Chapter 20
TWENTY
After our afternoon together, things go back to normal, and by back to normal, I mean I do everything in my power not to think about our kiss again, do my job, and make a friend out of Graham Hawthorne.
Just a friend.
That’s all we are, and all we’ll ever be, and I am so totally fine with that.
Really. I am.
On Friday, Graham approaches my desk midday. I hardly notice him standing there until he speaks, startling me. “You ready to go?”
“Go?”
“Lunch. The tables have turned. Now I need to make sure you get your mandated outdoor time instead of letting you work until you burn out,” he says. My heart flutters at his words. I consciously push the feeling down, look at him, bite my lip, and smile before turning back to my screen.
“Yeah, I’m just finishing up this application. Give me a sec,” I say.
“Application?” he asks, his voice suddenly guarded. I grin widely at him.
“Not for a job, don’t you worry, you’re stuck with me still.
I’m trying to win concert tickets. There’s a festival in Wildwood next weekend, and Atlas Oaks is playing.
I missed out on the Great War to buy tickets, and resale is like a billion dollars.
But there are a bunch of contests to win, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try my luck”
“What’s the name of the festival? I can try and see if I know anyone and get you tickets.”
“Okay, moneybags,” I say with a smile.
“It’s not about money, it’s about connections. I network, remember?”
He smiles at me, and I do everything in my power not to melt. I get that smile more and more lately, and every time it sparks a flutter of joy under my ribs. If I were wiser, maybe I’d slow down and question it, try to sift through whether it means danger. But I’m not, so I don’t.
“Ah, yes, your steadfast desire to be the most boring man around and have no friends. How’s that going for you? Heard Decker invited you to poker night.” He makes a strange face, and I burst out with a laugh.
“Yeah, he invited me, though I’m sure it was just to be nice.”
“They do a lot just to be nice, but inviting someone to poker night is not one of them. I know people who have been trying to get an invite for years and never have. If he invited you, he likes you. They want you to be their friend.” He looks at me with skepticism.
“Now, if they invited you to be on their team for trivia night, they’d be doing it to use you for your big brain. ”
“Trivia night?”
“That’s in three more weeks, and I will, in fact, be dragging you because you do, in fact, have a big brain, and I will do anything to beat Grant.
” He lifts an eyebrow at me. “Decker will try to say that you need to be on his team because it’s boys versus girls, but I claimed you first, so that trumps everything. ”
“Nothing you say makes sense,” he says, but his lips twitch. “But you don’t have to be doing all of this.” He waves his hand at my computer screen. “I have connections, June. I can just get you tickets if you want.”
“No! That’s not as fun! I’m lucky. I believe I will absolutely win these tickets on my own.
” He stares are my as if I’ve lost it, and I sigh.
“It’s not a live or die thing, and it’s fun to try.
I also have connections: Claire’s sister-in-law’s best friend is married to the guitarist of Atlas Oaks.
If I wanted, I could easily get a ticket. ”
“Then why not do that instead of jumping through these hoops?”
I glare at him.
“You don’t get it.”
“I really don’t.”
“I want to win them. This is my lucky girl summer, and I like that I’m so lucky and everything works out for me. If I’m meant to have these tickets, they will come to me. If I’m not, then the universe is pushing me elsewhere.”
He stares at me, looking like he wants to tell me I’ve completely and totally lost it, but after a moment, he sighs, shakes his head, and shrugs a shoulder before pulling out his phone.
“Fine, what’s the website?”
“What?”
“The website to win. I’ll fill it out with my email.”
“Really?” I ask, my face splitting with a grin.
“Yeah. What would it hurt?” he asks with a lift of his shoulder, his phone at the ready for the website.
“It’s for two tickets. You have to take me if you win,” I say, a wide grin on my lips. He shakes his head and rolls his eyes.
“If I win, you can have both of them,” he states as if that’s obvious, but I gasp and shake my head.
“No way! If you win, you get the tickets. Fair is fair. You just have to take me with you.” I narrow my eyes at him.
“Fine,” he grumbles after a moment.
“And when I win, I’ll take you.”
“You really don’t have to—”
“That might just be how the luck works. I’m not going to tempt fate, Graham.” Before he can continue his argument, I spot something on his cheek. “Stay still,” I say, voice low as if I have to be quiet or it will vanish.
“What?”
“Stay still, my god, do you ever do as you’re told?” I murmur.
“Ironic, coming from you,” he grumbles, but does as I ask all the same.
I can’t help but smile to myself as I gently brush the eyelash from his cheek. This back-and-forth banter happens more often now. I take it as a sign he’s growing more comfortable and friendly with me.
Though the spark that moves through me as I brush my pointer finger across his cheek, my body just inches from his, is the furthest thing from friendly I could fathom.
“Make a wish,” I whisper as I lift my finger, an eyelash on the very tip.
“A wish?”
I smile, looking from him to my finger and back before explaining.
“It’s what you do if there’s an eyelash on your face.
Blow it and make a wish,” I say. He looks at me, and I expect him to brush me off, but instead, his lips purse gently, the image also going straight to my belly in a way it probably shouldn’t, before a gentle breath coasts along my finger and my cheek, sending a shiver through me.
Oh, I am so screwed.
I kind of hope we don’t win those tickets, because how on earth would I act normally for hours on end with Graham outside of work?
“I wished you would get those tickets,” he says after a moment, his voice hoarse.
“God, Graham, you’re so bad at this,” I say with a forced laugh, stepping away and shaking my head, needing to put space between us. I reach for my lunch, then my phone, so we can eat outside together. “You’re not supposed to share your wish.”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot,” he says with a laugh, following me out, but the ghost of his breath on my skin lingers for the rest of the day.