one thing William and I could agree on was that Sam was special; I’d never forgive myself if I played
a role in damaging his already fragile sense of self.
“You won’t know until you talk to him. Don’t make any promises you can’t keep, but if you’re still
thinking about him going on a month later, your curiosity isn’t going to go away.” This was payback
for when I’d pushed Tom to go after his boy last year. He swiped my phone off the desk and handed it
to me. “At the very least, call William and see if the kid’s working tonight.”
“His name is Sam,” I ground out. Yes, Sam was young, and he radiated boy vibes, but I wasn’t a
fan of Tom repeatedly calling himkid.
The bastard chuckled. “My, aren’t we protective already? Make the call.”
Tom stood, holding out my phone. When I took it from him, he turned toward the door. “If you
want moral support, give me a call. Ben’s been asking to go down and check out the playroom.”
Yeah, that wasn’t happening. Some other night, maybe, but I didn’t need my best friend there to
see me crash and burn if things didn’t go well.
I stared at the door, as if expecting Tom to come back for round two of badgering me into calling
William. When I turned back to the report I was supposed to be writing, it didn’t take long to concede
it was a lost cause; I’d have to finish the paperwork over the weekend. I quickly packed up my
laptop, turned out the lights, and locked my office.
“Goodnight, Mr. Walker,” the school secretary called out. I gave her a quick wave, not wanting to
get sucked into her typical recap of everything that had happened during the week as if I hadn’t been
right in the thick of it. She was a nice enough lady but tended to stick her nose where it didn’t belong.
The further I could stay off her radar the better.
I thought about Sam as I sat in rush hour traffic. There had been plenty of guys who’d caught my
attention in the past, but none held it the way he did. I’d been watching him from a distance since
shortly after he started working at The Lodge, trying to figure out what he was into, butonlyfrom a
distance because he seemed like the type who would spook easily.
I was still thinking about him as I reheated one of the premade meals I had delivered weekly to
keep me from going out to eat every night. I probably spent the same amount of money, but it was easy
to tell myself this wasn’t as bad because I didn’t seem pathetic for dining alone or ordering take-out
for one.
Once the kitchen was cleaned up, Sam was still on my mind. He was an obsession.
