AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Mia gives me a nudge. ‘Don’t think I missed the part where youstillhaven’t answered my question.’
‘Fine!’ I roll my eyes at Tadhg and jerk my head at Mia. ‘She’s still bossy.’
Tadhg nods in sympathetic agreement. ‘I know! Some things never change.’
We both grin, Mia mock-glares, and I cave as usual. ‘Alright! Fine.’ Do I like working with Stef? Absolutely. More than I should. ‘They’re nice. Highly professional.’
Before I can embarrass myself, or Mia presses for a better answer, I’m saved by Quinn, who waves to get my attention. ‘You obviously don’t know Stef that well, if the only word you can come up with to describe them is professional. They’re larger than life, but in the best way.’
Tadhg nods in agreement. ‘True. But they try to tone it down with clients.’ He turns back to me. ‘Since you know Stef, maybe now you’ll actually come out with us when we invite you to bowling or pool. No more saying you’ll come, then not showing.’
Mia elbows me. ‘I thought you were going to socialize more with Tadhg and his friends.’
I glare at Tadhg. ‘Way to throw me under the bus.’ The smartass just grins at me.
Mia and Quinn are used to our antics and ignore it like nothing’s happening. ‘My best friend Jules is Stef’s younger brother. You’ll like him and his fiancé Erik.’
I know about Jules, though I didn’t know about his connection to Stef. I’ve never met him but Quinn talks about him a lot. And I know he’s getting married soon to Erik. It takes a full minute before the pieces fall into place, and I could smack myself for not putting it all together sooner. ‘Erik Osouf?’
Quinn nods. ‘Yeah.’
‘I’ve actually met him two or three times. I work with his sister, Astrid.’ Tadhg frowns at me, like I’ve been holding out on them. ‘What? How was I supposed to put it together? I met him a few times in passing. We never had a full-blown conversation, and all I knew to that point was he existed, lived out of state, and recently got engaged. And I’ve never met Jules, though I’ve heard you talk about him. I never had the context to put it all together until now.’
Tadhg throws up his hands. ‘Well, if you know Astrid, you know Jocelin. They’re best friends.’
Now it’s my turn to be shocked. ‘Wait, you guys are friends with Jocelin Allard? How in hell did I missthat?’
Mia nudges me. ‘If you didn’t work so much and took some time to hang out with your family, you might know these things.’ She smirks to take some of the sting out of her words, but they still find the mark. ‘You might even make some friends of your own outside of the office.’
Ouch. ‘Point taken. Fine. Next time you’re all doing something, let me know. If I’m free, I’ll join you.’
Mia nudges my side again, and I get one of her mom-glares. ‘Be free.’
‘Mia, I can’t promise a yes, but I do promise to try. Okay?’ It’s the best I can do since there’s no specific plan. Though the chance to see Stef in the wild is strong incentive. For that, I’d make the extra effort to be free.
8
Stef
“I’mhere!I’mhere!Sorry I’m late!” I slam the front door behind me, hoping that, and the loud announcement of my arrival, is enough to ensure I don’t walk in on my bestie and my little brother getting all hot and heavy in the middle of the living room. Or worse yet, the kitchen. I scrunch up my nose. They’re adorable together, but I don’t need to see Jules climbing Erik. Again.
I hear a deep chuckle from the kitchen, and Erik appears in the doorway. “We’re back here. C’mon in. Want a coffee or something?”
“Babe, I would kill for a soda water and lime.” I kick off my loafers at the door andRisky Businessmy way into the kitchen. “I’m here, I’m queer, and I have an amazing rear.” Erik laughs when I turn around and wiggle my backside, tossing him a saucy look over my shoulder. “You missed me. Admit it.”
He closes the fridge and sets the bottle of soda water on the counter. “Every moment of every day I’m not with you.” He engulfs me in his bear hug, and I sigh, leaning into him. “If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you went to the Fraser MacDougall school of hugging.” Human touch is a wonderful thing. I don’t get nearly enough of it.
“How do you know I didn’t? Maybe I contacted Quinn and arranged for lessons from his dad.”
There’s a throat clearing from the other side of the room. “Excuse me. Are you hogging my fiancé?”
I laugh and glance around Erik’s massive bulk. “Hello, sweetie. And no. I’m hugging him, not hogging him. And it’s just for a moment.”
“Good thing I have more than enough to go around.” Erik holds an arm out to Jules, who hurries over, smashing himself against us, squeezing tightly.
I sigh happily and soak in the love from my best friend and brother. “You know, we could talk about the wedding right here. No need to sit down. It could be the start of a new trend.”
I can feel Jules nod against my head. “That sounds like a brilliant plan.”
