“I’m ready to take over the world. It’s time.”
I laughed. “What are we doing tonight, Brain?”
“The same thing we do every night,” Morgan said with a grin.
“Drink wine?” I offered.
“Hell yes. I deserve some celebratory drinks. Like, ten at least.”
“Are you going to be able to stand?”
“God, I hope not.”
This was probably the most one-on-one time I’d ever spent with Morgan, and I was kicking myself, wondering why I’d never done it before. Probably because Morgan was a bit intimidating. She really had her shit together. She knew exactly who she was. And she showed no fear. It was enviable. Especially for someone like me.
“We should do this more often,” Morgan said. “How do you feel about trashy magazines and bad reality TV?”
“Um…guilty pleasure?”
“Great. We’re going to be best friends. Can we get matching tattoos?” she said with such a serious face that I had no idea if she was joking.
“I’m covered in tattoos. I’ll hold your hand.”
She sent me a secret little smile. “How do you know I don’t already have one?”
“Touché.”
We grabbed another glass of wine and were on our way back to the exhibit we’d left Heidi and Emery at when someone started catcalling Morgan’s name. Her eyes widened, and she shot around. I followed her in a circle, only to let my stomach drop to the concrete.
Austin.
“Morgan! Whoop!” Patrick called, whistling suggestively at her.
Her face bloomed a perfect shade of pink at the attention. But I could see that she enjoyed it. What got me was…Patrick was most certainly not alone.
“I’m not a dog. Stop whistling at me,” Morgan said.
Patrick laughed and threw an arm around her shoulders. “Ah, Mor, come on. Have a little fun.”
“Hey,” I said to Austin.
Austin’s dark eyes met mine, and I shivered.
“Hey.”
He looked sexy as hell. A light cotton button-up with the sleeves rolled up to reveal the tattoos hidden underneath. His hair was tousled, as if he’d been running his fingers through it. I envisioned myself gripping the longer strands on top and had to visibly reel it in. His stormy eyes seemed to sense where my thoughts had headed, and they sparkled with amusement. But I could also tell that he was loaded. I wasn’t surprised, especially after the announcement this afternoon. I would be, too.
“So,” Patrick said, leaning heavily on Morgan, “y’all coming to Louie Louie’s with us?”
“Dueling piano bar?” Morgan asked. “I’m in.”
“Jules?” Austin asked.
I gritted my teeth. Stupid fucking nickname. “We’re with Heidi and Em. We’ll have to ask them.”
“They’re in!” Morgan said. “Heidi already promised to get me wasted.”
“You’re getting wasted, and you didn’t call me?” Patrick asked, affronted.
Austin was unusually quiet. He and Patrick usually went back and forth, as if they were brothers more than best friends. But he was letting Patrick take the lead on his usual instigating, antagonistic personality, hardly saying a word.
I wondered what was going on up there. Is he pissed or resigned? Had he gotten over not being chosen for CFO? Or is he still in the running? Fuck, I didn’t know. And I couldn’t ask because asking would only cause an argument. Another one.
“Cool,” Austin said. “We’ll see you there then.”
“Let’s snag Mini Wright and our resident tatted up HR girl,” Patrick said while Morgan deflated at the choice nickname, “and have the Wright wifeys meet us there.”
“We’ve barely seen anything yet,” I said.
I was torn between wanting to look at all the exhibits and wanting to find out what had happened with Austin. Plus, Morgan obviously wanted to hang out with Patrick.
“I’ll walk the exhibits with you if y’all want to head to the bar early,” Austin offered.
Patrick’s head turned so fast that I thought he might have pinched a nerve. “You’re skipping the bar?”
“I’m meeting you there later,” he corrected. He held up his beer. “It’s not like this whole place isn’t open container.”
Patrick held his hands up. “All right, all right. We’ll save a table. Get the wifeys and meet us there. You up for that, Mor?”
She nodded vigorously. “I want to be thoroughly trashed by the time they meet up with us.”
“Challenge accepted,” Patrick said.
Austin punched him in the arm. “Hands off my sister.”