Page 161 of The Influencer

To be clear, his presence was not requested, and I certainly tried to talk him out of this impromptu visit because I’m not at all in the mood for him, but he gets what he wants, and he’s my boss, and yes, Asher was right, my life does kind of revolve around him. Though he’s never wanted to drop by before.

It’s got me all up in my feels about what the hell happened after Asher left last night. I have every reason to believe Gideon was nearby Asher and Adam. I’ve learned in my short time with Ash that when Adam and Sawyer are in town, the happy couples and throuple are together more often than not. And they say they don’t have orgies…

Insert eye roll.

Whatever will they do when Jax and Gideon hit the road in two weeks?

Who am I kidding? They probably have an entire year of meetups planned out already.

I open my apartment door for the reigning king of alt-pop, and he glides right inside, sparing no inch of my condo his scrutiny. “Marvelous,” he says, his posh accent extra posh today.

“But you look a mess,” he adds when he stops to scrutinize me.

“I’ve been crying. Don’t give me shit, or I’ll just do it again.”

“No shit, I swear, but do you have any eye masks?”

“Of course I do.”

“Well, let’s get them on then.” He waves me down the hall and follows me into my bathroom where I glue a couple of underlid masks to my cheeks. He sighs with relief and says, “Shall we have a pregame drink?”

“I better not. I’m emotional enough already.”

“About that…”

I knew it.

“I had no idea things between you and Asher had gotten so serious.”

“What makes you think they’re serious?” I ask.

“The L word came up last night while we were in Malibu.”

I sigh and gesture to my bed. If I’m going to be forced into boy talk with my boss, at least we should do it right. He sits at the foot of the bed, and I throw myself sideways onto the mattress, careful to make sure my robe covers all my private parts. “Was there a presentation?”

“No. He was talking to Adam in the kitchen. I went in for a snack and overheard a little.”

“How little?” I ask.

Gideon’s clear blue, kohl-lined gaze fixes on me. “I listened long enough to form an opinion.”

“Well?” I gesture for him to continue. “Don’t hold back now.”

“He really likes you.” Gideon sounds utterly amazed.

Like so amazed, I’m insulted.

“What’s wrong with him liking me?”

“I thought you two were just having a bit of fun, you know?”

“Why?” I ask. “Because I’m so unserious?”

“Well, I don’t know that I know you well enough to say that, but yeah. Kind of.”

I glare at him wondering how long I have to suffer through this before I can politely ask him to leave so I can get ready for the bachelor party.

He continues. “I guess the issue is—I mean, the reason I’m here and all, is to make sure you understand that Adam’s one of my best friends, and his brother’s been through a lot. It’s been hard on him.”

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