Page 23 of Even if You Fall

“He’ll realize I’m treating him differently. It’ll push him away.”

“I already agreed, man,” Rush said on a sigh. With a look at me, he said, “Maybe don’t back off watching Evans just yet. Wait a few days.”

Briggs grunted in agreement, then gestured irritably to the door, silently telling me to lead the way out.

But once we all filed out of his office and made it into the main part of the building, where the rest of our desks were, Monroe and Evans were standing in the middle, talking in hushed tones.

Gray was nowhere to be seen.

Before any of us could ask about Gray, Monroe shot us all an irritated look and gestured toward the front of the office.

“Was anyone gonna tell me?” she asked. “I just walked in to find Ada gone, her replacement spitting sunshine, and Gray laying it on thick to make her fall head over heels.”

“I told himno,” Briggs seethed, but I was already heading in that direction. Telling myself with each step that the feeling pounding through my veins was suspicion for the girl Gray was trying to pick up.

That was all.

That had to be all.

Funny how suspicion felt a lot like possession and jealousy.

When I rounded the corner, I tried not to look at Chloe as I grabbed Gray’s shoulder and jerked him away from where he was leaning on the desk. I tried reminding myself this was actually something Iwanted. For Gray to do what he did best—make Chloe fall for him, then break her heart.

But the thought of her actually falling for his charms had my jaw aching with how hard I was clenching it. The thought of him getting to spend any kind of time with her had me gripping his shoulder a little too tight before I managed to shove him towardthe main office. And despite my intentions, I couldn’t help but look at the girl, hating that some part of me craved just the smallest glimpse of her.

But when I saw the faint blush staining Chloe’s cheeks from whatever Gray had been saying to her, the suspicion trying to pass off as jealousy flared in my chest until I was seething, “This office ran a lot smoother before you,” as I stormed off.

“I’m this close with her,” Gray whispered from where he was slowly walking backward, a knowing grin slipping across his face as he held up his hand, index and thumb nearly pressed together.

“Congratulations,” I mumbled.

A bemused look stole across his face at my aggravation. “Did I step somewhere I wasn’t supposed to?” he asked, seeming genuinely surprised and curious. “Last I checked, she wasn’t what you normally go for.”

“She isn’t, and,no.” I jerked my head at him and pointedly said, “But in the handful of days the new girl has been here, she’s already proven to be a constant distraction for you, and we need to work.”

His next grin was wicked. “But she’s such a beautiful distraction.”

“We have a meeting,” I let him know. “You know...in case you forgot what we do every morning.”

Gray huffed a laugh as he twisted in time to swipe his tablet off his desk. “You have a date lined up for the weekend?”

For one absurd moment, I stopped walking as I wondered if he was asking because he wanted help getting Chloe out in a group setting. Wouldn’t be the first time Gray had done something like that when a girl wasn’t immediately swept away by his charms—eventually, they always were.

But just as quickly, I reminded myself it didn’t matter.

Whatever feelings were rising in me over Chloe, they were lies, just like her mask. I didn’t know her, and I didn’t want to. I just needed to figure her out, then get rid of her.

“No,” I finally answered Gray. “Why?”

He shot me a look as if surprised I didn’t already know. “Listen to you, Thatch. Haven’t seen you this irritable in a long time. Go find someone.”

“We have Kaia’s party tomorrow,” I said as if a kid’s birthday party would take up my entire weekend.

Gray’s head dropped back, a groan leaving him as if he’d forgotten before his attention snapped to me, that wicked smirk stealing across his face again. “And I bet our new admin will be there.” He shrugged as he continued toward the conference room. “Just like that, I’ve never been so excited for a birthday party.”

And I was suddenly dreading it, not that I’d been thrilled to go before.

I had nothing against kids. I’d been surrounded by little gremlins my entire life, having grown up in one of those families where there were always so many siblings and cousins around, you could never separate them, or remember how many there were. But kids’ birthday parties were the worst.

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