Page 72 of Love, Luck & Clusterf*ck

She gave me a brief ‘how did you know’ look, then turned to grab her keys. “Why do you think he was here, silly?”

Ha. Iwassilly. How could I think for even a moment that he was there for anything other than sex?

“But when did you even get here? I didn’t hear you come in. And what did you two do after you left the bar?”

“Perry, we’ll talk later, okay? I really have to go.”

Christa was out the door before I could blink twice. “Wait!” I called, stepping outside. She was speed walking down the path. “Are you going to see him again?”

She turned her head without slowing. “Of course not.”

Adam Zepecki: Did Christa say anything about me?

I drummed my fingers on my lips.How in the hell do I answerthat loaded question?

Adam Zepecki: Don’t be embarrassed, we’re all friends here. If she called me a wild pagan sex beast, you can tell me. It’s okay.

I busted out a laugh, and Adam popped his head around my monitor, grinning. He was such a doofus. Asweetdoofus. I didn’t know if his head was in the same place as Christa’s, but I really, really hoped so. I did not want to see him hurt.

“Let me finish up this one thing, and then do you want to take a break and go down for a soda or something?”

“Sure. Sounds good.”

I didn’t want to talk to him in chat. I didn’t want to talk to him about it at all, but I’d also feel bad if I didn’t since I was the only one who would. If Christa said she wasn’t going to see him again, she meant it. It was a one and done. On to the next.

I finished typing up a record of an issue I had to troubleshoot earlier into my call log and then told Kate I’d be back in fifteen. It was a slow day, so there was no reason we couldn’t take off for a bit. I waved to Adam that I was ready.

We walked towards the door, and when we got near the office, Adam poked his head in. “Perry and I are taking a quick break, boss. It’s all covered.”

Stephen nodded, staring at me. I gave him a smile, and then Adam tugged me forward, making me laugh. I never saw if Stephen smiled back.

Adam rubbed his fingers together. “Come on, baby, gimme the goods.”

“Well, I didn’t get much of a chance to talk to her this morning, but I’m sure you, uh, did just fine.”

“Ouch.” He yanked an imaginary arrow out of his chest and shot it down the hall.

“God, that sounded horrible. Sorry. I don’t mean it like that. It’s just….”

It’s just that I was feeling like total shit for ever thinking that introducing them was a good idea to begin with. WhatwasI thinking? Oh yeah, I wasn’t. That was the problem. I knew Christa better than anyone. Why I expected her to act differently just because she met a great guy was beyond me. Just because I was changing didn’t mean she was.

“Remember when I told you that she’s not looking for anything more than—”

He held up his hand. “Say no more, Perry. I get it. No worries. I was only trying to get the cock feathers stroked a bit.”

“You didn’t get enough of that last night?”

“I was talking about my ego.”

I smiled. “I know that. Just messing with you.”

He smiled back, shoving my shoulder. “When I asked if Christa mentioned me, I wasn’t hoping you’d say that she’d fallen madly in love with me and wanted to become the future Mrs. Zepecki. I knew what last night was about. It was a onetime thing and nothing more.”

He seemed fine. More than fine, actually. “Yeah? So, it’s all good?”

“Yep, all good.”

“And what if I’d told you that she had said all those things?”

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