Chapter Eight
CALLIE
After obtaining my phone number on the third day of my internship, Meghan had texted me with a standing Wednesday lunch invitation. The first two lunches had been just us, and we caught up on everything from college until now.
But this week, lunch was special. It was Meghan’s birthday.
“Ready?”
I looked over my shoulder. Emmett—wearing his signature dark jeans and a fitted sweater that hugged his biceps—stood outside my cubicle with his hands in his pockets.
“Give me one minute?”
He nodded and rolled his lips together. I didn’t know what to make of the gesture.
I finished an email and hit send before grabbing my purse, coat, hat, scarf, and gloves. It was a particularly cold January day. Emmett snickered at me as I began bundling up.
“Laugh it up, buddy. We’ll see who’s laughing when you and your flimsy sweater get frostbite.
” I brushed past him and started down the hallway, feeling his presence behind me.
The energy between us crackled like static electricity.
I couldn’t put my finger on it, but there was an undeniable tension that made my heart race.
Standing beside him in the elevator, I stole a glance out of the corner of my eye, taking in the strong line of his jaw, the way his sweater stretched taut across his broad shoulders.
He caught me looking and our eyes met. We held each other’s stare for a beat too long before I quickly averted my gaze.
When we arrived at the lobby, Emmett nudged me along with a hand on the small of my back. I barely felt the pressure.
Stupid winter coat.
Off to one side of the lobby, there was a man scrolling on his phone.
“Hey,” Emmett said.
The man’s head whipped up. I had to crane my neck to meet his eyes—he towered over both of us.
Close-cropped dark hair framed a chiseled jawline, and impressively muscular arms strained against the sleeves of his dress shirt.
He smiled broadly as he pulled Emmett into a hug, pounding his back affectionately.
“Hey, brother.”
Emmett then turned to me.
“Callie, this is Wick. We’ve been friends since we were kids. He works up on twenty-nine, in finance.”
“Hello, Callie.” His voice dripped with sex. He gave me an appraising look. “You about to make a trek up the North Mountain?”
“Nice to meet you. Did you just make a Frozen reference?”
“Indeed, I did.”
Emmett chuckled and shook his head. “Wick’s interests are extensive and surprising.”
“Can’t say I see a monster of a man like you curling up on a Sunday to watch Disney movies.”
“Actually, ‘monster’ is what the ladies call my c—”
“Alright, that’s enough small talk.” Emmett clapped his friend on the shoulder, fixing him with a glare.
My lips twitched.
When Wick’s phone rang from his pocket, he nodded toward the doors. “Go ahead. I’m right behind you.”
We exited the lobby with Wick a few paces behind. I shivered, pulling my coat tighter around me as we stepped outside. Emmett looked over at me, amused.
“Cold?” he asked. His breath puffed out in clouds, but he seemed impervious to the arctic temperature.
“Freezing,” I said, my teeth chattering. “But at least I’ll still have all my extremities intact by the end of lunch.”
The rumble of his laugh reverberated low in my belly. We walked in comfortable silence for a few blocks until he spoke up again.
“So,” he started. I slowed my pace, noticing I had left him behind in my hurry to get out of the cold. The crunch of our footsteps in the snow was the only sound between us.
He tilted his head and looked at me speculatively. Despite the chill in the air, my cheeks flushed with warmth. A lock of his tousled hair fell rakishly across his forehead, and I resisted the urge to reach out and brush it back.
“You’re officially beginning your fourth week of your internship. Overall assessment?”
“It’s been amazing, honestly. Everyone has been so welcoming, and the work is challenging in the best way possible.” I paused, chewing my lip. “Although, I have to admit, I didn’t anticipate acquiring a new ‘bestie’ in the process.”
Emmett barked out a laugh. “That’s Meghan for you. She’s a force to be reckoned with. But you seem to be holding your own.”
My cheeks grew hotter under his admiring gaze. “She’s nothing like she was when I first met her.” I weighed my words carefully. “I could see myself being friends with this version of her.”
He nodded. “She was having a hard time back then, not that it’s any excuse. She was a brat—I remember it well. But she’s a good person and a good friend. I’m lucky to have her.”
“It’s sweet how close you two are.”
“It can be kind of isolating,” he said with a shrug. “Most people think that money solves everything, but when you’re a kid being brought up in that kind of environment, it’s hard to find your people. Meghan and I both got lucky when I met Wick. He’s like a brother to her, too.”
“How did you two meet?”
A fond smile broke across his face. He practically glowed.
Emmett Price is a beautiful man.
“I begged my mom to let me go to basketball camp the summer after I turned fifteen. I wanted to do something normal for once. On our first night there, I got into my first fistfight.”
“Let me guess…with Wick?”
“Yep. He called me a rich prick, and I called him a piece of trash. We were both sent to the counselor’s office and forced to sit there for hours until our parents came to get us.
Well, his dad came to get him—very obviously drunk—and my driver came.
I guess we took one look at the other’s situation and the resentment fell away.
You can never truly understand another person’s demons until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes, you know? ”
I nodded along. Most people didn’t understand where my demons came from. Emmett continued.
“Anyway, my dad made me call and apologize when he got home from traveling later that week. Mom never really bothered disciplining us, but Dad didn’t let us get away with shit. I called, apologized, and we got to talking about basketball. The rest, as they say, is history.”
At that moment, Wick stepped between us and slung an arm around each of our shoulders. “Ask him how much his pretty little face bled when I sucker punched him.”
I shook my head, fighting a smile. “Boys.” They both laughed.
At the restaurant, Emmett held the door for me—and Wick, I supposed, since he was still draped across my shoulders. A waft of toasty air and the aroma of grilled meats swarmed around us as we entered.
The hostess led us to a room at the back where Meghan and a dozen people I didn’t know sat at a long wooden table.
As we stepped further into the dimly lit space, I experienced a twinge of nervousness.
I had grown comfortable around Emmett and Meghan, but the idea of a larger social gathering with Meghan’s friends made me anxious.
She stood as we entered, her face lighting up. “There you guys are! I was starting to think you bailed on me.”
“And miss your birthday? Never, Meggy.” Wick pulled her into a tight hug and Emmett did the same.
“Happy birthday, little sister.”
“Thanks, bro! And thank you for forcing Callie to come. She definitely would have bailed without an escort.”
“Not true,” I said, but my protest lacked conviction. “Happy birthday, bestie.”
Meghan winked at me and told us to grab a seat. “We still have a few more on their way, but sit wherever!”
Noticing my apprehension, Emmett guided me to the far end of the table. “Come on. I’ll protect you from the vultures,” he whispered. I was grateful. Without having to say a word, he seemed to read me like his favorite book.
We settled in our seats. Wick, who had been openly flirting with multiple women at the table, took the seat on my other side.
Sandwiched between the two most attractive men I had ever set eyes on, I perused the list of appetizers, salads, entrees, and desserts.
I noted the conspicuous absence of prices.
Ah, it’s that kind of establishment.
I’d probably have to put my lunch on my credit card.