Page 56 of Fabulous Filthy Friend

Mom always said to be thankful for small—or in his case, very large—blessings.

14

FLYNN

The knock on my office door has my head jerking up.

Dan leans against the jamb of my door casually. “You got time to join me for lunch?”

I glance down at the papers spread out across my desk—a jumble of numbers and figures. They haven’t been making much sense in my head for the last twenty minutes, anyway. After movie night with Rachel, the refreshing chat with INEEDSOMED, and my late-night solo session, I was utterly exhausted when my alarm blared this morning. My brain can’t seem to get into gear.

Fucking Monday…

I stretch back in my chair, my back and neck popping. “Yeah. I could eat.”

And actually, it isn’t all doom and gloom.

Work-wise, things are finally starting to look up. A bunch of my clients’ portfolios skyrocketed this morning after the Fed announced the reduction in the interest rate, making them very happy. Happy clients make me happy and make my days a hell of a lot easier than dealing with angry, disgruntled ones.

I can’t seem to muster up any joy about it, though. Not when I know that Dan’s going to want to talk about his date with Rachel. I’ve been dreading this moment since Saturday.

Setting them up was a bad idea. I hadn’t contemplated what it would be like hearing how great things are from both sides. At least when she’s dating someone I don’t know, I’m not the one in the middle of them. And her reaction last night definitely showed she cares what Dan thought about their date. There was something there. Something I had seen even before they ever met.

Sometimes, I hate being right.

“Let’s get out of here.” He motions for me to follow him.

“Give me a minute to organize this shit, or I’ll come back and get stressed out again right away.”

He chuckles, steps into my office, then glances out the door before turning back to face me. “So, I went out with Rachel on Saturday.”

I nod as my gut tightens. Lunch suddenly doesn’t sound so appealing. “I know. She told me that last night.”

His eyes widen. “You saw her?”

“She lives next door, Dan. She’s my best friend. I see her all the time.”

Shit.

That sounded rude and like I’m annoyed. It’s not Dan’s fault I set them up and they clicked. I need to dial it back a bit.

Thankfully, he doesn’t seem to have noticed my tone. He chuckles and drops into the chair across from me. “Right, right. Isn’t that weird? Having a best friend who’s a girl, not to mention a hot girl?”

I open my mouth to answer, but I can’t quite form any response that doesn’t sound jealous. So instead of looking at him, I stack the various piles on my desk back into order.

My silence doesn’t seem to deter Dan, though.

“I mean, Rachel is smoking hot.” He gives me a questioning look. “I can’t believe you’re not interested in her.”

It appears I’m a better actor than I thought if he never picked up on anything. I busy myself with organizing my desk and try to avoid answering the question. “Did you have a nice time?”

He grins and nods. “Yeah, it was actually pretty great. One of the best first dates I’ve had in a long time. Did she say anything about me?”

I chuckle as our conversation from last night returns. It’s like being back in middle school. “Not much.”

“Is that good or bad?”

I shrug. This is the problem with setting up friends—you end up being stuck between them, whether good or bad. “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask her.”

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