She sits up straight, looking a bit surprised. “Of course, you should! I thought I was your friend, not just your boss?”
“You are?” I ask.
“Yes, I am! Now spill,” she demands.
“It was… nice,” I admit, smiling down at my lap.
“Just nice?” Sophia asks, a little unease in her tone.
“It was so nice, I can’t stop thinking about it,” I whisper, and Sophia jumps up from her chair, pumping her fist into the air, nearly spilling her tea.
“Fuck yes!” she shouts.
“Use your inside voice, woman,” I say, lifting my shoulders to my ears.
She chuckles and settles back in her seat. “Sorry, but this is so freaking cute. He told me he’s going to bring you to our ice-skating thing on Sunday?”
“If it’s okay? And I would bring my little sister and her boyfriend too, since she always wanted to do that, and I just couldn’t go without her,” I say.
“Of course! The more, the merrier.” She smiles, her face glowing with excitement. “Oh, and we got the okay for your parents’ case.”
I sit up straight, my heart pounding. “Really?”
“Really.” Her tone turns serious. “We can start working on it on Monday. But today and tomorrow, we have some urgent cases to handle ”
“Sure,” I say, but deep down, my anxiety rises.
I hope this feeling won’t ruin the weekend.
Arms wrap around my waist,pulling me into a firm chest as I sort stuff into our lab storeroom. “Hey, you,” Josh whispers into my ear, and I lean back slightly.
“Hey,” I whisper back.
He kisses my temple and murmurs softly, “I missed you. I need your phone number.”
I turn my head to look up at him, teasingly saying, “You could have asked Clay or Sophia.”
“No, I wanted to get it from you,” he clarifies, releasing me and taking out his phone. He unlocks it and opens his contacts before handing it to me, flashing me a cheeky grin. “Can I get your number, please?”
I blush a little but take his phone, seeing that he has already created a new contact named ‘My Carolina.’ The butterflies in my stomach flutter as I enter my number and hand the phone back to him.
He taps at his screen, and a red heart emoji pops up when I check my phone.
Josh takes my hand, leading me to the door. “Let’s go eat. Clay and Sophia are already waiting for us.”
We head to the cafeteria, and Josh holds my hand the entire time. It might seem silly, but it means a lot to me. He doesn’t let go even as we walk in, not seeming embarrassed to be with me.
“Hey, lovebirds.” Sophia smiles as we sit down on the other side of the table. I glance over at Clay, but he’s focused on his plate, paying no attention to us.
“What do you want? I’ll go get us something,” Josh offers, squeezing my forearm, and I have to suppress a hiss when pain shoots toward my shoulder.
I start to say it’s fine, but then Del Moro and his partner show up, standing behind Sophia and Clay with a smug expression.
“Why bother looking at the food when you know you’ll never have enough money to get some, Costa?” Del Moro taunts.
“The same reason you watch porn,” I say in a monotone.
Clay almost chokes on his food, bursting into laughter.
