Page 26 of Making the Cut

He watches me closely for a moment and then rolls his shoulders back like he’s bracing for something. “I wanted to just have dinner with you.”

His admission is slightly shocking, I didn’t think he’d say anything at all. But there’s a resolve in his eyes that makes me think he’s trying to tell me something else.

“Well, maybe we can—”

“Arch! How about Pete’s?” I cringe slightly at Derek’s voice and hold in my sigh.

He pinches the bridge of his nose and I step in closer, still holding the door with the arm my bag rests on. I pull on my big girl panties and reach for him, placing a light kiss on his cheek.

I give him a broad smile and say, “I’m really happy for you.”

Then, before I can think too much of what I did outside of our pretend relationship setting, I walk out the door, letting it slam shut behind me, and rush to the elevator.

Ice cream and pity party, here I come.

Chapter Eleven

“It doesn’t take that much effort to make a woman happy, just let her wear comfy clothes and bring her food. See, simple.” – Quinn

ARCHER

Being out to dinner with the guys should be a good time. As a matter of fact, it’s been a long fucking time since we’ve had dinner with all of us.

With everyone on a crazy work schedule or those of us with girlfriends taking up spare time, it doesn’t happen often.

I was fine with it at first. I really was.

I ordered a drink, got an appetizer, perused the menu without worrying about cost because I was actually going to be making money—real money—and the guys had offered to pay for my meal since I was celebrating.

Then… April showed up. Which was fine. Not at all a big deal. I liked April. She was cool and I’ve known her a long time.

But it was a girlfriend. Not just the guys now.

Then, Jane had come over after work and was now cozied up to Warren, and I was sitting here frustrated.

Frustrated that the one thing I wanted to do was take Viviana out to dinner to celebrate.

I love these guys. They’re family.

But I wanted a night where we were pretending to be a couple and could just sit and talk and relish in this new future I had.

One I very much wanted to share with Viv.

Now, I sat and watched the two couples at the table huddled together talking about their own present and futures and I was… grumpy.

Granted, I still have the other guys to bitch to, but Derek was off flirting with the waitress and the other three had their own conversation going on.

So I sat and nursed my beer and ate nachos and tapped on my phone, wondering how long I was going to sit around and wait for an opportunity to bolt.

I want to see Viv.

I know she has work in the morning and so do I, but I want to see her. Just her.

The food finally came, and we all dug into our meals.

“So, are you excited about this new job?” Jane asks politely.

I don’t know Jane very well, but from what I can tell, she’s the real deal. Despite the rough patch she and Warren went through, we all knew the moment we met her that he had found his person.