“You can continue watching the game in a minute,” Hailey called out, annoyed, plugging her phone into some cable. “We’re just going to see what my animals are up to. Trust me, it’s more entertaining than men in tight pants going after a ball.”
The TV flashed once briefly, then an image of the Match Me! office appeared. There were the three desks, their shelves…Eggsy balancing on a computer screen, and Scotland-Beard sprawled on a rug in front of the front door.
Oh. The camera.
A queasy feeling spread through Rachel’s stomach. She’d theoretically known there was a camera; Hailey had mentioned it at the first pub quiz. It turned on automatically after closing time so that Hailey could check on the animals’ well-being. And, apparently, it could also be turned on manually. For the weekend.
“What’s this?” Connor asked. His voice was dark and calm as always, but it seemed strained.
“My office spy-cam,” Hailey replied absentmindedly. “Wait, they do the funniest things at night…I haven’t even looked at the footage from the last few weeks. Scotland-Beard does his best work after nine.”
With that, Hailey started a new video — and Rachel blinked in surprise when she saw herself on the screen. And then another figure entered the office. Connor.
Her heart stopped, and panic exploded behind her eyes.
“Oops, what’s this?” Lucy asked as she joined, apparently having ended her phone call. “The divorce idiot was at Match Me?”
Fuck.
“Okay, okay!” Rachel exclaimed, raising her arms. “That’s super uninteresting. Play another video, Hailey.”
“You didn’t mention Connor’s visit,” Maddie said, surprised. “What did you talk about? It looks…intense.”
Shit. Shit, shit, shit. That was the word for it! Intense!
“Hailey, damn it.” Connor jumped up from the picnic bench so quickly that Gareth almost fell over. “Turn that off! We…”
But they were already kissing on the screen. Hailey must have been fast-forwarding because everything was happening much faster and…
“Oh, shit,” Cian shouted, and there was a slapping sound as he lurched forward, covering Ada’s eyes with a hand.
“Oh my God, that’s my desk!” Maddie cried out in shock. “What are you doing onmydesk?”
“Ha!” Izzie cried. “Tara, you owe me twenty bucks!”
Fuck. “Turn it off, Hailey!” Rachel shouted, her voice cracking before she leaped forward, snatched the phone from Hailey’s hand, and unplugged it from the cable. The TV went black.
But that didn’t help them now.
“Man, I’m glad I came after all,” Gareth said contentedly, leaning back.
Rachel groaned, closed her eyes, and wished the apocalypse would start right now, like Winnie’s sign announced.
“Well, that noise certainly won’t make us forget what we saw,” Hailey remarked apologetically.
“Dad! Get your hand off my face. I have Netflix. I’ve seen people having sex.”
“What?” Cian cried incredulously.
But Lucy shouted louder, “What thehell?!”
“I don’t understand anything anymore,” Maddie said weakly. “What did we just see? It looked like you were arguing and then…! Why…why?”
Her sister looked to her for help, but Rachel didn’t know what to say.
“But you don’t like each other!” Hailey said, perplexed.
“You don’t have to like each other to have sex, Hailey,” Izzie exclaimed.
