Page 43 of Body Check

“Oh, cool. I’m in tech consulting.”

I don’t know what that means. I’m half-convinced it’s just a buzzword for wasting people’s time and money.

But I know better than to say it out loud.

“Are you native to Boston?” I ask instead.

Sam shakes his head. “I did my MBA at Harvard. I’m originally from Albuquerque. You?”

“Military brat. I’ve lived all over. Born in London. My brothers live here, so I moved here.”

His face falls. “You have brothers?”

“Yeah, two of them. They’re great.”

I don’t mention that Brandon is a famous baseball player. More than once, guys have tried to use me to get to him.

“Hey, Amelia!”

McKittrick pops up behind Sam, a drink in his hand. As I stand there, the hockey player sets an arm across my shoulders, leaning into me. He smells woodsy like pine, and I shouldn’t like it as much as I do.

“What are you up to?” he asks.

“Talking to my friend here.” I give him a sharp elbow to the ribs, expecting him to flinch away, but he only pulls me further into his side.

“Hey, man. I’m Jason.”

“Sam.” His eyes narrow as he glances between us. “Am I getting in the middle of something here?”

“Nope,” I tell him brightly. “He was just leaving.”

McKittrick doesn’t take the hint. “Nice to meet you. Are you from around here?”

“Yeah, my place is around the corner.”

“Cool, cool. We live in the financial district.”

Sam cocks his head. “Both of you?”

“We’re neighbors,” I grit out.

“Yeah, it’s pretty awesome,” McKittrick adds.

The bartender sets our drinks in front of us, and I watch as Sam scribbles out a five percent tip. Hm. Not sure I can abide by that.

Reaching for my wallet, I withdraw a ten dollar bill and stuff it into the tip jar.

Sam’s jaw clenches as his gaze darts from me to the jar. “Do you want to get out of here?”

“We just got our drinks.” I sip from mine, ignoring McKittrick draped all over me. “Do you have anything fun planned for the weekend?”

“Nah, just working,” he says. “I picked up a turkey dinner for one from the market.”

“Oh.”

“I’m hanging out with Meels, here,” McKittrick says helpfully. “Her brother invited me.”

“I didn’t know that.”