Page 48 of Balance

Heat flashed through my face. “Well… be that as it may, it’s not like we’ll be fucking at the table.”

“Can you imagine? Harder, yeah, right there, hey… can you pass me a breadstick?”

“It depends on what you intend to do with the breadstick.” Matthew’s voice made me jump, and it had a similar effect on Charlie, whose face now closely resembled a tomato.

“You made it.” I stood to greet him, somehow resisting the urge to fling myself at him and climb him like a spider monkey. Instead, I brushed a kiss against his cheek and then turned to introduce him to Charlie. “Where’s Jett?”

Matthew rolled his eyes. “He’s up front admiring the plant.”

“That’s Ferdinand. He gets a lot of attention. I think he’s been here as long as the restaurant. Anyway, uh, Matthew, this is my best friend, Charlie. Charlie, this is Matthew.”

Charlie stood and reached across the table to shake Matthew’s hand. Already this was going better than it had in any of my dreams. Jett appeared then and clapped Matthew on the shoulder before he slid into a chair. Not waiting for introductions. “That’s one hell of a nice Pothos.”

“Jett is obsessed with plants.”

“Obsessed is such a strong word. It’s merely a hobby.”

“Jett fancies himself a plant doctor. He’ll buy the scraggliest, most dead-looking things and bring them back to life. He once took a plant out of the office trash and nursed it back to health.”

Matthew took a seat at the round table. With him on one side, and Charlie on the other, my head was going to feel like it was on a swivel by the time the night was over.

“Jett, you know Troye, and this is his best friend, Charlie.”

“Good to meet you, Charlie. And it’s nice to see you, Troye. I’d invite you to the office more, but Matthew gets nothing done when you’re around. And your presence whips some of the staff into a frenzy.”

“Me?” My voice squeaked. “Why?”

Jett looked at me, then at Matthew. “Is he for real?”

“Troye doesn’t believe in his fame.”

“I’m just a gamer.”

Jett and Charlie made similar scoffing sounds.

“Yeah,” Charlie said. “But you’re like… hot. You’re a hot, young gamer who is also a nice person. And I don’t want to say like wow, that’s so rare, because that’s not true, but people are still talking about the charity marathons you did last summer. And then there was that time you wrapped a game in under five hours because the company said their game was unbeatable. You’re a celebrity in some circles.”

I looked to Matthew for support, which was silly of me. Because Matthew was just as big of a cheerleader as Charlie was.

“Get used to it, sweetheart. People like you.”

For the life of me, I didn’t know why, but I kept that question to myself for once. There was a time where I wouldn’t have. I’d have challenged both of them on their opinions of me. I’d point out all my flaws and all the reasons people shouldn’t like me.

I turned my attention to Jett because I didn’t know how to face Charlie or Matthew in the aftermath of them gushing about me.

“I’m sorry if I caused problems in the office. I can meet Matthew in the lobby when we get lunch and stuff if you’d like.”

Jett just stared at me like I’d said the dumbest thing he’d ever heard. Though his expression said you’re an idiot, what he said out loud was, “That won’t be necessary. Besides, I’d have a mutiny on my hands if they found out I had anything to do with you not coming into the office anymore.”

Charlie, in a bid to save me from the discomfort of having the whole conversation revolve around me, jumped in to try and rescue me.

“So, how’s the foster game coming along? Troye told me all about it, and it sounds amazing. I bet it’s going to be a hit.”

Jett’s face darkened like a thundercloud, and he pinned his gaze to me. It was hard and piercing, and I shifted uncomfortably. Matthew reached for Jett, putting his hand on the man’s arm, but he didn’t flinch.

“Jett, it’s fine,” Matthew said.

God, I wished I knew what was going on.