“So, how was your first week?”
“Good, I think. Although I feel like I should be asking you that.”
He laughs and waves me off. “You did wonderfully. Although I knew you would, with how much Grant and Ryan talked you up.”
The smile falls from my face. “You know Grant and Ryan?”
“Oh, yeah, we go way back. How else do you think your application landed at the top of the stack?”
The breath freezes in my lungs. My ears must be playing tricks on me because, if I’m not mistaken, he just admitted to bumping my application to the top because of my boyfriends. I swallow, trying to figure out what in the hell I’m supposed to say to that. Luckily, I don’t have to think too hard because Daniel talks for me.
“I didn’t mind, though. It was the least I could do after what they did for me.”
“What they did for you?”
“You didn’t know?” He tilts his head. “They helped me get Hartford Group off the ground. If it wasn’t for them, neither of us would have a job.”
I’m going to kill my boyfriends.
Daniel tries to laugh off his comment, but nothing about this is amusing to me.
Daniel’s phone rings, and he pulls it out of his pocket and looks at the caller ID. “I’ve got to take this.”
“Of course.”
“Have a great weekend, Emma. Tell the guys I said hello.”
“I will.” I force a tight smile, and when he disappears around the corner, a string of curse words fly from my mouth.
My phone beeps with an incoming text from Grant.
Ryan and I are in the car waiting. Take your time.
I take a deep breath and consider having Daisy come pick me up. The urge to run is strong, but I don’t want that. If we’re going to make our relationship work, we need to learn to communicate.
But that doesn’t mean I can’t be fucking pissed, because this is more than leaving the toilet seat up or forgetting to separate the laundry.
This is huge.
I shove everything into my desk and lock it, and then pull up Daisy’s number on my phone because, sometimes, a girl just needs to talk to her sister. She answers on the first ring.
“Hey.”
I tug off my glasses and pinch the bridge of my nose. “Grant and Ryan are the reason I got the job with Hartford Group,” I blurt. “They cashed in some sort of favor.”
“Well, that’s kind of sweet that they used their favor on you.”
“No, it’s not, Daisy,” I yell. “I worked hard for my degree, and I wanted to get a job on my own merit. Not because my boyfriends pulled some strings.”
“Yes, but you had the job before you three started dating.”
“Only because they somehow conned Mr. Hartford into pushing my application to the top.”
“And you’re pissed about that?”
“Yes, I’m pissed.”
“Shit. Okay. Want me to cut their balls off?”