Fuck, what should I say? If I say yes, I’m cooked because everyone will know I’m having sex with the boss. But if I say no, Lex is cooked for making an incredibly inappropriate gesture toward an employee. I don’t actually have an option, do I? And we’ve made our relationship official now, so it was only a matter of time before the entire office heard of it. I only hoped it wouldn’t be that early.
Giving up, I wince and look at the ceiling, frightened by what will happen after this. “We’re actually dating,” I confess.
When I dare to look at them again, they seem stupefied, their mouths hanging open, their eyes wide. Can we please go back three minutes in time and pretend none of this is happening?
Mace gets over his shock first. “Oh. My. God! How many times have we talked about how hot that man is? And you didn’t even tell me you were hitting that, you sneaky hoe?!”
I wince, but before I can defend myself, Brian asks, “How long has it been going on?”
“Uh …”
Should I lie? Should I say things started in Seoul? It would make everything easier, but then we’d have to make sure the actual timeline never gets out. I’m tired of lies and secrets. And, ultimately, it doesn’t change anything. “It started a little before the Hello World Con.”
“Wait, that’s like, months ago,” Mason protests.
“We were on a break for a while.”
“But that means… That morning at the convention, when we talked about how Lex spent the night with a woman…” Brian slowly starts, making me tense all over. Fuck, I forgot about that. “It must have been awful for you to sit there knowing Lex slept with another woman.”
I blink a few times, confused.Wait, what…?
Mason sighs and gives him a smack upside his head. “Man, you trippin’. Andyisthe woman he spent the night with, you dumbass.”
“Oh,” Brian lets out, massaging the back of his skull. The dots connect in his brain, and he looks at me with bewilderment, his mouth a perfect circle. “Ooh… um… Mazel tov.”
Right, I was the woman he and Steven heard getting railed by our boss, which makes this very,veryawkward. Maybe I should have lied after all and said Seoul triggered our affair. What’s another lie in comparison to what’s happening right now?
“Guys, we haven’t even disclosed it to HR yet. I don’t want the whole office to know.”
“Babygirl…Brianwas able to guess. Y’all are bad at keeping it a secret.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Brian protests, pouting.
“It makes sense that I guessed because I have a third eye for those things, but you… you’re not very intuitive.”
“Again, it startedmonthsago,” I remind Mason to take him down a couple of notches.
“That was my brain preserving itself from accepting that the man of my dreams was taken. And by my boo, of all people?! Bitch, you’re lucky I love you.”
“Do you love me enough not to tell anyone about it?” I hopefully ask.
“Girl, you got ’till lunch break to get your ducks in a neat little row. Beyond that, I can’t make no promises. I was born to gossip, and you just handed me the hottest tea this office has ever been served.”
I check the time on my phone and hold back a groan. We have a little under an hour before the whole office starts to hear about our affair. I need to talk to Lex so we can do some damage control.
“Okay, I-I need to go back so we can—”
“Make out in his big-ass office?”
“Mason, I swear to God.”
“Have you two done it on his desk already?”
“Iwillbreak your nose,” I threaten.
“Nah, I bet you’re a pillow princess who needs comfort, so it was on his couch.”
I’m bright red as I reply, “That couch is nowhere near comfortable.”
