Page 57 of Instigator

He pats my hand. “As long as you’re happy. That’s all I care about.”

“It’s the same for you.”

Colt gives me a shy smile. “Who’d have thought? The two computer nerds with the jocks?”

“Speak for yourself. You know I’m a sports nut.”

“Yeah, well, we all have flaws. That’s yours.” He winks.

I throw my napkin at him. “You jerk.”

“You love me,” he taunts.

“Yeah, Colt, I really do.”

The smile slips off his face. “Ceci…”

“Not in that way. You know I’m not hitting on you.”

He swallows, nodding. “We’ve been through some shit together, haven’t we?”

From our days as rivals at MIT, to building tech companies in the same city, to selling our business babies, and now working together on the foundation.

“We have. I wouldn’t trade it.”

“If only it worked out between us.” He sighs, resting his head in his hand. “It would be so much easier.”

“We’re not compatible. Not in that way. And besides, then you wouldn’t have your man.”

“I don’t know that I have him to begin with.”

“Do we need to woo him?”

Colt grimaces. “I don’t want to come on too strong. He says he doesn’t care about my money…”

“Wooing doesn’t have to mean throwing money at him. We’ll come up with something.”

He looks at me, doubt creasing his features.

“Come on. We’re both brilliant. If we can’t think of something, I’ll… I’ll… well, I don’t know what I’ll do, that’s how convinced I am we’ll figure it out.”

“I trust you.” He takes a deep breath, as if he has to convince himself of that. “I don’t want to hide who I am. Or him. I just want to live my life out loud.”

Clapping my hands together, I grin at him. “Let the wooing commence.”

twenty-four

. . .

Aidan

“I need you to do me a favor,” Hailey says. She’s crocheting in the recliner while wearing a compression suit, and I’ve got ESPN on in the background as I read on my Kindle in a matching getup. The machine pulses around my limbs, breaking down all the built-up lactic acid in my muscles and will help me perform at my best for tomorrow’s game.

I narrow my eyes as I study her. “And that is?”

“I need you to go to this bistro.”

With a sigh, I crumple. “Is this another blind date?”