Page 29 of The Games We Play
Finally, Sandy sank into the chair across from me, grabbing a cookie and biting into it before lazily pointing it in my direction.
“I was thinking,” she mused between chews, “maybe you could ask that Ridley boy to help us load those orders and drop them off. I haven’t seen him around here in a while.”
A knot the size of a damn tennis ball formed in my throat, and I tried to clear it away. When that didn’t work, I took a long sip of tea and shook my head.
“I don’t think so,” I said firmly. “He and I don’t talk like that anymore.”
Sandy sighed, giving me a look that hovered between sympathy and pity. Coming from anyone else, I might have spoken up, but I let it slide.
“That’s a shame,” she said, shaking her head. “He was a nice boy… and pretty easy on the eyes.” She winked.
I couldn’t help but laugh, nodding in agreement. As infuriating as he was, he was nice to look at. A blessing and a curse.
When I used to sneak Mac into my apartment, there was no getting past Sandy. She was the only person who knew we’d been spending time together, and luckily for us, she wasn’t much of a gossip.
He’d stop in and check on her, make sure she was doing all right, and then buy me roses. He never forgot, never let the pitcher go empty.
I couldn’t help but smile, thinking about those moments with him.
I got to see the sweet side he kept hidden away from the world. I’d learned a lot about Mac, about the man he is.
No.
I didn’t like that my anger was softening toward him. He didn’t deserve it. He played me and made me look like a fool.
My feelings were warranted, and I wasn’t giving up that easily.
I sighed and took another sip before giving Sandy my attention and moving on to a safer topic.
Because my mind—my heart—couldn’t take it.
“I can ask another brawny, easy-on-the-eyes guy,” I said.
There was one other guy in Faircloud I knew who probably wouldn’t be doing anything that weekend. His parents, too, weren’t very present in his life.
“Oh yeah?” Sandy asked, wiggling her eyebrows. “And who is that?”
“Logan Walker, Boone’s friend.”
Logan was sweet, even though we didn’t see him much. He spent most of his time working or by himself.
“That would be lovely,” Sandy replied.
By the time I’d finished my third cookie and drained the last of my tea, I decided to call it a night. I hugged Sandy, reminding her again to keep her phone in her apron.
In true stubborn old-lady fashion, she ignored me completely and sent me on my way with the rest of the baked goods… and the entire pitcher of tea.
8
MAC
PRESENT DAY
Angus flopped against my chair, sending it rolling back before he let out a deep, bone-weary sigh and sprawled across the floor like he owned the place.
With a faint smirk, I reached down, scratching behind his floppy ear. All one hundred and twenty pounds of him made it impossible to move my chair back, so I stayed put, working on my computer from an awkward distance.
Technically, today was my day off from bartending. The administrative work, though? That never stopped.
