Page 84 of With Us

Grabbing my bag, I locked up. We looked out of place in my worn and faded apartment building, and the glances we got told me I wasn’t the only one to think so. Rosa and I followed Ben down to a waiting SUV.

My nerves about the night built, so I tried to focus on Rosa and Ben’s chatter. It was mostly work related, which meant I was lost.

Pulling in front of Amaric, Ben put the SUV into park and got out.

“Is Theo back?” Rosa asked him.

He nodded. “They got in about five minutes ago.”

She made a squeal of excitement. “Perfect.”

My heels clicked at a quick tempo across the floor as I hurried to keep up with Rosa’s long legged pace. When we got into the elevator, she grinned, looking more and more like Luc.

“I just want to see the look on his face when he sees you, then I’ll leave. It’s nice to see him so happy.”

“Was he not happy before?” I couldn’t stop myself from asking.

She shrugged. “He’s got the business and family. That’s his life. Well, thatwashis life.”

The ball of nerves that’d formed in my chest loosened at that. I liked that I made him happy, and that other people saw it, too.

When the elevator doors slid open, Rosa kept her arm in place so they didn’t close. She whistled loudly.

Theo came out of his office, his head dipped to look at the folder he carried. “What’re you…” His words trailed off as his eyes hit me.

“And that’s my cue. It was so much fun, Dahlia. I can’t wait to do it again on Friday.”

I heard the doors close behind me, but my focus was on Theo.

He closed the distance between us in record time, his mouth hitting mine as he backed me into a wall.

“You ready to… Never mind,” I heard Luc say before the door closed. A moment later, though, it opened again. “Actually, sorry, we do have to go. If we want the exclusive rights, we’ve got to catch him when he’s happy tipsy, not so drunk he’ll forget.”

With a low growl of frustration, Theo pulled his lips away. He didn’t fully step back until I put my hands on his chest and gave a little shove, laughing.

“Ready?” I asked, taking his hand and smiling up at him.

He looked… disgruntled, yet happy. I saw his dimples more and more every day.

“Yeah, gattina, I’m ready.”

???

“That was so much fun!” I repeated, probably for the twentieth time in the very short drive.

To be fair, though, it had been so much fun.

I’d been expecting a snobby bar, filled with egomaniac tech geniuses. Instead, the place was cool, with a bit of a hipster vibe. Old-school arcade games lined the walls, and an entire side room was devoted to pinball. The whole place had been rented out for Morgan Tomas’ birthday, all the games set to free. Most of the food had been served bar style, so people could pick and choose what toppings they wanted on burgers, poutine, nachos, and a few other things. There was a giant computer shaped cake from one of the local bakeries, plus cupcakes with little fondant video games on them.

Everyone had been insanely nice and welcoming, if not a bit intimidated by Theo. Wearing his dark gray dress shirt with black slacks, he stuck out in the crowd of mostly bow ties and skinny jeans.

At first, I’d been nervous I was overdressed. Looking around, I’d noticed that a lot of the girls had been wearing anything from yoga pants to dresses fancier than my simple one.

While I’d sipped at my first craft cocktail, I’d made the decision to stop trying to find ways I didn’t fit in. By my second one, I’d decided to even join some conversations. By drink four or five, I’d taken my rightful place in front ofThe Simpsonspinball, kicking the butt of every challenger who stepped up. Theo had kept his place beside me, laughing and cheering me on, keeping my glass full of cocktails or water.

I’d forgotten how much I loved pinball.

“I want to play more pinball. I could play it professionally, I think,” I bragged to Theo, shifting in my seat to look at him.

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