“I’m glad you called,” Joshua replied, smiling warmly. “What happened with Eric? He seemed...nice.”
“Ericisnice. And I’m sure he’ll be a great boyfriend. To someone else.”
Jay had been hopeful when Joshua introduced them at Sapphire Sands a few weeks ago. Eric had been attractive, sweet, and kind. But the moment they were left alone, Jay quickly discovered they hadnochemistry. Not one drop. Still,Jay had been determined to at least give things a try. Until this afternoon.
“After the day I’ve had, the last thing I was in the mood for was a date,” Jay grumbled. “When I called him to cancel, I think he might have been slightly relieved. Pretty sure he didn’t think it would work between us either.”
Joshua studied him. “What happened at work?”
“Let’s not talk about work.” Jay swirled the ice in his glass with his straw. Nope. He wasn’t going to talk about Ryden. Wasn’t going to even think about him.
Joshua almost choked on his drink, and Jay rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry. Did youjust say you don’t want to talk about work?” He leaned forward and narrowed his eyes. “It’s Ryden, isn’t it?”
“You know I don’t discuss my job.” The unimpressed expression Jay received in response was expected, but still. A boy had to try.
“Neither do I. That doesn’t mean we don’t spill the tea on whatever ridiculousness has occurred on any given day because you work for the Kings, and one of them is married to my boss.”
True. Neither of them wouldeverdisclose anything remotely confidential or connected to their roles as top executive assistants, not even to each other. Now, when Ace, Lucky, and Joker got into a full WWE grudge match over the last donut, only to have Mason strut across the floor, his mouth full of said donut? Jay was more than happy to discuss that at great length. Or whatever imminent demise King had threatened Ace with after another stationery shipment arrived and everything inside the box was hot pink. It all made for riveting dinner conversation. However, Ryden wasnotafun topic.
“I don’t want to talk about that infuriating man.” Jay thanked the server for his food and placed the napkin on his lap. The burgers might be pricey, but they wereamazing.And the fries?Perfectly seasoned, crunchy on the outside, and soft on the inside, as all fries should be. So freaking good.
“What did he do now?” Joshua asked, taking a bite of one of his fries. “Ooh, hot!”
Jay chuckled. “They just came out of the kitchen.”
“Shut up.” Joshua fanned his tongue, then his fries. “Spill. What did he do?”
Reluctantly, Jay told Joshua everything that had happened in Red’s office, including when Ryden first kissed him, their truce, and the great job Jay had been doing ignoring it all, until the end of their fake boyfriend make-out session.
Joshua gaped at him. “Wait,what?He kissed you? Wait, you two made out?” He seemed to shake himself out of it before he whispered hoarsely as if Ace might pop out from beneath the table, because if there was juicy gossip to be heard, Ace somehow developed superhuman hearing and appeared. “You never told me he kissed you.”
“Like I said, it was nothing, and I was trying to ignore it.”
“So you ignored it by making out with him?”
Jay waved a hand in dismissal as if it was no big deal and not one of the hottest moments of his life. “That’s not what’s important.”
“Are you kidding me? That’severything. I can’t believe you guys made out.”
“It wasn’t real.”
Joshua arched an eyebrow at him. He didn’t have to say a word because they both knew what Jay had said was complete and utter bullshit. Jay sighed. He held up a finger and downed the rest of his drink before requesting another from their server as he passed by.
“And what happened after?”
Jay told Joshua the rest. Why wasn’t his best friend outraged for him? Joshua couldn’t possibly think… No, of course not.
“So, what you’re saying is you overreacted.”
Jay blinked at him. “Excuse me?”
“I know you hate to hear this, so brace yourself.” Joshua leaned forward again. “You were wrong.”
“Define, ‘wrong,’” Jay said, eyes narrowed.
“As in, the only thing Ryden is guilty of is looking fine in that uniform.”
“Are you serious right now?”
