Page 68 of The Lair

My heart swells. “Oh, Charlie. Thank you so much for offering, but I can’t do that.” I reach over the bar and squeeze his arm in a friendly gesture. “I promise I’m okay. The hotel is cheaper than you think.”

He doesn’t look or sound convinced. “You said Travis is staying with you?”

There’s no accusation in his voice, only curiosity and worry. Yet I feel my neck heating up, then my cheeks, and I lower my gaze to check something behind the bar that doesn’t exist.

“He’s staying in the room next door.”

Non-fraternization policies aren’t a thing in The Lair, clearly, as Jude and Sandra have been married for years. Still, nothing is going on between me and Travis besides maybe the beginning of an unlikely friendship. I don’t want people to think otherwise.

“That’s nice of him,” Charlie says. “Have you hooked up yet?”

What. The. Hell.

Charlie barks out a laugh. “Don’t give me that look. I was just asking a question.”

“What kind of question isthat?”

The traitor only shrugs. “You think I can’t see the tension? Smell it in the air?”

Now I’m wondering if my good friend, this boy who crawled his way into my heart and refused to let the strings of our friendship go, hit his head when I wasn’t looking. Because there’s no way he just said that.

My heart is beating too fast to say anything other than “You’re nuts.”

“That’s why you’re all red?”

I palm my cheeks, feeling the warmth of my skin. “I’m embarrassed. You’re insinuating I’m sleeping with the boss.”

“I wasn’t insinuating anything, Allie Cat. I’m just curious about your love life.”

I don’t think the glare I send him intimidates him in the slightest since he throws his head back in laughter.

“It’s not funny,” I say.

“But it is.”

I don’t know where Travis is, but if he comes out of nowhere and overhears Charlie, I will literally die on the spot.

“We haven’t hooked up.” I will my voice to sound steady as I look him in the eye. “In the past or ever. I’m not interested.”

He shakes his head in amusement. “You’re a little liar, aren’t you?”

Something clogs up my throat, and I remind myself he doesn’t know anything. He’s only joking about Travis.

I force a smile. “Maybe I’ll take you up on your offer and give some cockroaches a new place to live in your mattress.”

His laughter sounds so honest, I can’t bring myself to be angry with him. “You’re a gem, Allie Cat.”

“And you’re a pain in my ass,” I tease him, “but you’re a gem too.”

He raps his knuckles on the bar. “If you’re done here, I think we can start with the gift exchange.”

“Sure. Let me grab my present from the changing room, and I’ll meet you here.”

It takes us about fifteen minutes to get everything ready to close for the day, and then we’re all standing together in the main area of the bar. It feels a bit like school, and it makes me giddy.

“There are a few different ways to play the game,” Charlie starts. “Normally, we would put all our presents on one table, open the one with our name on it, and try to guess who it’s from.But since we all want to get out of here ASAP, we’ll do the shorter and slightly more boring version.”

“Thank God,” Jude mutters, making me chuckle.

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