Page 98 of Make Me Swoon

“Is Mischa still sending you those dating articles?” Ames asks and I nod, ignoring him when he starts to laugh.

Gray wanders into my room, hopping up on top of my table and I nod at him.

“I have a question for you, Harvey,” Gray starts and Ames cracks up.

The sound draws Rooney, and I groan as he comes into my room too with his usual maniacal grin stretching his lips.

“I thought of another one,” Rooney says and I toss down my pencil. It looks like I won’t be finishing this sketch right now.

“What?” I ask.

“Did you just come out of the oven? ‘Cause you’re hot,” he says, grinning wider.

“Good one,” I say dryly.

He just laughs and Ames rolls his eyes. Gray is busy texting on his phone and if I had to bet money, I would say that he was talking to Nora.

Ender wanders by my door and when he sees everyone hanging out, he stops and leans against the doorframe.

“Hey, man,” I say.

Ender has been here for close to a year now and I still feel like I know nothing about him. He’s super quiet and he doesn’t usually hang out with us. He does his work and then disappears.

“Hey,” he says, his deep voice making mine sound like I haven’t gone through puberty yet.

“Are you here to give me shit about my way with the ladies too?” I joke and he shakes his head, crossing his big arms over his chest.

“Are you here for some tips yourself, Ender?” Rooney asks, wiggling his eyebrows at him.

I think Rooney might have a death wish. Ender is at least twice his size and looks like he could snap Rooney in two. Ender’s lips twitch and I breathe a sigh of relief that the guy has a sense of humor and isn’t going to kill my best friend.

“Listen, as the only guy here with a girlfriend,” Ames starts and Rooney rolls his eyes.

“How do you know you’re the only one?” Gray asks and we all look at him with interest.

“Did you finally pull your head out of your ass and realize that you love Nora?” Ender asks and I’m shocked that he knows about Gray and his best friend and roommate.

“No,” Gray says. “I meant that I saw the way Rooney was looking at Sayler the other night.”

“I’m surprised that you caught that since your face was glued to your text messages with Nora,” Rooney mumbles.

“Hey, are any of you working?” comes a voice from behind Ender and we all jump, turning to see Zeke standing there.

“I was trying to, Uncle Zeke,” I say, sucking up to our boss and the other guys boo me.

“We were trying to work but Harvey’s lack of a love life distracted us,” Rooney says.

Uncle Zeke tries to cover his smile but I still see it and roll my eyes.

“Is that why you’re here too?” I ask Zeke and he shakes his head no.

“I came to grab the bank deposit from the office so Maxine doesn’t have to do it later. They’re talking about your love life over at the other Eye Candy Ink location too and I thought that I would give you a heads up. It seems Mischa has found some new tips, so you have those to look forward to later,” he says with a laugh and my phone buzzes on my desk.

“Great.”

“You’re just in time, Uncle Zeke! Ames here was just about to tell us all how he was able to win your daughter Maxine over,” he says with a shit-eating grin and I see Ames wince and Gray grin. Ender looks like he’s trying not to laugh as Zeke levels a death glare at Ames.

Ames had a one-night stand with Maxine a few months ago and then found out that she was the daughter of his new boss, Zeke, right after. To say that it was a terrifying mess would be an understatement but everyone seems to be getting along well now. Well, until Rooney starts to push people’s buttons again.

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