Talon’s in a suit. The man wasmadefor a suit. It fits him perfectly. The light blue button-down underneath the black jacket has the top two buttons opened and his suit coat is unbuttoned as well. He’s not wearing a tie, keeping the look closer to casual, even though there’s nothing fucking casual about the way he looks right now.
My mouth goes dry, and it’s suddenly a hundred and eighty degrees in this place.
Talon returns his attention to me, his hand still on my body, scalding my skin.
“Zeke? Who’s your friend?” Gio asks, rebooting my brain.
“Oh, uh, guys, this is Talon. We work together at Summit.”
Garrett laughs. “Youwork at a restaurant?”
Talon shifts his weight next to me.
“Yeah. I really enjoy the hospitality industry,” he answers smoothly.
“Thank you again for coming tonight,” I manage to say,wanting all of Talon’s attention to myself. Until a woman steps up next to him, grabbing his arm with affection.
My stomach swirls violently, giving away my jealousy and the fact that I wish Talon and I could be more than just friends.
“Oh, El, come meet Zeke!” Talon says excitedly, pulling her to the table. He moves her to stand in front of him, so she’s now between us, and I hate her just a little for it. “Zeke, this is my sister, Eloise,” Talon says, beaming with pride.
His sister.
Sister.
Two syllables have never sounded more beautiful.
“El, this is Zeke. He played Nathaniel, the main character.”
Eloise holds out a dainty hand while looking over her shoulder at her brother with a smirk.
“I know who he played, Tal. I was there, too. Remember?”
“Yes, of course,” he says, pressing a kiss to her cheek. I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen siblings get along quite like this. It’s oddly endearing. Suddenly, Eloise drops my hand and opens her small purse, pulling out her phone. When she flashes it at us, I readMomon the screen.
“Excuse me. I’d better take this. Lovely meeting you!” she says before rushing off.
She scurries to a quieter corner, leaving Talon standing alone at our table.
I introduce him to the rest of the group, and Gio slides closer to Cordelia. “Pull up a seat, Talon.”
He wastes no time doing just that.
“Who knows how long that’ll take?” he says, throwing a thumb toward Eloise. “Our mom is a talker.” I stare in awe, my mouth literally hanging open when he inserts himself effortlessly into the group’s previous conversation, making points about voice projection and suggesting they dim the backgroundlights for the next show to keep the focus on the foreground where the action is happening.
“I had to squint against the background lights to focus. It would be an easy fix if they’re willing to take feedback.”
When he looks at me, he places his index finger under my chin and pushes up, closing my mouth, which had apparently fallen open in shock.
With a wink, he says, “Told you I was genuinely interested.”
Oh, my fucking God.
My balls start tingling, and my pants are growing tighter.Muchtighter.
Eloise returns a few minutes later, holding the phone out.
“She wants a word.”
