Page 23 of Reunion
Dane blinked in surprise. “What? No. I’ve never thought that. I assumed it was circumstantial and”—he removed his hand from his pocket, keys jangling—“I came out. You were seeing that girl. Then I got a boyfriend. It was the summer before college…” He shrugged, like the litany of circumstances made our drifting apart an inevitable consequence. “It just happened.”
I shook my head. “No. I didn’t know how to react to you telling me you were gay because it kicked up a bunch of fuzz that had been running through my head and made me uncomfortable. And instead of supporting you and also using that opportunity to figure my own shit out, I just ignored all of it and made everything awkward between us. I don’t blame you for not wanting to be around me.”
“It was high school. Everyone’s an idiot in high school.” Dane turned toward me with a wry smile. “We could be friends again, you know. Now that we’re adults.”
It was probably lip service. But it was nice lip service, so I smiled in return. “I’d like that.” I touched his arm as he clicked his key fob to unlock the door, and when he glanced up at me, wrapped him in a brief hug. “And thank you for last night. It was…” Sexy beyond belief, mind-blowing, future jerk fodder. “Exactly what I’d hoped for.”
“If you happen to be in town over Thanksgiving this year, I will be, too. In case you want to take another look in my drawers.” His gaze raked me up and down, unabashedly suggestive, and I laughed as he waggled his brows and then ducked inside his car. “I’ll message you tomorrow, make sure your ass isn’t too traumatized. Use that cream I gave you.”
“Yessir.” I saluted.
He fixed me with a lascivious grin that made my heart race. “You don’t even want to start with that business. Trust me.”
* * *
If I thoughtI’d just return home to Bensonville and go back to business as usual, I was fooling myself. I couldn’t get Dane off my mind. As I’d driven home, every searing jolt of pain when I shifted in my seat brought back visions of him behind me, on top of me, his face inches from mine, the untempered lust in his eyes, and the raspy growls as he’d thrust into me.
I spent a third of the drive with a semi, and the rest thinking about how he’d held me afterward. And how I’d fallen asleep in his arms.
But it wasn’t just the sex with him. I thought about high school, all the time we’d spent together and how it’d stopped after he’d come out. How my heart had tightened in my chest when he’d saidgay, a tiny swell of empathy and recognition dawning inside me that I’d put so much effort into squashing and avoiding. Until a few years later when I couldn’t anymore.
A week later,I was organizing my desktop at work and preparing to go to lunch when my boss, Blaine, rapped lightly on my door before seeing himself in and dropping into one of the chairs across from my desk.
“Those brand guides look pretty good.”
“Thanks. I should have the new stationery system finished this week.” I settled back in my chair and eyed him as he looked around my office. Something was on his mind.
“Do you think you could get it finished before Wednesday?”
“Ummmm, sure, probably.” It meant another couple of late nights, but what were two more at this point. “Is there a reason you need them before Friday?”
“I need you to come with me to Metrotech in Vintage Ridge on Wednesday. The acquisition is moving forward, and they’re not sure if they’ll rebrand yet, but they’d like to see what you’ve been working on.”
“Shit. Okay.” I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The whole reason I’d been hired here at HealthCloud was to refresh their branding and organize their admittedly small in-house design department to position them better in the healthcare app market. They’d offered a great salary, and though I’d known they were meeting with other companies for a potential buyout, I’d expected that to take a year or more. I guessed it was time to dust off my resume again.
“I know.” Blaine made a sympathetic face. “But don’t go glass-half-empty on me yet. I think they’re considering keeping this office intact as a satellite. It might be downsized some, but that’s not necessarily a guarantee you’re going to be out of a job.”
“It’s not a guarantee I won’t, either.” I sighed and glanced around my office. I liked it here. I liked my coworkers in the department; I even liked Blaine, which was pretty rare in my experience. In fact, the only thing I wasn’t too keen on was… “Will Jason be going?”
“Most certainly.” Blaine eyed me as I tempered my expression. “That hasn’t been a problem before—will it be now?”
“Nope.” I shook my head quickly. “Just wanted to know what to expect. And yes, I can have the stationery system done by Wednesday, and anything else you might need. Just let me know.”
Blaine rapped the top of my desk lightly. “That’s the spirit.”
Once he was gone, I shot a message to Jason.
Cole:You could’ve given me some forewarning on the merger.
Jason: I only found out a day ago.
I pressed my lips together, trying to decide if it was worth the effort to make a point. Probably not. It was just so classically Jason not to share something like this with me. And like all the other times when I started to get frustrated with him, attached to that frustration was the knowledge that I’d put up with it for years.
Cole:Alright.
Jason:I’m serious. It wasn’t a sure thing.
Jason:How was the wedding?