Page 19 of Wishes for August

“Obviously,” I snorted under my breath. He levelled me with a glare.

“Anyway, as I was saying, I was watching you on the dance floor, humping the shit out of Mr Tall and Handsome and then you disappeared. The next time I saw you, you were running out of the place like your ass was on fire. So, tell me Auggie Bear, what the fuck happened?” He barely took a breath before he continued, his voice rising with excitement, the gossip lover in him taking over.

“Oh wait, let me guess, the blonde cutie came back to stake his claim?” He gave me a wry grin and waited for me to answer him.

“How about I say you are right and we move on, yeah?” We were standing right outside the office building and the last thing I needed was some eavesdropping colleague to hear my business.

“Oh no no, my dear friend, spill those beans, I’m waiting.”

I rolled my eyes, shuffling my feet from side to side while I thought about what to say. I couldn’t look him in the eyes when I quietly replied,

“The hot guy on the dancefloor was Caleb. Aka my hot boss.”

“The fuck?” Branson responded, his brows meeting his hairline. “No fucking way.” He snorted, covering his mouth with a hand. “You were dry humping your boss on the dance floor?” His voice was so loud, I swivelled my head from right to left to make sure he hadn’t drawn any crowds. “How serendipitous that he was there the same night you were. This is brilliant!”

“Keep your fucking voice down Branson.” Branson started to laugh, clearly not reading the unimpressed glare I was throwing at him.

“You dry humped Mr nothing-more-is-going-to-happen-between-us?” He was now laughing so hard he couldn’t catch his breath so I shoved him in the arm, hard, in the hopes he would shut up.

“Ouch, you dick, what was that for?”

“Nothing about this is funny, Bran.”

He sobered when he heard my flat tone, looking at me with worry.

“Yes, I humped my boss on a dance floor of all places. Yes, I said nothing more would happen between us. And I am a fucking idiot Bran because it didn’t end on that dance floor. And then he asked me to go home with him and I walked out. Well, I ran out 'like my ass was on fire' as you so kindly pointed out.”

I ran my hand over my face so frustrated with myself, with my life, with my parents, with every fucking thing. And even with Caleb for being so blinking perfect and throwing my whole carefully controlled world into disorder.

“Aug,” Branson grabbed my hand and pulled it away from my face. “Maybe you should give him a chance? You seem to really like him. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this worked up over ahookup. You know that not every relationship ends in a broken heart, right? And how will you know if you don’t try?”

He had a point. I knew he did. And a braver August would have agreed with him.

“Yeah maybe,” I said, a resigned sigh leaving my lips. “Let’s just drop it for now, okay? I need to get to work.”

“Okay, mate, come on. Let’s go.”

The elevator ride up to my office felt like it took triple the usual amount of time. It was stuffy and uncomfortable. I tugged on the polo neck sweater I was wearing. I felt like it was choking me, the cotton cutting into my windpipes. With each floor the lift stopped on, the tighter my sweater felt until I was about to rip the bloody thing off.

My nerves were getting the better of me because I knew it was only a matter of minutes before I saw Caleb and I had no idea what to say to him.

It turned out, I need not have worried because instead of greeting me like he usually did every morning - a routine I quickly realised I had grown attached too, he walked past me and straight into his office. The only part of him I got was a whiff of his woodsy scent as he passed by.

Fuck. I had really screwed up.

This is why you do not fuck around where you work, August.

When I came back from lunch later that day, I had an email waiting for me.

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Subject: Bennett Properties - NYC

August,

Mr Bennett has asked us to be in New York on the 9th November. Please check your schedule and let Daisy know if this suits you. She will make the necessary arrangements.

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