“Oh no,” I groaned when I noticed them maneuvering through the crowds.
“What’s wrong?” Reed asked. “Oh, great.”
“You really don’t like him, do you?”
“Look who’s talking. You’re sleeping with him, and you aren’t happy to see him.”
Obviously Reed was right. I was sleeping with Dylan, but it still felt weird to hear him say it so bluntly.
I wanted to run into the kitchen. You’d think I’d no longer be nervous about seeing Dylan—but I was. I still had that same churning stomach reaction. It was always worse when he smiled at me—which he did the moment he saw me.
I was ringing up a couple of girls from my biology class and tried to ignore the way Dylan watched me. I closed the register, and it was Dylan’s turn. He wasn’t alone. A whole group of his brothers and some pledges stood nearby. There were also a handful of girls, including Tally. I guessed Gregg must have invited her.
Tally waved. “Hey, looking good, roomie.”
“Ha, thanks. What can I get you?”
“We need a few pitchers and maybe three pepperoni pizzas,” Ryan ordered.
“How many’s a few?”
Dylan played with a plastic display on the counter. “Make it four.”
“Four it is.” I rang them up. “That will be forty-eight sixty.”
Dylan put down a fifty. “It doesn’t leave much for a tip, but I’ll tip you later.”
My stomach did a summersault and not in a good way. Was it normal to have that reaction to the thought of having sex with the guy you were dating? Probably not.
“Don’t worry about it.”
Dylan didn’t move.
“I need to keep helping people.” I forced a smile.
Dylan ignored me. “What time do you get off?”
“Midnight.”
“All right, I’ll come back to get you.”
“Oh, that’s okay. Reed’s going to drive me home.” I turned to see Reed glaring at Dylan.
“Is that right?” Dylan gave him the death stare right back. “That won’t be necessary. I’ll be bringing Juliet home with me.”
“Oh. I’m going to stay in my room tonight.” I so didn’t want to be discussing that topic at work with tons of people around.
“Why would you do that?”
“Because I need a good night’s sleep.”
“You don’t sleep well at my place?” For the first time, he looked a little worried.
“I do, but I sleep better in my own bed.”
“But I sleep better when we’re together. You’ll just have to get used to it.”
Did he really mean that? Did he just like having someone with him, or was it specifically me? “Do you really sleep better when I’m there?”
“Yes. I’ll pick you up after work.”
“She said she didn’t want to.” Reed pushed his way in front of me.
Dylan tensed. “I’m not talking to you.”
I edged back in around Reed. “I can handle this.”
“No, you can’t. Your jackass boyfriend is holding up the line.” He turned to Dylan. “You can sit down. We’ll bring the pies out. Juliet, go help Justin in the back.”
“What?”
“Go, Juliet.”
I wanted to stand and argue, but technically, Reed was my boss. I‘d never heard him talk that way.
I asked Justin if I could help, but he didn’t want any.
I didn’t have long to wait. Reed stormed into the back. “What the hell was that? Do you always let him boss you around?”
“Excuse me?”
“Why do you act like his little slave? It’s pathetic.”
“Did you just call me pathetic?” I glanced at Justin.
“Justin, go out front.” Justin nodded and hightailed it out of there. No one usually questioned Reed.
“Are you going to apologize?” I tried to hold back the tears I knew were coming.
“Juliet. I didn’t mean it. I just think you should be with someone else. At least take a break from him.”
“Quit trying to play big brother. I have two of my own already.”
“I’m not playing big brother. I just won’t put up with that in my restaurant.”
“It’s not your restaurant.”
“It may be called Al’s, but who runs the place?”
I wrung my hands. “Oh, so every interaction I have here is your business now?”
“Yes. I’m not going to have my employee harassed.”
“He wasn’t harassing me.”
“Juliet.”
“I’m not doing this. If you’re going to act like this, I’ll find another job.”
He reached out and touched my arm. “No. I’m sorry. I was out of line. It was just the way he was looking at you. It was condescending.”
“Calling me pathetic is condescending.”
He moved his hand. “I never should have said that. You aren’t pathetic. I overreacted.”
“All right. I should probably get back to work, though.”
Reed nodded, and I headed back to the counter to ring up a few more people.
Dylan and Ryan had already grabbed the beer, but Justin and I carried over the pizzas. Dylan scowled at him. I was almost positive he’d somehow be mad at me for all of this.
“Thanks, Juliet.” Tally smiled. She was sitting with Gregg, but I caught her throwing Ryan a flirtatious look. Who knew what she was getting herself into?
“Enjoy your pizza.” I turned to leave, but Dylan grabbed my wrist. “I’ll pick you up at midnight.”
“I really need to get some sleep.”
“Are you sure?”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh nothing.” He stood up. “I was just wondering if you were using that as an excuse to get your supervisor to drive you home.”
“Of course not.”
“Are you positive?” He moved his hand up my arm. “Because I thought we already established we were exclusive.”
“We are.”
“Okay. Just making sure we were on the same page. I’ll see you in a few hours.”
“Not tonight. Maybe tomorrow?”
He let out a deep breath. “All right. Dinner first?”
“I work again.”
“Two nights in a row?” He leaned in closer to me.
“That way I get weekends off.” It was hard to think with Dylan so close to me. Why did he still have the ability to affect me so much?