“No, I’m not,” I answered him before glancing out the window. I wasn’t sure how much he knew but was pretty certain he didn’t know anything about my life. And to an extent, I’d rather keep it that way. It wasn’t like we had time, anyway, to go into what I’d done with my life in the five minutes we had to get to my apartment. So I changed the subject. “Hey, Boog, are you going to Lola’s quince?”
My cousin groaned. “I don’t want to, but I’m sure I’ll end up there. You want to stay at my place?”
“It’s all right. Connie and I are probably going to split a hotel room,” I answered him, still looking out the window.
Guilt was a bitch though.
And I felt bad for barely answering Zac’s question. And for barely speaking to him. The problem was that I didn’t know what to ask him or even how to treat him even though he had done nothing but smile at me. How are things going? Maybe terrible. Do you know what you’re doing? Great job reminding him he’d basically been released from a team he’d been with for five seasons. How’s your grandpa? Let’s remind him Paw-Paw had been in the hospital and he’d been worried sick.
None of it seemed like a good topic.
And we really, really didn’t have time.
Before I could think something up, my cousin turned his car into my apartment complex and put in the code to go inside. The only reason I’d offered to meet him outside was because I’d been hungry and had just wanted to go instead of waiting for him to get through the gate. In no time at all, he was in front of my building.
Unbuckling my seat belt, I scooted toward the middle of the back seat and gave my cousin another choke-hug. “Bye, Boog. Thank you for dinner. Have a good meeting tomorrow. I’ll text you about Connie and Guillermo coming.”
He patted my elbow. “Text me when you get in.”
“Make sure to tell Lauren about the Kegel exercises. Oh hell no, don’t make that face at me.”
He made some noises that didn’t make me all that confident he would, but whatever.
I held my breath and turned to the right to see Zac angled in his seat just enough so he could look at me with those light blue eyes and that perfect face. His grin was wide. I gave him a little smile as the guilt ate me up. Reaching toward him, I set my hand on his forearm. “Bye, Zac. It was nice seeing you again so soon. Take care of yourself, okay?”
The hand not resting on his thigh cupped mine between his forearm, and his gaze locked on me, his forehead slightly furrowed like he was confused or thinking about something. But the corners of his mouth still tilted up a bit in that forever Zac smile. “I’m really glad I got to see you, kiddo,” he said, seriously and slowly.
For a second, I thought he was going to say more.
And in that next second, I decided I didn’t really need to hear him say anything else.
I pulled my arm back, patted him and then Boogie once more, and threw the door open. “Bye! Drive safe!” I slammed it shut before they both finished telling me to be safe too.
And like the coward I apparently was, I ran up the steps to my apartment and kicked myself in the ass for being so mean.
But it really had been for the best.
Chapter Five
“…don’t pay you to talk to each other.”
I stared at Deepa, my coworker, employee, and friend and saw that it wasn’t just my nostrils that were flaring. Hers were too. We’d been staring dead-ass into each other’s eyes for the last two minutes.
Two minutes I would never get back.
Two minutes that consisted of us looking at each other so that we wouldn’t have to look at our boss while he chewed us out. Again. You’d figure I would have gotten used to it after two months, but nope. Neither had Deepa by how easily her expression had gone blank the second he’d started talking.
The man chewing us out was leaning against the counter, continuing to freaking ramble on and on and on, all because he’d happened to come out while we’d been talking about this member—one of the MMA guys—with the biggest, roundest booty either one of us had ever seen. Every time he came in, we talked about how majestic the