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I walked past her as she shut and re-locked the door, and my feet almost tripped over themselves when I spotted Alexandria fucking Grant standing next to a guy that wasn’t ugly by any means. He looked to be about an inch shorter than my own six-foot-one, had brown hair, brown eyes, and it was obvious that he kept in good shape. He was also standing a little too close to Alex.
“Hunter Finley, I would like you to meet Alexandra Grant and Anthony Mendez,” Jersey announced, introducing us all.
Ignoring Alex, I reached out to shake Anthony’s hand. “Hey.”
He took my hand in his, and he had a solid grip. “Hey.”
Letting go of his hand, I turned to look back at Alexandria. “I’ve been texting you all day today,” I said in lieu of a greeting, not caring that I was airing our dirty laundry.
Alex’s icy-colored eyes started darting around nervously. “I texted back.”
“Wait,” Jersey said, interrupting our awkward reunion. “You two know each other?”
“We grew up together,” Alex informed her, and I could feel my hands fist at my sides and my tongue peek out to lick my lower lip. “His best friend is engaged to my cousin.”
Jersey smiled. “Oh, that’s perfect,” she exclaimed. “I love it when my employees all get along. It makes things easier.”
Apparently, Jersey Montague didn’t know how to read a room because the vibes that I was giving off were not friendly ones. I had just taken this girl’s virginity, but she was explaining our relationship as one of being childhood friends only. Just yesterday, I’d told Jersey that I had someone in my life, but Alex was making it clear that I was nothing more than a friend.
Yeah, I was pissed.
Luckily, before I said anything that got us both fired, I quickly reminded myself that I’d taken her virginity while she’d been drinking. In all honesty, I was lucky that she was even claiming me as a friend right now. Alex was doing her best to keep things civil, and I needed to respect that. At least, I needed to respect that for the time being. However, all bets were off after we were done with our orientation.
“Yeah,” I bit out, doing my best to calm my voice. “We’ve known each other most of our lives.”
“Great,” Jersey said. “Granted, you two won’t be working together much because of your schedules, but it really does make things easier when my employees already know each other or mesh well together.” She let out a dramatic sigh. “While I’m not afraid to break up a fight, Conner gets all alphay when there’s tension among my employees.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about any of that with us,” Alex jumped in, probably fearing for her job already. “I can pretty much get along with anyone.”
“Same here,” Anthony said, finally joining in on the conversation. “As long as everyone’s respectful, I have no issues.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Jersey concurred. “I’m all about individuality, and I really don’t care how others live their lives. However, in my store, you’ll live it showing each other and our customers the upmost respect. I will not accept less, though I don’t ask for much.”
“Understood,” I told her.
Jersey gave me a terse nod. “Well, now that we’ve cleared that up, let me give you guys the tour of the store and a rundown of my expectations.”
For the next hour, Jersey gave us a very detailed tour, from the storage rooms to the communal area, to the restrooms, to the employee breakroom, and to her office. The store was a decent size, and I’d been surprised to find out that the building was actually three-stories high, Jersey’s apartment taking up the entire top floor. The second floor was used as the storage area, the employee breakroom, and had another set of restrooms for employee use. Jersey Montague had a good setup here, and I could think of worse jobs to have.
After Jersey was done with the tour and all the expectations that had been laid out for us, she asked, “Now it’s pizza time.”
“Pi…pizza time?” Alex echoed.
“While I do my best to respect my employees’ privacy, I also like to know who is working for me,” Jersey explained. “So, after each orientation, I order pizzas and question my employees like I’m the FBI and they’re on America’s Most Wanted.”
“Oh…uhm…okay,” Anthony mumbled.
Jersey grinned. “I’m just messing with you.”
~
Alexandria~
Now, while it wasn’t an interrogation worthy of the FBI, Jersey had been serious about pizza and getting to know us better. Thankfully, she’d started with Anthony, and it was clear as day that Anthony Mendez was the shy and quiet type. Though he’d been a good sport about sharing and telling us a little bit about himself, it was still rather obvious that the guy was the silent type, which wasn’t a bad thing. While that cocky, good-looking, alpha bad boy appealed to most girls my age, it was the serious ones that felt like they might be worth your future.
I could also appreciate how Anthony taking center stage had been a good buffer between me and Hunter. When I’d seen him walking through the doors of The Tome, I had almost fainted. I’d done a good job of avoiding him last night, never imagining that I’d be working with him along with going to school with him. While I knew that I couldn’t avoid him forever, the coward’s way out had felt possible after not hearing from him Saturday morning, then managing to avoid him all day yesterday.
Nevertheless, as soon as Hunter had mentioned how he’d been texting me, the coward’s way had come to an end, something that my stomach was still churning over. While the pizza smelled great, I was dreading having to talk with Hunter. I felt horrible about what I’d done, and I was actually scared that he might not accept my apology. Even though I might deserve it, it would suck to lose the only real friend that I had here. While I could make new friends, my feelings for Hunter were more than just friendly.
