“Yeah. Okay.” Sam wiped her eyes just as Kristin pulled her in for a massive hug.
“Now,” Kristin said as she pulled back, fixed Sam’s tousled hair, and handed her the wand and bowl of discarded ice cream. “Spill. Every. Single. Detail. From start to finish.”
Sam spent the next thirty minutes explaining how everything had happened. She couldn’t even believe what she was saying. She worked with him. He was Micah’s best friend. He was her boss. She was going to have to see him again. She couldn’t wrap her head around this. It was too much to take in.
“This is so messed up,” she went on, unable to even look Kristin in the eyes. “I mean, we work together and then there’s you and Micah. Kristin, I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to cause it to be awkward or anything. I don’t even like him, you know. He is so aggravating and full of himself. He’s honestly just an ass. Right? I don’t even like him,” Sam whispered the last words.
Kristin laughed. “Sam, you can try and lie to yourself all you want. But you can’t lie to me. I knew you had something going on in that head of yours when you couldn’t keep your eyes off of him the first night we saw him at their house. And by the way, he looked you up and down every chance he got as well. This has been brewing for a while. I mean, I didn’t think it would happen this fast, but I figured it was coming at some point. You two are like ice and fire. You are complete opposites, but for some reason it could work. Micah could even tell something was up and he is as blind as a bat when it comes to shit like this, okay?”
Sam gave her a wide-eyed glare. “How could Micah tell something was up? Am I completely that obvious? I didn’t even realize it until tonight.”
“No. Not you, you idiot. Callum. Apparently, he’s been talking about you.”
“Talking about me? Now it’s your turn to explain.”
Kristin laughed again and rolled her eyes at Sam.
“Come on, we could see this coming a mile away. You remember the night you spilled the drinks on him?” Sam nodded. “Well, I guess the next day he wouldn’t stop bitching about the girl who did it, and then he wouldn’t stop talking about her in general. Micah and Drew started messing with him about his new ‘work crush.’ I walked upstairs for part of the conversation, but I didn’t know he worked at Topline.”
“Wait,” Sam quickly interjected.
“What?”
“He doesn’t just work at Topline. He owns Topline.”
“Owns?Callum Barker owns a business that's not a tattooshop?” Kristin toyed with the idea and then a wave of shock came across her face. “He is your boss!”
“Yeah…”
Kristin’s shock quickly turned devious. “Oh. That could get kinky. Maybe a quickie on the desk between shifts.”
“Kristin!” Sam pushed her friend's hand away. “All we did was kiss, okay? I’m not about to jump into bed with him.”
“You kind of are, though. At least, I’m kind of hoping you are.” Kristin gave her the side eye and then continued, “Anyway, that’s a whole other issue I am now far too excited about.”
“Stop!” Sam admonished her while shoving the last bite of rocky road into her mouth.
“I just read a book that had this entire boss-employee trope going on and let me tell you–”
“Stop!” Sam repeated with a mouth still full of the chocolatey, nutty, marshmallowy deliciousness.
“I’ll lend you the book. Might give you some ideas.”
“You are horrible,” Sam said with a smile.
“But as I was saying, I was too hungover to care about his drama. So, anyway. Then we show up for the game and it’s you, the girl from work. After that, he wouldn’t leave it alone. Micah said he hasn’t stopped asking him questions about you since that night. Micah even asked me last week if something was going on between y’all. But, of course, I said no and that, as far as I knew, y’all couldn’t stand each other. I guess my answer has changed now.”
“Maybe.”
“This is good! We can go on a double date!”
“We are not dating. One kiss, remember? One. Kiss.”
“That’s okay. Tonight when I can’t sleep and I’m knee deep in all things wedding, I’ll make sure to look up some dresses that would look amazing on you,” Kristin said with a smile.
Sam shook her head in feigned annoyance.
“You two aren’t even engaged. I thought you didn’t want to get married till after med school?”