Page 54 of Love, Luck & Clusterf*ck

I shifted my view over to Perry. Hopefully, she’d moved on from the Christa discussion. There was something about her friend I didn’t trust. And just because someone might be physically attractive doesn’t mean they’re perfect.

“As long as you stay buckled up, you can do whatever you’d like.”

“Huh.” She curled her legs underneath her. “Knock knock.”

“What?”

“It’s a joke, silly. You’re supposed to say ‘who’s there.’”

I smiled, shaking my head. “Okay, who’s there?”

“Wait, I think I’ve heard this one before,” Alex said. “Does it by chance involve a banana?”

Perry giggled. “Nope. Knock knock.”

“Who’s there?”

The car was quiet for a minute. “Damn, I forgot. It was really funny too.”

“I’m sure you’ll get another chance to tell us,” Alex said. “Since we all work together now.”

Perry’s eyes grew huge. “Holy shit! You work at FiTech too? Stephen, did you know about this?”

“Yeah, I think I heard something.”

“That’s so cool!” She gave Alex a big smile. “Which department?”

She sounded a little too excited. I was glad that we’d arrived at his place. Hey, I loved the guy, but I’d love him even better if he were gone right now.

“Product Development. I’m over at corporate.”

“Oh, where Stephen used to be. I guess we won’t be running into each other too often, then.”

“I have the strangest feeling that it may be more often than you think.” He’d practically grinned the words.

“Goodbye, Alex,” I said.

He took his sweet time leaving while he chatted a few more minutes with Perry. Just before I was about to boot his ass out the door, he clamped a hand on my shoulder. “Have a good night, buddy. Talk to you soon.”

As soon as he was gone, Perry said, “I like him.”

God, is everyone going to fuck with me tonight?“What about your boyfriend?” Part of me hoped she’d say that he was no longer an issue, but then what would happen if she ended up being interested in my best friend, the guy I considered family? No. Fucking. Way.

“I didn’t meanlikelike, Stephen. Geez.”

She didn’t say anything further about it. Nothing regarding Dre. In fact, she didn’t say much at all. It was as if Alex had been the liaison, and now that he was gone, we didn’t know how to communicate. I didn’t like it. I wanted to hear her laugh and joke like she had with everyone else. I wanted to hear her bitch at me and speak her mind. Anything except for the silence she was giving me.

“I need to talk to you about what happened at work this morning,” I said. “I’d like to apologize. You were right.”

Her jaw dropped. “So youwereharassing me?”

My head lowered for a second. “No, Perry. That’s not what I’m saying. Just hear me out, okay?”

“I’m just going to rest my head against the window. All right, go ahead.”

I glanced over at her, the way she was curled up in my truck. I hadn’t crossed any lines by driving her home, but it felt borderline because I liked seeing her there way too much.

“First off, I never want to affect your job. To hear you say that you loved it until I started fucking it up for you really got to me. I never want you to feel that way because of me. I don’t want to make it seem like I’m on your ass all the time, because you’re a great operator and you don’t deserve that. You fit in really well, and I don’t know… maybe too well at times?”

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