My eyes were on the tank when a throat cleared behind me.
“Oh, hey Trace.” I smiled. “I’m sorry. I got distracted.”
Trace grinned and came to stand beside me.
“Ford gave me the third degree while you were gone,” he said conversationally.
I raised my eyebrows.
“I’ll just bet he did,” I sighed. “What did he say?”
Trace shrugged. “Nothing I didn’t expect… but you do know he’s in love with you, right?”
I laughed at that.
“That’s funny,” I snorted.
Because it was.
The idea that he was in love with me was just laughable.
What was even funnier was that Trace thought Ford would show that in front of Linnett.
“No, he really is,” Trace assured me.
I narrowed my eyes.
“How do you know?” I questioned.
He gestured to me.
“He talks about you like you’re his,” he answered. “And he didn’t even care that I was supposed to be your date.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “And I’m also sorry about using you.”
He waved his hand in the air.
“It’s nothing,” he assured me. “But I don’t think you have to try very hard here. He wants you. A lot.”
I knew Trace was a good guy, but wow.
“You’re great,” I said softly.
I had no idea when I explained to him how I felt about another man, that this was what I would be getting.
“It really was nothing,” Trace whispered. “And, just so you really know it was nothing, I’m gay. I really, really just wanted to go out and spend some time with a friend.”
I blinked. “Then why were you on a dating app?”
He winced. “My sisters. They think that by me being on the dating app, I’m getting out there. But… yeah.”
“They don’t know you’re gay?” I asked in surprise.
Trace snorted. “My dad would outright disown me. And I can’t let that happen. If he disowns me, my sisters will follow. I’m a quadruplet. We’re super close. They would straight up disown him right along with me.”
“That... holy shit! A quad!” I laughed. “How did that happen?”
His brows lifted. “Well, there’s this thing where a sperm and an egg…”
I slapped my hand over my mouth to contain the laughter.
“No!” I snickered. “I mean, how did it happen? Naturally? Were y’all test-tube babies?”
He shrugged.
“Naturally, believe it or not.” He grimaced.
He seemed like he didn’t really want to say anything more about the situation, so I changed the subject once again.
“What are you—”
“Drinks are here.”
I turned to see Ford at the end of the hallway standing with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Oh!” I clapped. “I completely forgot what I was doing.”
Ford narrowed his eyes.
“Linnett is driving me nuts,” he admitted. “I forgot how annoying she is.”
Trace snorted.
“Why do you think I got up to go to the bathroom?” he asked.
Ford looked to Trace, then back to me. I could practically see his mind spinning.
I clapped and gestured for the table. “Let’s go find something to eat.”
Ford waited until I passed to turn and follow me, making sure to place himself between me and Trace.
If I wasn’t so excited, I would call him on it.
Thirty minutes later, I’d had enough.
Ford wasn’t the only one to forget how annoying Linnett was.
Even nice guy Trace wasn’t able to stand up to the onslaught.
“Then I decided that I liked to work in marketing,” Linnett continued to chat. “When an opening came up here, I thought, well isn’t that where Ford moved to? So I decided to give it a try. So far, it’s only for a short three-month contract.”
I nearly picked up my fork and stabbed myself in the eye.
The only thing that was keeping me here at this point was that Ford had brought me.
I would’ve walked home, but the wind was picking up and it looked on the verge of storming.
And I would’ve asked Trace to take me home, but he’d been back and forth texting since we’d gotten back from the bathroom, and he looked distracted now.
“Who are you texting?” I asked conspiratorially. “Will whoever it is, call and give us an excuse to leave?”
Ford kicked me underneath the table, obviously having heard what I said.
Trace turned his phone.
He wasn’t texting.
He was playing Mario.
“Mario has an app on the iPhone?” I all but screeched.
Before I could reach for my phone, Ford had a hold of my hand and wouldn’t let it go.
My heart started to race.
“Not only no, but hell no,” he said.
I narrowed my eyes.
Then I moved quickly, twisting out of his grasp and moving until I was standing on the other side of the table closer to Trace’s side.
“That’s not fair,” I said to him.
“Life’s not fair,” Ford started to say, standing.
“Ford,” I said.
“Ashe,” he said just as sarcastically.
“Listen, GMC.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “I need this.”
I couldn’t afford to move my gaze away from Ford or I’d chance him rounding the table and snatching me up. Or, more importantly, my phone.