Page 6 of Fierce-Hyde

“Gentlemen,” Grant Fierce said. “It’s like looking into the past, seeing you two sitting here eating lunch together.” Grant looked at Hyde’s messy pile of food. “Not much has changed, has it?”

“Nope,” he said to Ryder’s father. “Other than this burger isn’t nearly as good as yours.”

“Don’t be sucking up to your big boss,” Ryder said.

“I like to hear it,” Grant said. “Keep it up. My son rarely says nice things to me.”

“Cut it out, Dad,” Ryder said.

Hyde ate his last fry, balled up his wrapper and the mess left of his food, then stood up, Ryder following.

He wanted to get away from Grant before he asked him about his personal life or dropping women’s names around him.

He knew what the Fierces did on the side.

They set people up.

He thought it was a joke when Ryder told him years ago, until he discovered how many office couples had been secretly matched.

Too many to count, but he wouldn’t be adding to that number.

“Don’t run from me, Hyde. Was it something I said?” Grant asked innocently enough, then ruined it by laughing.

He smirked, as it was a game the two of them were playing with each other.

“Nope,” he said. “Just need to get back to work.”

Ryder and he walked out together and then down the hall.

He noticed Ryder’s sister-in-law, Raina, walking out with another woman and it had his head swiveling fast enough that he might have tweaked a muscle.

“What’s going on?” Ryder asked him.

They moved to Ryder’s office. “Who was that woman that was walking out with Raina?”

“Tori?” Ryder said.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Is that her name?”

Ryder grinned. “That’s Raina’s best friend, Tori Miller. Why? Do you think she’s hot? She’s single.”

He snorted so loudly he thought snot might have flown out of his nose, which only caused Ryder to laugh.

“That’s the chick that told me off at the bar last month.”

His confession to Ryder shocked him, but he felt terrible and desperately needed help.

He’d gone to his parents enough in the past year and didn’t need another lecture on what a dick he’d been.

He thought Ryder would understand and his friend had.

“You had it coming to you,” Ryder said. “But that is surprising coming from Tori. She’s not like that. Just to give you a warning—you might see her more than you want. She works on the second floor.”

“Shit,” he said. So it’s not like he could just pretend it never happened and he wouldn’t see her again.

“She comes up here to have lunch with Raina a lot,” Ryder said, all but rubbing it in even more.

“Meaning I should go apologize,” he said.

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