“Istopped by his office to talk to him about… I can’t even remember what now. Butwe were alone, and one thing led to another…” Although I was still fuzzy on allthe details. One minute we were standing there and the next I was trying toclimb him like a spider monkey. “And suddenly we were making out.”
Shefinally spoke, her eyes as wide as I had ever seen them. “In his office?”
Ipressed my lips together and nodded.
“Holyshit, Kaya!”
Coveringmy face with my hands I moaned. “I’m a terrible person.”
“You’remy hero!”
Ipeeked through my fingers and saw glee on my friend’s face. Her reactioncouldn’t be right. “Huh?”
“Youmade out with Wyatt fucking Shaw.” She laughed. “That’s legendary status.”
“Shh!”I demanded, leaning closer. Saturday morning brought out our industry en masse.Either they were gossiping or working while gossiping. And the last thing Iwanted was for this piece of information to get around town. “Please. Nobodycan know.”
Shelooked truly affronted. “Why not? Don’t you think every female in this city hasbeen trying to get in that boy’s pants for years? He’s basically a locked box.I’ve played around with the theory that he’s secretly wearing a chastity belt.He’s never looked twice at me.” She didn’t say it in an arrogant way, but Icouldn’t help but smile. She of all people wouldn’t understand Wyatt’s lack ofattention, not when she got plenty of second glances and third glances andfourth glances everywhere she went. “But suddenly, our dear Kaya has the keys.”
Hergrin made my cheeks blush tomato red. “That’s wrong. All of those things you’resaying are wrong.”
Shelaughed at my flustered denial. “Kaya, he’s into you! Like so into you. I seeit now. How could I have been so blind all this time? The man has it bad foryou!”
“You’reout of your mind,” I insisted. “It was a fluke. A mistake. He hasn’t beensleeping. And I haven’t been… sleeping with other people. And it was like thewrong time and the wrong place and we both got caught up in the… the… thewhatever it was. It was a one-time thing that can never happen again.”
Shedidn’t hear a freaking word I said. “This explains why he’s always glaring atyou and yelling at you and making you do everything over. He doesn’t hate youat all! He’s got the hots for you!”
Myblush turned from embarrassment to irritation. “First of all, no. Just no. Noto all of that. Second, I’m pretty confident—because I have dated guys before,just not recently—that when guys like you they don’t spend their time glaringat you and yelling at you, living to piss you off. They do different things.Like ask you on dates. And do kind gestures and buy you things. And smile atyou.” Although he did smile at me, didn’t he? Yeah, okay, maybe not very often,but more often then he smiled at other people.
Shit.
Stopit.
Hedidn’t like me.
“Hehas kindergarten syndrome,” Dillon decided. “He’s treating you how a little boyon the playground treats his crush.”
“Thatis the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Wyatt hates me. He’s threatened by me.Maybe he tolerates my presence in his sacred kitchen because I’m good at what Ido, but if he ever has a chance to replace me, he’ll take it.”
Atthat moment a text flashed across my phone from Wyatt.Stopping for coffee. Want one?
Iquickly clicked my screen to black so Dillon didn’t see it.
Shecrossed her arms over her chest and jutted out her chin. “Okay, let’s go withyour theory then. He hates you. That explains why he’s always staring at youwhen you’re not looking and why he makes you work every single night and why hewants you to stay late with him. That’s definitely the reason he made out withyou last night in his office. Be real, Kaya, there’s been weird, kinky tensionbetween you two for weeks. Maybe even months.”
Myeyes narrowed. “Don’t act like I’m the crazy one! Up until approximately threeminutes ago you thought he hated me too. One tiny piece of new informationdoesn’t change years of hard evidence.” Of course there were other pieces ofevidence I was choosing to omit from the conversation, but she didn’t need toknow that.
Shakingher head at me, she continued laying out her case. “Up until three minutes ago,I agree that I didn’t understand his behavior and that he’d definitely singledyou out. It was easy to assume he hated you because Wyatt’s an asshole and it’shard to read him. But, lucky you, it turns out he doesn’t hate you at all.”
Shehad a point, but I couldn’t give in. The change was too sudden for me to wrapmy head around. There had to be another explanation to his attractionone-eighty. “He’s working all the time. He doesn’t have time to meet anyoneright now. And he’s been acting weird ever since he got the executive chefposition because he’s not sleeping well. What happened is, he got desperate. Iam also,” I cringed admitting the truth of it, “a little desperate, and whenthe two of us were alone together something… snapped.”
“He’snot sleeping well?”
“No.”
“Howdo you know that?”
Anothertext from him lit up my phone.I’mgetting you one. If you don’t want it, I’ll drink it.The text box ended,but I knew there was more I just couldn’t see it. My fingers itched to checkit.
