Page 110 of Touch Me

I pull out my laptop, set it on the desk, and realize there’s nothing else in my bag. “Damn. I forgot my lunch.”

“Looking for this?” I turn and see Jace holding my lunch bag out to me—he’s wearing gray athletic shorts and a white t-shirt and has his camera bag in tow.

“Jace. Thank you. I was just mentally preparing myself to eat expired yogurt and an old banana from the vending machine.”

“I saw it on the counter after you left. I was heading out to the beach anyway, so I figured I would drop it off for you.” His smile falters when he looks behind me and see’s three awestruck faces staring at him.

“Jace, this is Jen, Ashley, and Alex. Guys, this is Jace.”

“Hi.” Jace raises a hand awkwardly to wave.

Alex raises his phone, mouth agape, and I hear the distinct shutter sound indicating he took a picture. The girls aren’t even blinking.

Jace blinks and looks at me. “Did he just—”

Ashley seems to shake out of her daze first and rises to come around the desk, in an attempt to mask Alex’s blatant faux pas. “How rude of me.” She puts out her hand to shake his. “So nice to finally meet you.”

Jace takes her hand and shakes it quickly. I see a small flinch but no one else notices. The other two wave and Ashley goes back to her seat. “Send me that,” she whispers, leaning into Alex.

“Well, I should let you get back to work.” He leans down and plants a sweet peck on my lips and walks toward the door. I turn around, arms crossed, ready to chastise my friends.

Alex raises his hand to stop me before I even say a word. “Just give us a second to watch. You can yell in a minute.”

I sit in a huff, arms crossed and toe tapping on the floor, impatient as they ogle Jace walking to the door.

“Are you done now?”

They all crane their necks to see and don’t turn to me until the door swings shut behind him.

Jen frowns and turns back to me. “Aww, he really left.” She balks when she sees my face. “What?” she asks innocently.

I turn to Alex. “Really? A picture?”

He at least has the decency to look embarrassed. “Sawry.”

“What are you apologizing for?” Ashley cuts in. “You,” she points to me, “should be the one apologizing.”

“Me? Apologize for what?”

“You havethatat home and you just hide him away from us. That’s prime spank bank material.”

“What, did you think I would share?” I scoff.

“Girl, I don’t know whether I should carry you off the field on my shoulders or come across this desk and claw your eyes out.” She sits back fanning her face. “Holy shit, that man is fine.”

“I know, right?” I smile. “But seriously, you guys, he’s really shy and not very social. It took him a lot to come down here and you guys could have done more than stare.” Alex raises his phone, as if to show me he did do more than stare, but drops it when I give him the look. “Not what I meant, Alex.”

“You’re right,” Ashley says. “Call him back and we’ll try again.”

All I can do is laugh at this point. I look over and Alex is practically drooling at the picture.

“Straight guys are friends, not food,” Ashley teases, and he rolls his eyes at her.

“Delete it,” I say.

“Aww, c’mon.” He pouts.

“Alex, delete.”

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