up for making phone calls before I’ve even turned on my computer, but I sure as hell deserve one.”
“So typical. Even working for pennies, you’ve got your nose to the grindstone. Well, let me know if anything changes for game night. I’ll talk to you later.”
“See you then,” I say and hang up. I lean against the wall and take a deep breath. I don’t know why, but that call terrified me. Maybe it’s because I really wanted Andrew to come, to spend time with me doing something stupid instead of something “important”. I’m jealous of the way he and Mason have always had a friendship, and I want that in my life.
Steeling my jaw, I smile. I’m going to build these friendships regardless of what Father wants. One day, this company is going to be mine, but I won’t let it own me. I won’t give up the things that make me smile. And having my brother be more than a coworker is one of those things.
Thirty-Two
ADDISON
We stepoff the subway after one of the strangest days I can remember. Other than the day that Phillip came home with me, of course. Come to think of it, the day wasn’t that strange other than how Phillip was acting.
He tried to dosomethingwith me in the breakroom. Then he stayed away from the cubicle for almost twenty minutes afterward. Andthen, he took a long lunch. I don’t even understand what he was doing since he wasn’t eating with me.
There’s something going on, and I don’t know how to feel. He just kept grinning at me like an idiot, which only made me nervous. Now he was touching me the entire ride home. His hand was on my thigh or lower back almost constantly. It was just so bizarre.
As soon as our feet touch solid ground, he pulls me to him. His hands are on my hips, and right there, in the midst of the people exiting the subway, he kisses me. My instincts are to move away from the tide of people that brush past us, to escape the crowd so they don’t trample me.
Surprisingly, not a single one of them touches me. Phillip feels desperate as he crushes me with his lips, and even though my instincts are to move, I get lost in the kiss. There’s something about the way his fingers dig into my skin that makes me want to forget about anything else. The way his lips crave me as though he were a drowning man, and my breath is the only air he could get.
“I’ve been wanting to do that since this morning,” he whispers to me, and that’s when I notice his body keeps shifting and moving as people bump and push past him. He stands straight through it all, a shield against the masses, and he doesn’t even seem to notice them.
“Come on,” I say, pulling him away from the subway, and catch dirty glances from several of the passengers who’ve bumped into Phillip. When we’re away from the mobs, I ask him, “Why didn’t you kiss me before then?”
He grins. “Because someone could have seen, and you were very adamant that you didn’t want anyone from the office to know. I know how to work within an agreement.”
“You’ve been waiting all day to kiss me? Does that have some connection to your exceptionally long lunch, too?”
His grin only widens, and I see his grip tighten on his laptop bag. “Not directly, but kind of. It definitely has something to do with you.”
“Wait, are we keeping secrets now? Is this some kind of surprise where I’m going to walk into a room full of balloons or something?”
And Phillip just shrugs. What an asshole.
“Just so you’re aware, I am not a fan of surprises. If people jump out and try to surprise me, they will most likely be hit repeatedly on instinct and reflex alone.”
He takes my hand just like he did at the park, and somehow, even after fucking like rabbits for the past few days, this is what makes me melt. As he leads me out of the subway, he says, “This has nothing to do with scaring you or surprising you quite like that. I think you’ll enjoy it. At least I hope you do.”
Phillip’s so calm as he talks about it. He has no idea how scary surprises are to me. In my world, surprises are things like a water leak that ends with having an outrageous repair bill. Or when you find out your property taxes are going up. Fun stuff.
“I made a phone call at lunch and went shopping,” he says. “And no, I didn’t buy you anything, but I think you’ll enjoy the date I’ve planned.”
I turn my head so fast, I nearly get whiplash. “Date? I thought we had an understanding. We’re just roommates.”
