Page 13 of The Attack Zone

“What’s going on, love?” I ask.

“I thought it was ‘Stace’,” she says with an unconvincing laugh.

“Meh. Tried it, hated it. ‘Love’ is better,” I say. “Unless your boyfriend was bothered by it?” I say sarcastically.

“Huh?” she asks.

“Greg, was it?” I say.

“Oh, yeah. Greg,” she says. “I, uh, sort of kicked him out.”

Interesting ...

“You ... kicked your boyfriend out of my gala?” I say.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” she says. “He’s an asshole.”

I mentally punch a fist into the air and work very hard to actually just nod politely.

“What kind of a name isGreganyway?”

Stacey lets out a little laugh and finally makes eye contact with me.

“It’s literally your name,” she says.

“Mine has two Gs. And an S,” I say. “And it’s my last name.”

“True,” she says.

“And I’m trying to make you feel better,” I continue.

“Well, we could get confused. Greg and Greggs are pretty close.” She’s smiling now and I feel like I’ve won the lottery.

“We should call him Evil Greg, just to make it clear who we’re taking about,” I say.

“What makes you think you’re not the evil one?” she says. She has a glimmer in her eyes and they’re somehow even more striking.

I reach my hand out to her. “Come on,” I say. “Let’s go celebrate. We hit our goal and Evil Greg can’t take that away from us.”

She takes my hand and nods. I guide her down the hall and back into the ballroom, realizing how sweaty my hands are and regretting not subtly wiping them off before taking her hand. But she doesn’t seem to mind.

The event is wrapping up by the time we’re back, so we each stand by the door and thank all the attendees for coming. Two couples even left with new dogs, which I’m thrilled about. It’s a rare moment where we’ve both dropped our weapons. We’re just two people who worked towards a goal together, celebrating a win.

In fact, we almost feel like a team.

CHAPTER 7

STACEY

THE NEXT DAY

I’m sitting at my desk the Sunday after Mitch’s gala, trying to focus on wrapping up a report for a client when I hear it. The laugh bellows down the hall and runs straight to my spine. It’s loud and deep and filled with warmth.

It’s Mitch.

Why is Mitch in my office building? I have a meeting with Caleb for his non-profit,Smashing Barriers, today, but I wasn’t expecting to have to see Mitch. But as the sound gets closer, I hear more voices. Cassie, Thomas, Caleb, Hazel, and, of course, Mitch, all make themselves known as they draw nearer.

I guess the gang’s all here.