“Relax. I put it on my own tab. What’s a few hundred bucks between friends?” He put a hand on my upper back and whispered, “Don’t let Mikey milk his lack-of-daddy for too much sympathy. He drops that story on every first date he’s ever been on.”
I blinked. First date? Was that what this seemed like? Surely not. He had invited other people from the office.Unless he knew they weren’t going to show up.
Michael exchanged a look with me and then said, “August, you’re being an ass again.”
August grabbed a spring roll with his bare hand, then began bouncing it on his palms while hissing at the temperature. “Yeah, well, having no dad is way better than having a shitty dad. Trust me.” He bit into the spring roll. “All right, I’m going to bounce.”
Michael gave a start. “Where are you going?”
“There’s live music over at Shorty’s Lounge. I might check that out for a bit before going to my family dinner.” He grinned. “You two kids have fun.”
The two of us watched him go. “That’s August for you,” Michael said. “Blows in like a tornado, then disappears just as fast.”
His phone was on the table, and it lit up. I wasn’t trying to snoop, but at a glance I saw that it was a text from August. And my heart raced when I read it.
August: Flirt withGinny. I know you’re into her. It’ll be good for you.
11
Ginny
I pretended not to notice the text as Michael picked up his phone, read the message, and then shoved it into his pocket.
“Let me apologize for the foundation’s CFO,” he said. “August can be abrasive at times.”
“Oh, I don’t think he said anything out of line,” I replied. “August seems…”
“Weird?” Michael answered for me. “Annoying? Charming in a really roundabout way?”
I laughed. “Yes. All of the above. But that tequila wasreallygood, so I think I want to be best friends with him.”
Michael chuckled to himself and picked at a spring roll. “We’ve been best friends a long time. He’s a good guy, underneath the abrasive personality he puts up like a shield. Sometimes I wonder if he’s intentionally trying to act like Loki, the god of mischief.”
“How did you guys meet? College?”
Michael surprised me by laughing. When he saw my face, he quickly explained, “August went to the University of Chicago. He teases me about going to a public school like Virginia.”
I frowned. “Is that really a better school than Virginia?”
“Chicago has the best economics program in the world, a fact which August likes to remind people at every possible moment. But no, we didn’t meet there. We actually met playing online videogames when we were teenagers. I was a big soldier character, and he played as a medic, so we were the perfect team. We kept in touch for years, and became good friends. He even flew out to meet me in Phoenix a few times. When I graduated with a degree in finance, he offered me a job at NMCF. I was very qualified for the position, but having him in my corner definitely helped me get the job. So instead of moving home to Phoenix, I moved to Fort Perth, and I’ve been here ever since.”
I bit into a spring roll, then dipped it in one of the sauces. “How long ago was that?”
“I’m twenty-seven, so that was five years ago.”
Twenty-seven, I thought.He’s only four years older than me.
“I give him a hard time, but he really is a good guy. He’s been there for me through some rough times.” Michael took a long pull from his beer like he suddenly needed liquid courage. “I had a bad breakup not too long ago.Realbad. August came over and hung out with me almost every night. Didn’t ask, didn’t say anything about it, just showed up at my door after work like it was expected. I don’t know what I would’ve done without him.”
“Sorry to hear that,” I said. “You’re lucky to have a friend like him.” But on the inside, I was thinking:Michael’s single.
It didn’t matter because I was pretty sure I didn’t want to get involved with a coworker. But it was still nice to know.
“August saved me earlier today in the office,” I admitted. “When I met Sandra Trout.”
Michael’s laugh was a little more loose than before. “I noticed. You looked like you were going to shank her with a manila folder.”
I winced. “That’s fair. I deserved that.”