“Because you told him he needs help with women,” Callie interjects. “What did you expect? A man like Reid Grayson is used to women dropping to their knees to suck him off, and you go and open your mouth and challenge him.”
“He could act like an adult and forget about that night,” Jules challenges. “If I had known he was my new boss, I wouldn’t have said those things to him.”
“Men like Gray,” Amelia says, “don’t like it when women tell them what to do.”
“No, I think Reid likes a challenge,” Callie says with a wicked grin aimed at Jules. “It also gives him a reason to talk to Jules.”
Jules bites her lip, looking away from Callie as if she’s hiding something from her. Does Jules like him? She seems a little hot and bothered over this conversation. I wouldn’t blame her if she did have a crush on Reid. He’s the son of a billionaire, disgustingly handsome, Mensa smart, and from what I’ve heard, amazing in bed. His arrogance is his biggest problem. Reid wears it like a shield, keeping everyone away from him.
Lola removes a bottle of Grey Goose from the Ferragamo shoulder bag she probably maxed out a credit card to buy. “Enough about Boss Man. Who’s up for a cocktail?”
“Let’s get this party started,” Callie beams, swiping the bottle from Lola’s hand.
An hour after the girls order their dresses, we take an Uber to The Fox Hole. The girls were pretty buzzed by the time we left the bridal shop. Lola danced on top of the dresses on the ottoman, which almost got us thrown out of the store. Then, on our ride over to the bar, they took turns singing pop songs. Our driver kept telling them to be quiet. I thought he was going to pull over and leave us on the side of the road.
Callie sounded like a cat coughing up a hairball as she belted out the songs. Jules couldn’t stop laughing long enough to finish the refrain. Amelia was busy texting someone, muttering a few words here and there under her breath. And Lola had to further pester our driver. She tugged on his headrest, singing loudly in his ear, begging him to sing along with them. It was pretty awful. The four of them are completely nuts without alcohol, and when drunk, they’re a nightmare.
“My girl’s getting married next month,” Callie yells as she drags me into the bar.
Dozens of people look in our direction, and my cheeks flame from all of the unwanted attention. A few men glance over at us, one of which looks a lot like Stefan. Because it is Stefan.
What the hell?
My heart sinks into my stomach when I see Nate, Reid, and Parker lined up at the bar, pounding shots next to Stefan. Ollie, the owner, is behind the bar, filling five shot glasses as the guys slam the ones in their hands down on the counter. Stefan and Dylan have girls hanging on their arms. Nate is ignoring the blonde who’s trying to talk to him. He pretends not to hear her and drinks another shot, his body turned away from her. At least he’s keeping up his end of the deal.
Why are they here?
I doubt the girls knew they would be here. Jules sounded pretty annoyed with Reid. There’s no way she would willingly hang out with her new boss outside of work. Callie’s mouth turns up into a wicked smile when she spots Reid. She nudges Jules in the side with her elbow.
Jules frowns when she locks onto Reid. “What is he doing here? Let’s go somewhere else.”
“Jules,” Ollie says with his hand in the air. “Where you been hiding, girl?”
Reid glances over his shoulder at Jules and scowls. Her expression mirrors his tenfold. I can feel the sexual tension dripping from them, even from a distance. A good hate fuck might do both of them some good.
“I’ve been around,” Jules tells Ollie. “Working more than usual,” she says with disdain as she locks eyes with Reid.
He glares at her and then turns his back to her to chug another shot. From the looks of it, the guys have been here for a while. A collection of glasses and beer bottles are scattered across the bar in front of their group.
“I see what you mean,” I say to Callie. “Jules and Reid are like oil and water. I can feel the tension from here.”
“You have no idea.” Callie hooks her arm around my back, leading me toward the bar. “They go at it for hours. I’m like just fuck already and get it over with already, but they won’t admit they have feelings for each other.”
We stop in front of Nate’s stool. He’s all smiles when our eyes meet.
“Hey, wifey.” Nate almost falls off the bar stool when he leans forward to kiss my cheek.