Page 82 of Friend Me

His grip tightened on my hand. “You’re sure that’s it? Friendly? He brought you coffee this morning.” Ben never missed anything.

“Apology coffee.” I twisted my lips into the best approximation of a smile I could manage. “We’re cool. But thanks. Thanks for caring enough to talk to me.”

He raised his eyebrows and lifted his other arm, and I stepped into his hug. “Anytime, honey.” He squeezed me once and then let go. “And don’t worry about the gossip. I’ll try to clear it up.”

I took a deep breath. “We’d better get back out there. I have a hungover executive to manage.”

“I have a lot to do, too. Cooper’s headed back out on the road.”

I opened the door and led the way out. “Europe this time, right?”

“Yeah. A week. He’s asked me to be on call during European business hours.”

“Ugh. Better than Asia, I guess.”

After lunch, I returned to my desk to find it covered in a gigantic arrangement of bright pink peonies. Seriously, the thing was three feet tall.

Ben ambled over, leaned on the corner of my desk, and flicked one of the blooms.

“Apology flowers,” I said, gritting my teeth. How many of the gossiping assistants had watched the over-the-top bouquet come up from the ground floor? I scowled at all three dozen peonies.

“That’s some apology. This is, like, an entire peony bush. Are you sure you didn’t do anything more than kiss?”

I glared at him.

His mouth dropped open. “Mr. Weston.”

I whirled, and sure enough, our CEO had approached silently and stroked a soft pink petal. “That’s quite an arrangement, Ms. Rice.”

“It’s—it’s gorgeous, isn’t it?”

His sharp green eyes speared me. “I understand it’s from Mr. Fallon. I hear you two attended a party together Saturday night.”

“Not…not together.” My heart rabbited in my chest. Why did I always feel like prey around him?

“And yet, he sent you flowers. Interesting.” His gaze lingered on me for a second, scanning me right down to my bones. Then he turned on his silent heel and stalked toward Cooper’s office.

“Mr. Weston, he’s on a—” Ben’s mouth snapped shut when Weston, without looking back, flung up a hand like he was shooing a fly and walked right into Cooper’s office without knocking.

Ben’s face was pale. “Holy shit. That man is terrifying.”

I shuddered. “Tell me about it.”

The stairwell door closed behind me, and I heard the characteristic squeak of Vans. I whirled around, keeping my body in front of the flowers, but there was no way I could cover up the colossal arrangement.

“Tyler, hey,” Ben said, his voice still shaky.

There was no dimple today. Not even the hint of a smile. His hair was flat on the top like he’d been wearing headphones and unruly in front like he’d been tugging on it. His slouch hid the muscles I’d drooled over—literally and figuratively—that night I’d slept in his bed.

Still, he was heartbreakingly beautiful.

And in my chest, I felt a ping, like a hairline fracture in my heart. I didn’t want him to scowl at me. I wanted him to smile, to break out that dimple. To walk toward me and stand in that spot that blocked the sun from my eyes. To lean on my desk while we compared the number of painkillers we’d taken to lessen the aftereffects of that evil punch. To tell me about the elegant bit of code he’d wrestled into being that morning. So I could feel that spark, that tingle, that happened whenever he touched me.

It hit me like a blazing meteor. There’d been no spark when Cooper had kissed me because all of my sparks were for Tyler. My friend Tyler who somehow, while I’d been distracted by thoughts of Cooper, had become more than my friend. He’d become the person I could depend on when something went wrong. The one I wanted to share good news with. The person who made me feel cared-for and valued whenever he came up to visit. Yesterday, I’d thought I was hungover. Really, I’d been melancholy, like some lovesick historical romance heroine pining for her hero. All I’d been missing was a voluminous silk gown and a basket of mending to sigh over.

By Carl Sagan’s bushy eyebrows, I loved Tyler Young.

“Hey.” My voice was low and wispy. My breath stuck in my chest.

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