Page 33 of The Holiday Fail

I sighed and supported my head up with my hand. “Men suck.”

Jim smiled in amusement, and Iknewit was coming, but still, I wasn’t able to prepare myself to hear it.

“You bet we do!” he said with a grin.

I groaned and banged my head on the table. That was on me for giving him such easy material to work with, and I would have usually laughed along—I never claimed I was mature—but I just didn’t have it in me today.

A soft touch landed on my shoulder, and I looked up to find Austin on my side of the booth, looking at me with gentle eyes. “Did something happen? Maybe with a certain new chef in town, perhaps?”

Damn him for being so perceptive.

“Nothing happened,” I lied, then stuffed more fries into my mouth so I didn’t start blabbing.

Sure, I was mad at Andy and the entire situation, but I was also feeling weirdly protective of him. If I told my friends what had happened, they’d get defensive over me and get mad at Andy.

No matter how messed up it was to leave me after a soul-sucking kiss like that, I didn’t want them to think badly of Andy. He was probably going through his own thing too, thinking he was straight his entire life, then going around kissing me, a man.

He had to be too stunned to say anything, and that must bewhy he was acting like nothing had happened. That or I was just a pushover, making up excuses for someone who didn’t need my sympathy.

God, I really needed to stop thinking about Andy and that amazing kiss and constantly asking myself, ‘Why?’.

Why did he pull back when we were both obviously into the kiss? Why did he act like nothing happened after? Why wasn’t I ever good enough…

That question led down to a dark spiral I wasn’t interested in exploring.

I let out a huff of air, then said, “I just think maybe not everyone needs to be in a relationship, and byeveryone, I mean me. From here on out, I’m a one-and-done kind of man.”

Austin patted my arm. His brow was furrowed, obviously worried about my state of mind.

Jim, on the other hand, reached over and patted my shoulder. “I think that’s a great idea!” he said in a booming voice.

“You do…?” I replied, flabbergasted, then quickly added, “I mean, of course you do! Because it’s a great idea! The best idea!”

Austin still looked uncertain, but Jim had a blinding smile as he looked between me and his boyfriend. “Yeah, in fact, we shouldn’t dawdle on this. We’ll go to the nightclub next week to help you find someone new. And you should invite Andy to come with and do his wingman duties!”

The idea of Andy trying to help me get into someone else’s bed had my stomach lurching. Alcohol and fries were currently the only thing in my system, which didn’t help matters either.

I stayed silent and looked at my clenched fist. Austin bumped my shoulder and in a soft voice, said, “A night in the city wouldn’t hurt.”

He was right. It wouldn’t hurt anything, except for maybe my heart, if I had to go home with another man with Andywatching. But maybe that was exactly what I needed. To show our new chef that Iwasdesirable and I wouldn’t get hung up on being rejected by a straight guy.

Or maybe Andy would refuse to go to the club with us and I wouldn’t have to worry about anything besides having a fun night out with my friends.

Chapter Fifteen

ANDY

I fucked up.

In the world of assholes, I was definitely up there right along with all the other douchebags, because what I did to Levi the other night was messed up and downright cruel.

I shouldn’t have been fooling around with him in the first place. He was my boss, and I lived in his house, and he was ahe.

Kissing him when I really, really shouldn’t have was such a stupid move. So why did I enjoy it so much?

There was no hiding the reaction my body had to tasting Levi. If I’d thought he smelled good just sitting next to him, I hadn’t been anywhere prepared to have his scent consume me like he was trying to fill every single one of my pores.

I couldn’t have mistaken him for a woman, even if I wanted to. The way his body felt under mine, all sculpted to pure perfection. The sounds he made as I kissed along his supple skin, deep and throaty, especially when I nibbled on that collarbone that had been haunting my vision.

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