Pretty Boy (Perfect Boys #1) - K.M. Neuhold Page 0,38
with resolve when I told him to buy clothes or anything he’d like today. But I still hesitated.
The elevator doors ding open and I step off, squaring my shoulders and projecting the air of certainty I know I’ll need to tell my friends to back off and trust my judgment one more time. I’m not worried that they’ll come around; I’m worried that they’ll hurt Sterling’s feelings again before they pull their heads out of their asses.
I find them both in the conference room, exactly where I expected them to be, with paperwork and graphs spread out in front of them, a stack in front of the open seat clearly meant for me. They look up when they hear me enter the room, Kiernan giving me a contrite look while Alden’s expression remains blandly neutral.
I nod in greeting, keeping my face blank as I slide into my chair and pick up the stack of paperwork simply to have something to do with my hands.
“Are we going with the cold shoulder then?” Alden asks evenly.
“I don’t know what you mean.” The petty approach feels rather satisfying at the moment.
Kiernan snorts and gives me a cut the bullshit look, to which I shrug and return the expression. If they want me to defrost, then they need to apologize.
“You want us to apologize,” he says simply. Apparently, Kiernan has developed telepathy over the weekend or we’ve simply known each other too long.
“That would be lovely,” I respond dryly.
“Are we supposed to apologize for your questionable life choices now or simply for pointing them out?” Alden asks.
“Start by choking on a bag of dicks,” I suggest, which startles a laugh out of both of my friends.
“Bare, you have to admit, it was rather…shocking for you to leave for a meeting with the lab we’ve been investing in and return with some mystery boy,” Kiernan reasons.
“He wouldn’t be a mystery if you hadn’t immediately jumped on me about it. I was about to introduce you to him. He overheard everything you said and nearly ran out on me, so thanks for that.”
“You don’t usually keep such skittish boys in your home, how were we supposed to know?” Alden asks.
“How about as a blanket rule, you don’t insult the men I choose to associate with, whether bringing them home or otherwise.”
“That’s fair,” Kiernan agrees, and Alden sniffs, which I’m taking as acknowledgment that I’ve made a good point. “We shouldn’t have jumped on you without even meeting him, and we’re sorry.” Alden nods sharply, which is as close to an apology as I can expect from him.
“Thank you,” I say tersely. “I know I haven’t had the best luck in the past, but I really do think Sterling is different.”
“Then we’re happy for you. We’d love another chance to meet him.”
“Yes, and we’ll behave this time,” Alden adds, although it clearly costs him.
“Okay. Let me look at my schedule, and we can all go out for dinner this week.”
Gannon raps on the edge of the door, silently holding up a cup of coffee for me. I smile and get out of my chair to grab it from him.
“Did you get that phone to Sterling?” I check.
“All done,” he answers. He’s a man of few words, but he’s been an excellent assistant for the past year, so I don’t mind that he’s not all that chatty.
“Fantastic.” I pat him on the shoulder. “We’re going to tackle the numbers, but if you wouldn’t mind wading through my emails and marking the important ones for me, I’d appreciate it.”
“No problem,” he agrees before limping off to his office.
When I turn around, I catch Alden’s eyes glued to Gannon’s back for a few seconds before he returns them to the financial paperwork. With my coffee in hand, I return to my seat and steel myself for a boring day of talking about money.
Chapter 12
Sterling
I may never’ve been outside of Billow before, but I’ve seen plenty of movies, and I always sorta figured that I was prepared for what a big city would be like. Boy, was I wrong. I called Barrett’s driver, Kane, and he dropped me off in front of a building that looks like the Eiffel Tower, then told me to call him when I was ready to be picked up.
I was pretty sure I’d be fine finding my way around, but all the flashing lights and throngs of people have me a tad turned around. It’s noisy, hotter than Hades, and there’s a bit of a