“Because there’s nothing to see happening,” I say, refusing to look his way. “He might have accidentally kissed me once or twice, but it was … it was accidental. Nothing worth bringing up with my mother.”
“Geez, thanks,” Colton grunts.
Mom looks between us again. “Are you two … together?”
“Yep.”
My head whips around to Colton so fast that I fear it might spin right off my shoulders. “What? You’re insane if you think we’re actually together. We can hardly stand each other and for the most part of the day, you’re busy bossing me around while I remind you how much of an asshole you are.”
“Don’t act like getting all fired up every time you talk to me isn’t the best part of your day.”
I flop back against my seat and cross my arms over my chest, looking anywhere but at him. “You’re impossible.”
Colton laughs and casually holds out a hand toward mom. “Could you pass the salt?”
My jaw drops and I whip my head back to him. “Can you pass the salt?” I mimic, copying his carefree attitude. “You go and drop all these bombs at the dinner table and then hit Mom with a ‘can you pass the salt?’ You really are insane.”
“I’m sorry,” Colton says, looking back at mom. “Could you please pass the salt.”
Oh, my God. I swear he’s only here to torture me.
“Okay,” Mom says. “Both of you need to shut up and eat your dinner before it gets cold, and then after dinner, Ocean, you need to give Nic a call and let him know what’s going on before he finds out for himself.”
I roll my eyes and pick up my fork once again. “Nic already knows,” I tell her with a low groan. “Not that there’s anything to know.”
Mom lets out a soft sigh. “No wonder that boy’s been coming around so much.”
“Seriously?” I groan. “Can we just pretend this whole conversation never happened?”
“Yes, but don’t think that we’re not going to talk about this afterward.”
My head drops into my hand and my leg shoots out under the table until it connects with Colton’s shin. I watch from the corner of my eye as he jumps and whips his head back to me. “What the hell was that for?” he demands.
I narrow my eyes at him. “Oh, now you want to play stupid?”
“Alright,” Mom says. “That's enough out of you two. Shut up and eat your dinner.”
I gape at mom, surprised by her audacity to speak to Colton like that. After all, he is her boss, but I guess while she’s off the clock he’s just the guy who’s been trying to put moves on her daughter while also doing his best to drive her insane. Though, from the entertained smirk on his face, he obviously doesn’t care.
Having wasted enough time, we get stuck into our dinner and half an hour later, Colton stands beside me at the sink, passing me dishes to wash up as mom clears everything off the table.
His arm brushes against mine and every little touch sends electricity pulsing through my body. “You’re an asshole, you know that right?”
Colton chuckles softly. “I know, but watching the panic in your eyes was too good to stop.”
I groan and dunk another plate under the water and busily scrub it until it is sparkling clean. We get halfway through the dishes when Mom’s phone chimes on the kitchen counter, indicating an incoming email. She scurries across the room and scoops it up before leaning on to the counter.
A soft smile spreads across Colton’s face and it has me wondering if he already knows what just arrived in her inbox and I find myself leaning around him to watch her.
Mom quickly scans over the email as I feel my phone vibrate in my jeans pocket. I wipe my hands on the dish towel and am just about ready to pull my phone out of my pocket when Mom screeches with joy. Her loud squeal makes me jump and I look back at her to find her jumping up and down.
“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you,” she says a moment before slamming into Colton and giving him a tight hug.
“What is it?” I demand.
“Oh, Honey,” Mom says, her eyes filling with tears and she falls away from Colton and drops into my arms, giving me the tightest squeeze. “Colton has doubled my salary.”
“What?” I laugh, meeting his eyes over Mom’s shoulder and realizing that there’s no point in checking my phone as it’s