Page 54 of The Manny

I’m being a drunken idiot. I’m going to get fired.

“You said you didn’t want to have a late-night.” His voice was faintly accusing.

“Oh, well…”

“I guess you were having such a good time, you changed your mind.”

I frowned, feeling puzzled. “Everything was fine with Mia, though, right? You… you didn’t really need me here.”

“That’s not the point.”

“No?” I gave a confused laugh. “Then what is the point?”

“It’s after midnight.” He sounded a bit like a nagging parent.

“Well, if you were worried about me, I’m sorry?” He was standing so close to me, if I’d leaned in our mouths would have touched.

He lifted one shoulder. “I wasn’tworriedexactly.”

“I actually didn’t intend to stay out so late. But Aiden went home after dinner, and I wasn’t quite ready to end my evening. I went to a club that was attached to the restaurant.”

“What?” His voice sharpened.

“I wasn’t ready to go home yet. I… I hadn’t been out in a long time, and I just wanted to stay out longer.”

“You went to a club alone?” He narrowed his eyes.

“Yeah. Why not?”

He blinked at me. “Well, why would you go alone?”

“I told you, Aiden went home.”

“He just let you go to a club by yourself? Why would he do that?”

“He doesn’t actually have any say in the matter.” I laughed, feeling puzzled. “I didn’t need a designated driver or anything. I mean, yes, I drank way too much, but I took an Uber home, so all is good.”

“He wasn’t worried about someone hitting on you?”

“Of course not.”

He shook his head. “You two have a weird-ass relationship.”

“We do?” I laughed, feeling confused. “I wasn’t going to force him to go to a club when he didn’t want to.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, looking muddled. “I could never be that… easy going.”

“No?” I knew Jack had a controlling personality but did he actually think he had the right, as a friend, to tell someone they could or couldn’t go to a club? Maybe that was why he didn’t seem to have a lot of friends.

“So… you could have gone home with some guy tonight?” He narrowed his eyes.

“Er… yes? There wasn’t anyone there that interested me though.” My face warmed. “This is a weird conversation to have with my employer.”

“Yeah, sorry.”

“Nobody owns me.” I laughed.

“Right.” His eyes buzzed with something hard to define. “I guess so long as nobody gets their feelings hurt.”

---