Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
“Let me check in with my head of HR tomorrow to see if we have any openings.” Pierce pulled his phone out of his back pocket and started typing himself a reminder. “I mean, I could always create a position, but if Byron is half as smart as you claim he is, he’d smell a charity job a mile away.”
“Definitely.”
“I’ve also sent a message to Rome asking him to check with his HR people. Maybe they’ve got something there.” Pierce tucked his phone away. “Even with this shadow over him, he’s a smart guy and has to have a killer résumé. I know he’s going to land on his feet. Once you’ve both had time to cool off and get stable, I’m sure you’ll be able to try dating again. It’ll probably be even better because you don’t have to worry about being discovered.”
I grunted, but it felt like my hope was sliding away with each passing day. The important thing was helping Byron feel like he was in control and safe. That would only happen when he had a job that gave him a sense of pride and self-worth. My fuckup had stolen all that away.
As I glanced at my friend, I briefly considered bringing up the topic of Sawyer’s little brother being in town, but I dropped the idea almost as quickly as it had formed. Right now, Pierce was in a good mood and feeling helpful. Mentioning Simon, or even Sawyer for that matter, would destroy all our goodwill and camaraderie. To be honest, I was exhausted. I didn’t have it in me to tackle that subject.
Sawyer had died well more than a decade ago, but the topic was marked permanently off-limits with Pierce. As far as I knew, he and Sawyer had only ever been friends. They’d never dated. Hell, I’d thought Sawyer was the one straight one of our group. Yet, Sawyer’s death had hit Pierce like someone had ripped out part of his soul. All our attempts to get him to open up and talk about it had been met with shouts, fists, and slammed doors. We’d learned to back off before we lost him as a friend.
I’d thought enough time had passed since Sawyer’s death that Pierce wouldn’t care about Simon moving to town, but he’d proved me wrong.
For now, it was something we couldn’t worry about. My brain was full of Byron.
23
BYRON GRAHAM
“I brought pizza and beer!” Kaylan exclaimed as soon as I opened the door.
It may have been the first time I’d smiled in a week.
My former coworker held up a six-pack of a local brew and what looked to be a large pizza that smelled fucking divine.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked as I stepped back to let him in into my apartment. It was Monday—a full week since my inglorious firing—and he should’ve been in the office right now dealing with the phones, reports, and whatever the chairman needed him for.
“The chairman felt sorry for me and gave me a three-day weekend after the shit storm that was last week.”
I winced at Kaylan as I shut the door. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s not your fault. I’m blaming Sebastian for this nightmare, and I am cooking up plans for how I’m going to torment him when he returns to the office.”
For a full minute, I let myself daydream about all the ways that Kaylan could fuck up Sebastian’s day and make his work hell, but then the minute was over, and I came to my senses. “No, don’t.”
Kaylan swung around, his eyes wide enough to roll right out of his head. “Are you shitting me? You don’t want me to get even? Just a little torture? Wait! Are you still dating?”
Talking to Kaylan could be a roller-coaster ride at times. He had this fantastic way of firing questions at you faster than a machine gun spit out bullets, and he’d change topics midstream.
With a grunt, I took the pizza and beer from him and nudged him toward the futon. “Sit. No, we’re not dating…technically…I think. We’re…on a break, I guess. I need some time to get my bearings. Besides, regardless of what’s happening between Sebastian and me, you can’t be unprofessional at work. You’re better than that.”
“He’s not,” Kaylan muttered under his breath, and his sense of loyalty was touching.
“Sebastian was. Mostly,” I corrected him. “What happened between us was unprofessional, but the personal side all occurred outside the office.”
Mostly.
I’d never gotten to fulfill my fantasy of giving him a blowjob in his office or having him fuck me on his desk, but that was for the best.
“How did you even find out where I live?” I asked, trying to get us off the topic of Sebastian and Courtland Enterprises for a second.
Now it was Kaylan’s turn to wince as he opened the box holding the beers. He handed me one and offered an apologetic smile. “So, I might have gone begging to Janice for it. I told her I’d been unable to contact you, and I was worried. That I just wanted to check on you. Are you mad? I would have asked you, but you’ve always been so private, I was afraid that you wouldn’t tell me.”