“Exactly. Good job. Anyway, Parker hired R… oh shit.”
The door opened, and Parker strode in with his typical commanding posture. “Hey, guys,” he said. “I wanted to introduce you to our newest hire. This is Ryder.”
I froze, my long-sleeved T-shirt halfway covering my face.
He didn’t say Ryder. Tell me he didn’t say Ryder.
“Oh, wait, you already know Alex, right?”
In my state of shock, I seemed to have forgotten how to get undressed. I flailed inside my T-shirt like a toddler playing dress-up.
Someone chuckled, and my stomach lurched. I’d know that amused laugh anywhere.
Ryder was standing in the staff room. My staff room.
I finally yanked the damn shirt off and came face-to-arrogant-face with the one person I’d have been happy to go my whole life without seeing.
“That’s right, Parker. Alex and I have known each other for years.”
He’d done it. He got a job at Top Shelf.
How much trouble would I get in if I punched that half-smirk off his handsome—no, stupid—face? I narrowed my eyes and took a step forward. “What the fu—”
“Hey, I’m Trevor. We met for half a second earlier.” Trev slid in front of me, holding his hand out to Ryder and blocking my ability to clock the guy. “Welcome to Top Shelf,” he said as friendly as could be.
Traitor.
Or maybe my savior.
Had I really been about to hit the guy right in front of my boss?
“Thanks, Trevor. I’m excited to work with you.”
To the rest of the world, Ryder was as chill and friendly as could be. To me, he’d been a giant dick from day one.
“All right, I’ll leave you in their capable hands, Ryder,” Parker said as he clapped a hand on Ryder’s bare shoulder. “You’re up for training him, right, Alex?”
Oh shit. How had I not noticed he was already dressed in the Top Shelf signature ass-hugging uniform? If there had been any justice in the universe, he’d have a terrible body covered in gorilla hair and warts. But, no, someone up in the ethos clearly hated me because Ryder was fucking gorgeous—smooth, bronzed skin without any chest hair, just how I liked it. Rolling hills and valleys of muscles were everywhere the eye traveled. Not that mine did. I kept them firmly on his sea-blue eyes. The kind rarely seen without contacts, of course.
One fair eyebrow rose in a perfect arch, challenging me.
Like what you see?
Fuck no, I don’t. You’re not my type at all.
“No problem, Parker,” I managed.
Trevor snorted, so I shot him my second-most-annoyed glare. The first was reserved for Ryder and Ryder alone.
“I’ll be upstairs if you need me,” Parker said as he turned.
Trevor cocked his head and didn’t bother to hide his sigh as he watched Parker’s ass stride out of the staff room.
“Got a little thing for the bossman, do you?” Ryder asked with a grin.
“I do,” Trevor answered, making my jaw drop. The worst-kept secret in the place was Trevor’s ginormous crush on the head honcho, but I’d never heard him admit it out loud. “So keep your hands to yourself.”
Ryder lifted said hands in surrender, chuckling. “Not a problem, man. He’s not my type. Too intense.”
