Page 76 of Not Safe For Work

Please call me back

Can we meet tomorrow? Your Wednesday class ends at 1:30 right? I’ll take the afternoon off and meet you at that coffee place you love

Please say yes

I’m lying in bed on Tuesday night when my phone rings, making me jolt.

“Hello?”

“Hey, brother.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

OLIVIA

“You did great,Olivia. They’re definitely gonna buy,” Eduardo says as we leave the meeting.

When I’d asked Gavin to join another demo with Darnell from Surf and Stream on Wednesday, he said he was too busy.

Just like he was too busy to hang out when we got home from Mexico, and yesterday at work when he was never at his desk,andthe day before. He’s been avoiding me so well, it’s like he hasn’t even been working this week.

Gavin is either playing the most extreme version of hard-to-get, or he’s already lost interest and is too much of a dick to tell me.

“Thanks for stepping in at the last minute. I really appreciate it,” I reply to Eduardo.

“No problem at all.”

The meeting ran forty minutes longer than expected, which I assume is a good sign, but by the time we make it back to our desks, half the office has already gone home.

Of course, Gavin is here, finally showing up once I've admitted defeat. It feels like he’s taunting me, sitting so close. I don’t think I have unrealistic expectations but my experience with dating is limited to Ian.

I just don’t get it. What happened in Mexico didn’t feel like a random hook-up. He said things to me, things that felt…

Well, it doesn’t matter. Limited experience or not, when you sleep with a guy and get the cold shoulder a day later, his intentions are very clear. The worst part is that people at work still think we’re a couple. If our relationship suddenly ends after the trip to Mexico, won’t all the rumors about me using him seem true?

“Hey, Sparkles.”

My internal thoughts must have been spiraling for longer than I realized because Gavin is standing right next to me, stealing my attention.

“Hey,” I reply coolly, keeping my eyes on my computer. Because he’s blown me off for three days and I don’t really feel like being flirty anymore.

“Wanna get dinner?” he asks.

What?

“Sorry. I have plans.” With a bottle of wine and an entire wheel of cheese.

“Liv—”

“I gotta run.” Feeling way too confused for this interaction, I grab my stuff and jet.

I spend halfthe night wondering what Gavin was going to say.

And the other half berating myself for not waiting to hear it.

It scares me—how much I like him.

I didn’t realize how bad I wanted him until I had him, but now have I lost him entirely? Was I too clingy? Were my expectations too high? Was Ian right, and I’m too immature for anyone to take me seriously? Am I not evengirlfriendmaterial?

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