Page 5 of Havoc and Humor
“No. I can’t go home tonight, and I didn’t want to bother Evan with an impromptu sleepover. He and Gregory are probably in bed already. Anyways, I had a gift card to a hotel that I can use, it’s in my desk—”
I got up from my desk and pulled the chair away so I was facing him.
“Sawyer, what’s going on? Are you okay?”
He leaned forward so his elbows rested on his knees, and he scrubbed his hands over his face. “Yes. I’m just annoyed. Fucking Jeremiah. I came home from work and found my ex-boyfriend in bed with this other guy. I don’t even know who it was. I didn’t ask. I didn’t look at his stupid cheating face.”
“Ah,” I said. “That’s… that’s rough.” Was it terrible that my first thought was about one problem out of the way? Probably.
“It’s not a big deal. I’m hurt because he cheated on me, but not that upset. I’ll be honest, I was going to break up with him tonight anyway. I only asked to work late so I could put it off a little longer. He never expected me to come home at a decent hour.” Sawyer leaned back and his eyes drifted closed. The light that had illuminated his face earlier today was gone.
I had the insane urge to pull him into my arms and offer comfort. I didn’t have that right.
I cleared my throat. “You were going to break up with him?” I said.
“Yeah. Things haven’t been working out with us for quite a while. Obviously, he thought that way too, but it did not occur to him to break things off with me before finding someone else. Fucker.”
“I’m sorry. That sucks.” Inwardly I was cheering. Even though I hated to see Sawyer upset.
“It does. So I came here thinking I would get some work done and then crash or go to the hotel. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve slept in the office. Silly, huh? I could just go to a hotel now though, if that report is done.”
“No, that’s not—I mean, I definitely know what it’s like to want to bury yourself in work to stop thinking about things.” It’s what I was doing. He was what I was trying not to think about.
“Yeah, me too. So I guess I can get my laptop out and get to it. With any luck, we could knock out that board presentation, then you would be free for the whole weekend. Tomorrow’s a meeting-heavy day, so we won’t have time.”
“I just finished most of it, actually. You had most of the report done. I just finalized it and sent it off.” That was only a tiny lie. It was mostly done, but I hadn’t sent it off. “Honestly, I spent more time lollygagging than anything else. I could have just sent your version and been out of here at five. You really did a great job on it.”
His lips curved into a smile, not a big one, but it was a start. “What’s the fun in that, then? Is there any other work we can do?”
I shook my head. “Not really. I mean… well, fuck.” For the first time in a long time, he and I were all caught up on everything. That was another reason I was somewhat ready for a newadventure. Our department was a well-oiled machine—largely thanks to Sawyer. They didn’t need a VP like me anymore. We had a lot of work that our team was responsible for, but we knew how to do it.
Sawyer leaned forward. He brushed his hand through his hair. I had to stop myself from staring. I forced myself to stand, turning away from him.
“If you want, you can crash at my place. I’ve got three bedrooms, and you won’t have to go find a hotel.”
“I can’t impose like that,” Sawyer said. “The couch here is fine.”
“It’s no imposition. I invited you. Besides, it’s not the first time we’ve worked from my apartment before.” We hadn’t done that in a long time. I didn’t know specifics, but from what I’d pieced together, Sawyer’s boyfriend had not liked that he was working at my apartment, and to be fair, I hadn’t been able to keep my thoughts from straying to very unprofessional territory the entire night he’d been there. Since then, we hadn’t gone to my apartment.
“We aren’t working.”
I shrugged. “We can talk about work if you want.”
I didn’t really want him going out into the city this late at night, not in the emotional state he was in. I grabbed my phone and pulled up the food-ordering app.
“Come on. I’ll order in. I assume you haven’t eaten. I haven’t either.”
He sighed. “You know, I probably shouldn’t, but fuck it. Let’s go.”
I smiled at him. “Perfect.”
Chapter 4
Sawyer
What was I thinking?I asked myself for the fifteenth time.
I wondered that for at least ten of the fifteen floors we went down in the elevator. Then again in the lobby when we waved goodbye to the receptionist. And again while Mark and I waited at the crosswalk. And again when we waved hello to the doorman, who knew me well enough to call me by my name.
