34. Chapter 34
Chapter thirty-four
Sutton
O ne hundred forty-six minutes.
That’s how long I’ve been in corporate team-building hell. And it’s not even my company. No, I’m at Cooper’s employer’s idea of a wonderful bonding opportunity.
In my experience, the only thing these types of events do is bond the employees in group hatred of the management team that dreamed them up.
“Come on, Cooper’s girlfriend, you can do better than that,” a rowdy redheaded man with bright, flushed cheeks yells at me as I try to pin the tail on a two-dimensional Eeyore after spinning in a circle with my forehead glued to a baseball bat ten times.
“Shut up, fire crotch,” I snap.
The man tosses his hands up. “Cooper, your woman isn’t being a very good teammate if she can’t take a little criticism.”
I stab the tail on Eeyore’s stomach as my own rolls, the world around me still off-kilter. “Sutton. My name is Sutton, you jackass. And maybe I would have a better attitude if the worst person on this team wasn’t shouting his critiques of me when he couldn’t even do the egg-and-spoon race before the booze started flowing.”
This night would have already been hard to get through normally, but apparently, A&A loves to supply their hardworking professionals with alcohol.
So not only are we split into teams to compete in elementary school-style relays, but now more than half of the company and significant others are behaving like children.
I am ashamed to say I am one of those childish people. But it’s not completely my fault. Blame the bartender for making the best lemon drops I’ve ever tasted.
It would have been a sin to just have the one… Okay, three. I’ve had three.
“Cooper, did you hear the slander your woman just slew at me?” he slurs.
“That’s it.” I pluck the earrings from my ears and lunge at him. Cooper’s arms snake around my middle, and the taut muscles in his forearms flex as he holds me against his body. Picking me up, he carries me across the lawn, away from fire cheeks, and places me on a stool.
I hop down from the seat, and Cooper blocks me as I bounce off his chest. “Come on, Cooper, let me just take one swing at him. I promise not to tuck my thumb.”
“While I’m glad you have learned the proper punching form, I can’t let you get into a fistfight with my coworker.”
I tilt my head and give him the biggest puppy-dog eyes I can muster. I even jut my bottom lip out a bit. “Please. You know you want to take his misogynistic ass down a peg too.”
He smooths my hair back away from my face. “First, just because a drunk man cannot remember your name doesn’t make him a chauvinist. And second, give Warren the Woman Hater a break. He was mugged a couple of weeks ago by a woman of the night.”
I pause, blinking up at him. “Your coworker was mugged by a prostitute a couple of weeks ago?”
“Yeah,” he says like it’s no big deal.
“Why am I only just now hearing about this?”
His broad shoulders lift an inch. “It must have slipped my mind.”
“It must have slipped your mind?” I say incredulously. “Unbelievable.” I stomp off in the direction of the bathroom to make a dramatic exit but also because my bladder is close to exploding.
“Don’t be mad at me,” Cooper yells after me across the lawn, not caring who hears or sees our little lovers’ spat.
“Too late,” I yell back over my shoulder. “Good boyfriends don’t keep juicy gossip to themselves.”
I make my way into the bathroom. Sitting on the toilet, I stare into my glassy, semidrunk eyes in the oddly placed oversized body mirror directly across from me. I finger-comb my hair while peeing. Rich people have the weirdest decor placements, but strangely, my intoxicated ass is liking it right now.
I finish up and quickly wash my hands, but when I open the door, I come face-to-face with the last person I expected to see tonight—Dillon.
Well, not Dillon exactly . But a large framed photo of a younger him, his dad, and his godfather, Ken.
That’s weird. Why would Mr. Avery have a picture of Dillon and—oh my God.
Ken is Mr. Avery. Mr. Avery is Ken… Dillon’s godfather, who was at my wedding.
Oh shit .
I’ve got to get out of this house fast—before Mr. Avery sees me.
Rushing down the hallway, I pull out my phone and shoot a quick text to Vivian.
Sutton
S.O.FREAKING.S!
Vivian
Really? Again, Sut? The corporate hellscape that is team bonding can’t be that bad.
Cooper’s boss is Dillon’s godfather!
Sounds like a mess. Address, please. ??
I stop right as I make it outside and quickly shoot off a text with the address, then pocket my phone just as Cooper spins me around to face him.
He’s so damn handsome in the twinkling fairy lights that fill the mansion’s backyard.
Leaning up onto my tiptoes, I brush my fingers through his messy hair before capturing his lips in a kiss that’s anything but innocent or workplace-appropriate. There might also be some ass-grabbing on my part.
A few whistles sound off around us.
