Page 52 of Strictly Business
“Knox,” I stop him. “It’s all good.”
“Yeah,” the asshole taunts. “It’s all good.”
“What? Finn, he just—”
“I said, it’s fine,” I say through gritted teeth.
A satisfied smirk crosses the other man’s lips, “Oh, and tell my wife I said hello.”
“What happened to you?” Colin tries to cover his laugh when I move so he and Saylor can come inside my apartment.
“An asshole.”
“Do I even want to know?” This time he doesn’t even try to conceal his laughter when I glare at him. “Relax, man, I’m messing with you.”
“Leave him alone, Colin. He’s having a bad day,” Saylor says and offers me a smile. “I know an old trick my grandma taught me that might help get some of it out.”
“That’s okay, don’t worry about it, Shey,” I assure her, but she won’t hear it. It won’t do me any good to go back and forth, so I unbutton the shirt and hand it over. She scurries over to the kitchen sink to work whatever magic she has up her sleeve.
“I thought you guys couldn’t make it tonight,” I ask Colin when I return from my bedroom in a fresh shirt.
“Shey wanted to stop and say hi. She leaves town day after tomorrow, so she wanted to make sure she got to see you.” Colin and Shey started dating in high school, she stuck by him through the military, and now vice versa while she works as a traveling nurse. She’s been working out of Colorado for the past six months, and it’s the furthest they’ve ever been from each other. I don't think Colin will be sticking around New York much longer if they don’t move her closer anytime soon. “So, who’s the asshole?”
Grabbing a water bottle from the fridge, I explain how Knox and I were ambushed on Fifth Avenue by none other than David.
“You sure it was on purpose?”
“I’m fairly certain when a guy says, ‘Tell my wife I said hello,’ he meant to do it.”
“Please tell me you’re not sleeping with a married woman,” Saylor looks up from the sink.
“Technically, she’s in the middle of a divorce,” Colin defends.
“Oh Finn,” she sighs. I hate the pit of my stomach when she says it like that. Oh, Finn. It reminds me of my mom when I’ve had to tell her I’ve screwed up…again.
“Finn isn’t with her, but her husband thinks they are.”
“So you’re not sleeping with her?” Saylor asks me.
“No, they—”
“Well,” I grimace interrupting Colin. Guess it’s time to let the cat out of the bag.
“You didn’t,” Colin sighs dropping his head in his hands.
“I didn’t mean to. We were working on that project, and it just kind of happened.”
“Jesus, Finn.” Colin shakes his head.
“And then, last night I went to—”
“Last night? Finn, that’s not once, that’s two times! I thought you said you didn’t like her. When I asked you about her last week, you said—”
“I know what I said, Colin.”
“Does Josh know?” My lack of response is enough. “Oh shit, you are a dead man.”
“We’re adults, Colin. We can sleep with whomever we want.” I try to ignore the nagging feeling that won’t settle inside me. “Not that it matters, she wants to forget anything ever happened. It was a two-time thing. She’s coming out of a marriage, now isn’t the time.”