Page 85 of Get Undressed With Me

He let his hand slide to her waist, pulling her closer, closing his eyes at the feel of her body pressed up against his.

“I really, really like you,” he said into her ear.

“I’m not just a client?”

“You never were.”

She searched his eyes as if trying to find the lie, and Gus let her search. He was telling the truth, and he didn’t care if she knew.

Finally, she nodded, slipping her arm into his jacket and around his chest.

“I really, really like you, too.”

Their drinks arrived then, which they grabbed and made their way to a corner booth where Min, Hayden, Dev, Min’s mother, and Randall were all crammed in. Brittany slid in next to Randall, and Gus took his place next to her, her leg pressed up against his. Without thinking, Gus slipped his hand onto her thigh, letting it rest there with a possessive squeeze.

The next hour or so went by in a rush of catching up on everyone’s Kickoff experience, Randall’s sales, Dev’s latest role-playing game, and different panels. It was fun, more fun than Gus could remember having in recent experience, and he realized part of that was because he had missed these people. These were Brittany’s friends, after all, which meant that when she and Robbie broke it off, they no longer hung out with Gus. And Gus, a solitary introvert used to keeping to himself, didn’t realize how much he had missed being part of this family, even when he had just been the third wheel. These people, though, had never made him feel like that, and he marveled again at what an idiot Robbie was for ruining everything by cheating on Brittany.

A chair moved next to him, and Gus was ready for it before he even saw Theo plop himself down. He was out of his chef’s whites, in a button-up shirt and nice slacks, and was drawing more than a few interested glances from the people around them.

“Okay, I’m ready. Let’s get this over with.”

Min burst out laughing just as Hayden shook his head.

“Only you would consider listening to Hayden’s speech about the launch something to get over,” she said.

“It’s been a long day, I wasn’t able to work on recipes, Rosa threatened to set the kitchen on fire if I tried to help with the service tonight, and I’m tired of hearing about what an awesome brother I am.”

Theo was disgruntled, crossing his arms in front of him. He threw Gus a look while he was ranting, clearly not done.

“And you’re banned from ever using the bathroom in my restaurant ever again.”

“What if it’s an emergency?”

“Then you better be kind to the bookshop next door, because you’re out of luck here, you heathen.”

Brittany clamped her hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh while still looking pretty embarrassed by the whole situation. Gus squeezed her thigh, letting his hand slide a little higher.

“Worth it.”

The table burst out laughing, and then Hayden was standing, pulling Min from the booth.

“Excuse me, I’m going to go ‘get this over with.’”

Min waved, and they pushed their way over to where the party planner was waiting with a microphone.

Brittany breathed into Gus’s ear. “Worth it?”

“I would literally do everything exactly the same right now if I didn’t think Theo would kick us both out.”

Brittany laughed, leaning into him just as the music cut out. A spotlight moved to Hayden, where he was standing with Min, holding her hand.

“Hey, everyone,” his deep voice reverberated over the speakers. Cheers went up, and he waved them down to be quiet.

“I was told I had to give a speech, which I hate, so we’re going to be quick. This game was a work of love and wouldn’t be here without my brother, Theo.”

Theo waved at the applause, the lines of his face softening, his pride in Hayden showing through.

“Theo is a huge asshole, but he’s always been there for me, and I don’t know what I would do without him.”

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