Coming to my senses, I unlatch myself from his delicious, soft mouth. I glance around the yard to see multiple sets of eyes on us. My cheeks flush with embarrassment. Not just for myself but for Cooper. But thankfully no Ken in sight.
“It’s time to leave, you big doofus. Our besties are coming to get our alcohol-loving asses.” I spin on my heels, pulling Cooper behind me as I weave us through the crowded house and to the front door. I’m almost there when the door opens, forcing us to stop walking and come face-to-face with the person I’ve been trying to avoid.
Standing in the doorway, Ken Avery holds two cases of beer as he stares at me with confusion, the wrinkles on his forehead becoming more pronounced. His eyes widen as his gaze flicks to Cooper standing beside me, then down to our intertwined hands.
“Mr. Avery.” Cooper’s grin widens. This is the moment he’s been waiting for. “This is—”
I panic and mutter the first thing that comes to my mind. “No time for chitchat, unfortunately. The pharmacy closes in thirty minutes, Cooper. If you want your anti-diarrheal medication, we must leave now.”
Now both men are staring at me in shock. I take the opportunity to squeeze past Mr. Avery, dragging Cooper with me.
When we are halfway down the driveway, Cooper pulls me to a stop. “Seriously, Sutton? Bathroom jokes in front of my boss?”
“I’m sorry. I panicked, and it just slipped out.” I wince. It’s a poor excuse, but we had to get out of there.
“It just slipped out?”
“Yes.”
“Whatever. Let’s go sit in the truck while we wait on Nate and Viv to get here.”
We walk in silence back to his truck. I close the door and turn to him. “I’m sorry I got all white-girl wasted on you in front of your colleagues and embarrassed you in front of your boss.”
He doesn’t say a thing. Just leans in to kiss me softly.
Pulling back an inch, he rests his forehead on mine. “I forgive you.”
“You do?” I ask hopefully. If he can get over me telling his boss he has the shits, maybe he can get over something like his boss being a close family friend of Dillon’s.
“Thank you for being your crazy, irrational self. I couldn’t have done this night without you,” he breathes.
“Any time,” I whisper back. I need to tell him about Dillon and Mr. Avery’s connection sooner rather than later, but I’m buzzed on alcohol and lust, and my brain only wants one thing. His mouth back on mine.
I wrap my hands around his neck, preparing to pull him closer for another kiss, but a loud knock startles me.
I jump, smacking my forehead into Cooper’s.
We both groan in pain.
“Are you okay?” he asks, pulling back and placing a hand on my head.
I nod, fighting back the sting of tears. “I knew your head was thick, but damn, Cooper, that’s some next-level shit.”
He chuckles, checking me over one last time before looking over my shoulder to see who the interrupter is.
“It’s our favorite dumbasses.”
“Viv?” I call out.
“Present,” she hollers through the window. I glance over my shoulder to see her face pressed up against the glass as Nate stands behind her.
“Open the door,” Viv commands through the window.
“No,” I yell at her. “Can’t you see I’m trying to suck Cooper’s soul from his mouth?”
“You can do that later,” she calls back.
“I hear it works better when you suck it from the dick,” Nate offers up.
Cooper’s chuckle fills the truck as I turn around to glare at him.
“Because you chuckled, there will be no soul-sucking tonight.”
He stops laughing and lets out an exasperated sigh. “Way to go, Nate, you cost me a blowie. Who even invited them?”
“I did, you idiot.” I push on his chest.
We exit the truck and make our way over to where Nate parked. Vivian opts to sit in the back with me, while Cooper takes the passenger seat.
We take off, heading to the nearest Taco Bell, much to my and Vivian’s delight. With our tacos and Cinnabon delights in hand, we head home.
“Spill,” Vivian whispers over her taco.
I glance up to where Nate and Cooper are chatting about whatever the hell men talk about, making sure they aren’t listening before answering.
I tell her about stumbling into the picture of Dillon and Coop’s boss and our hasty exit that was thwarted by the awkward run-in with Avery.
“Are you going to tell Cooper?”
“Do I have to?”
She gives me a stern mom stare.
“Fine,” I grumble. “But I’m waiting until we get home.”
“Good,” she says with a single nod before glancing up to where our men are still gabbing but leaning so close together that their hands are almost touching. “Think they’re going to kiss?” Viv wiggles her brows suggestively while taking a very unladylike bite of her sugary dessert.
“I think there is a fifty percent chance they’ll probably kiss goodnight.”
She lets out a dreamy sigh. “Maybe if we’re really lucky, they’ll do it in front of us.”
“We can only dream.”