I took a seat next to him. “What sort of changes?”
“I am considering hiring another manager,” he told me. He stared at me, unblinking.
Shit. He was talking about me.
My eyes grew wide.
He punched me in the shoulder. “Don’t act so surprised. And yes, before you even ask, this does
have to do with Slade. With him working over at Eli’s club and me here, the two of us hardly get to
spend enough time together. Sam’s doing a great job so far but he’s better up front. I need someone I
can trust to watch over the backroom as well.”
“You’re so full of shit. You and Slade get plenty of time together.” I was not going to say anything
about the silent job offer. If he didn’t say it out loud, I could pretend it wasn’t on the table.
“You know what I mean.” He quirked an eyebrow. “It’s not like I can simply come into work and
see my boy.”
The statement sounded innocent enough, but I heard the warning beneath.
“You know.” It wasn’t a question.
“Of course, I know,” Jack scoffed. “Even if you weren’t as obvious as you’ve been about it, I
would’ve figured it out eventually. I mean, what are the odds both you and Corey had a complete
personality change at the exact same time unless both of you suddenly found what you needed.”
“Are you pissed?” Jack didn’t have any official rules about employees dating one another—and
again, I was prepared to argue that I wasn’t an employee—but this was his club. His life. And now he
was trying to get me to not only go on the payroll, but as a manager. What would that mean for Corey
and me?
“The only way I’d be pissed is if you find a way to screw this up.”
“You seem pretty certain I’d be the one to blame if things don’t work out.”
“One way or another, yes, I have no doubt it would be on you.” Jack shrugged. “I’m not sure if
you’re aware of this, but sometimes you tend to be a bit like a bull in a china shop. When you find
something you want, you are not patient about getting it.”
Typically, that was true. But with Corey, I’d realized he was worth however long I had to wait. I
keep picking up the scraps he offered me, praising him for the hours we managed to steal away
together.
“If it makes you feel any better, I didn’t plan this,” I told him. I originally told myself it would be
