Page 58 of The Perfect Melody

“It’s really not,” I counter. “Nothing’s going on.” At Mei and Phoebe’s sceptical looks, I continue, “Seriously. He’s my boss,maybea friend, and that’s it.”

“A boss who runs out into the pouring rain to make sure you’re OK?” Gem asks, brows arching high.

I wince. “You heard about that?”

“Girl, everyone’s heard about it,” Erin replies.

I groan with embarrassment.Perfect.

“Nobody’s judging though, and after you shared your fucking amazing voice with us, people switched to talking about that instead,” Erin rushes to assure me.

“It’s embarrassing.”

“The only one who should be embarrassed is the loser who grabbed you,” Gem replies, tone heated. “You have nothing to be ashamed of.” The others all voice their agreement.

Smiling weakly, I reply, “Thanks.”

After a beat, Mei asks, “So there’s really nothing happening with you and Austin?”

“Mei,” Daphne chastises.

“What?” She raises her hands, eyes wide. “None of you see them on shift together. If I have to witness one more longing look, I’m going to lock them in the office until they figure their shit out.”

My jaw drops.

“Longing looks?” Erin asks, intrigued.

“Oh, totally. You should have seen the way he stared after her when she ditched him at the shop yesterday,” Phoebe chimes in.

“I did notditchhim. I left Austin alone so he could finish shopping in peace. You heard him—I wasdistractinghim,” I grumble.

“Yeah, distracting him because he was too busy looking at you to look at any books,” Phoebe replies with a smirk.

I roll my eyes. “You two are imagining things. No more coffee for either of them,” I tell Erin.

“Sure, because caffeine is the problem.” The silver bracelets stacked on her delicate wrist jangle as she sweeps her hair over her shoulder.

“The denial is strong with this one,” Gem adds, then quickly hides her cheeky smile in her mug as she takes another drink.

“It’s not denial. Austinmightthink I’m attractive, but he obviously doesn’t want to do anything about it. Simple.”Ignoring the way the truth cuts deeper than it should, I take another bite of my scone. Mmm, baked goods make everything better.

“Listen, while they’re not handling this with any tact,” Daphne begins, pausing to give the rest of our group a stern look, “I think they’re onto something. Austin’s not a bad guy, but he’s usually the type to stay out of other people’s problems unless they ask for help. He’s been all up inyourbusiness since you got here.”

“Yeah, because I crashed into hisactualbusiness,” I grumble.

Daphne shakes her head. “No, we’re so past that now.”

“She’s right,” Mei agrees, more subdued than before. “Things have been different since the reopening. Before he watched you like he needed to keep an eye on you to make sure you didn’t screw up. Now he watches you like he wishes you were his.”

My cheeks heat and I shake my head. “I don’t know. The only reason he even started being nice to me is because Abby told him to.” Needing something to do with my hands, I pick up my mug and take another drink.

“That man isn’t the type to let anyone force him into doing something he doesn’t want to—not even his mother. He’s too stubborn.”

“Erin’s right,” Phoebe agrees. “Plus, I have it on good authority that you’ve come up a few times at the guy’s game night.”

“And you know this how?” Gem asks, leaning in.

Phoebe shrugs. “Jeremy told me.”