Secrets are stupid.
Can we all agree to get that tattooed on our asses?
I try to keep a straight face, but a guilty grin slips out. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She and I have been friends as long as Locke and I have, and it feels good to share this with her.
Eden squeals, and I shush her as Locke returns to his desk and slings his bag over his shoulder.
“You all ready to go?” he asks.
Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Damien approach our small group. “Just a second,” he calls. He paces closer to my desk. “Can I talk to you for a minute, Greer?” He lowers his voice. “Privately?”
My skin prickles and heat spreads across my chest as I feel Eden and Locke’s eyes swing to me. “Um, yeah.” I turn to my friends. “Meet you downstairs?”
Locke gives a wary nod, but he and Eden make their way toward the door. I loosen my scarf and follow Damien to our team room, then perch on one of the chairs as he slides the door closed behind us. The scent of his cologne swirls throughout the tiny space, familiar as a memory. It carries a touch of nostalgia for me, but it’s not the sadness for something that could have been. It’s a recognition that we had fun together in a way that feels like distant past.
I fold my hands in my lap. “Everything okay?” I ask.
Damien walks up to the counter-height table and rests his forearms on it, but he doesn’t take a seat. “Are you free sometime this week? Outside of work?”
My breath catches in my chest. “For…?”
Longing shadows his blue eyes. “I want to talk to you. About us.”
Oh my gosh. What is he trying to say?
Every thought in my head scrambles, and I have to remind myself that he’s the same person who told me I could be too emotional to make an impact at work. “There is no us,” I blurt out.
“I know and—”
Whatever he needs to say, I’m not ready to hear. Not when everything else in my life is so uncertain.
“I can’t right now, D.” My cheeks heat as I realize how easily I’ve fallen into using his old nickname. “Sorry,” I correct myself. “Damien.”
He edges his hand across the table like he wants to reach for me, but I keep my hands firmly in my lap. “Sometime this week, then?” His voice is thick with restraint.
My heart races and I start to sweat beneath the coat I’m still wearing. “Maybe,” I concede. Whatever’s going on, if we’re going to keep working together for the foreseeable future, we need to clear the air between us. But first I need to know how I’m supposed to play it with Locke.
My phone buzzes, cutting the thick moment and giving me the perfect excuse to leave. “I’m sorry, Damien,” I say. “I’ve gotta go.”
“Oh my god, Molly, it was bad.” I groan and flop onto my bed, aiming my phone at my face so Molly doesn’t get a FaceTime view of my ceiling. It feels like forever since I spoke with my roommate, but she’s only been gone a little over a week. A week that’s changed everything. A week that’s changed me.
Molly tilts her head at me and pushes her lips into a quizzical smile. Behind her, the Pacific Ocean kisses the Hawaiian shore like a tireless lover, the sea spray forming a glittering mist. “The drinks yesterday were bad?”
“No, the drinks were good.” More than good. They gave the rest of the day this loose, happy feeling that extended far into the night with Locke. Eden, for her part, left the bar after only one round, and then it was me and him alone to enjoy each other. “I don’t know what to do about Damien. It’s like me and Locke going to these events together made him wake up to what he walked away from, but I don’t want him anymore.”
“Unintended consequences, huh?”
I rub a hand over my face. “Seriously.”
“Ack, don’t do that.”
I peek at her from between my fingers. “Do what?”
“Touch your skin like that. Your poor pores.” The horror on her face makes me laugh.
“Your Korean skincare obsession has gone too far.”
Molly sticks out her tongue. “Well, skin aside, have you decided on an outfit for tomorrow’s Christmas party?”
“Mmm, nope.” I slide off the bed and walk her toward my closet. “I want to look good for Locke but not encourage Damien.”
“Girl, I don’t know if you can do both.”
For Molly’s sake, I resist the urge to pinch the bridge of my nose. I offer her a lopsided frown instead, then turn the camera toward the dresses hanging in my closet. “What do you think? Short, sassy black dress? Satiny green gown?” I spin the camera back to my face. “The invite only said ‘Wear your holiday finest.’”
“Ooh, tough one. You may just need to go with what feels right in the moment.”
Isn’t that the story of my life?
“You’re right.” I sigh. “It’s not like Locke hasn’t seen me naked, but I really want to wow him, you know?”
“Hold up. He’s seen you naked?”
Crap.
I blush as I stare at my friend’s incredulous face. “Um, yeah,” I gulp. “You might have missed some things.”
Molly shrieks, scattering a few birds on the Hawaiian beach. “Holy shit, Greer. It happened?”
“It happened.” I resist the urge to flop dramatically on my closet floor.
“Was it everything?”
My heart hurts with the wanting ache of it. “Yeah, Molly,” I whisper. “Everything and more. But I don’t how I’m supposed to act anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m supposed to show up at his family’s house for Christmas pretending to be his girlfriend, and he sure as hell treats me like his girlfriend, but we still haven’t talked about what this is actually supposed to be.”
She nods in understanding. “That’s what this is really
