Page 18 of If You Need Me

“I have shit that needs to be managed, and I’m about five seconds away from strangling you, so it would be in your best interest to leave my office.”

“Right. Okay. But we should iron out the details of this”—I motion between us—“over dinner.”

She blinks at me.

“We can talk about it later.” I’ll make a reservation somewhere nice. I leave her office and am beyond relieved to find the hall empty. My phone has been vibrating against the head of my dick for at least half an hour. The fallout from this will be something else.

I duck into one of the empty conference rooms and drop into a chair. I remember scrolling through the pictures last night butnot posting one. Although I did wake up on the couch this morning with a wicked headache and a bottle of scotch that was significantly emptier than I’d anticipated. It made my morning visit to the retirement village to crochet with The Crafty Crew less enjoyable than usual.

I open my messages and find I have more than a hundred new ones. My teammate group chat has been particularly active. I ignore it for now.

I have a single new message from Ash.

Ash

*wtf bro GIF*

I leave it for now. I’m sure he has no less than a million questions.

I also have a ton of messages from my family.

Granny Bright

Why didn’t you mention your girlfriend when you were here this morning? Why am I finding out about the love of your life on social media? Is she the reason you needed a peach pattern? Isn’t this the woman who comes with you when you help with the church bazaar? She’s a real spitfire. I knew there was something there. Love, Granny

She ends all messages like they’re letters.

Dallas

Sorry, Granny. I’ll pop by with an update and some cheesecake as soon as I can.

Granny Bright

Bring her along when you do. Love, Granny

Dallas

I’ll do my best.

I doubt Willy will be enthusiastic about a visit to my granny,no matter how much she likes her. I move on to the next message, from my brother Ferris.

Fire Bro

Dude. You have some explaining to do. Last time I spoke to you, Hemi still hated your guts and now you’re dating?

My oldest brother, Manning, has also messaged.

Doctor Bro

Is this a publicity stunt?

I also have a message from my younger sister, Paris.

Lil Sis

This is suspect AF.

I have many messages from my mom.

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