Page 53 of The Long Way Home
Ben launches into conversation immediately, and, to no one’s surprise, he dives right back into work.
“I had a meeting last week with a guy out of Denver,” he says, turning toward Margo as if she had asked. “He is a big-time investor. I’m talking six-figure buy-ins.”
Margo nods politely. “That sounds exciting.”
“Yeah, it is.” Ben’s clearly thrilled with himself. “I’ve been handling a lot of high-level accounts lately. Management’s trusting me more, which is huge.”
I tune most of it out. All I can focus on is Rachel’s hand placed on his shoulder.
Connor leans toward me, pulling me back to reality. “Guy really loves the sound of his own voice.”
“You’re not wrong.”
Ben’s voice rises again, something about marketing strategy and “client scalability.” I take a drink.
Connor mutters, “If he says ‘synergy,’ I’m jumping off this deck.”
I choke on a laugh. “Give it five minutes. He’s just getting warmed up.”
Ben punctuates his next sentence with finger guns.
Connor deadpans, “That’s it. I’m out. Tell my future wife I died doing what I loved—avoiding sales guys.”
He pushes back from the table with a dramatic sigh and heads for the cooler.
“Beer run,” he calls. “Only thing keeping me from faking a phone call and disappearing into the woods.”
I shake my head, grinning as he sidesteps a lawn chair.
Rachel stays mostly quiet during dinner. But I catch her glancing at me a couple of times. However, every time I meet her eyes, she looks away immediately as if she was never looking at me in the first place.
Conversation finally eases when Ben quits trying to dominate it. Slone tosses in dry one-liners that keep cracking Connor up. Anderson keeps the tone light, talking about their honeymoon with just enough detail to make it funny but not weird.
At one point, someone teases Slone about breaking up with guys over text.
“She’s not wrong,” Connor says, laughing. “I’ve seen the receipts.”
Slone rolls her eyes. “Would you rather I do it over pancakes?”
“No,” Connor shoots back, raising his hands. “Just be easy on me when you break my heart, Princess.”
Slone laughs, but there is a tiny hitch in it. “Please. Like you’d ever make it that far.”
Connor tilts his head. “So you’ve thought about it.”
Her eyes narrow. “Don’t flatter yourself, Westbrook.”
“We both know it’s too late for that.” Connor leans back, teasing. “Honestly, I think I would bet you could ruin me in three texts or less.”
“Ruining you would be far too easy, and I prefer a challenge.”
“Slone, we talked about this. All you have to do is ask for what you want. I’m willing to oblige,” he shoots back, a glint of mischief in his eyes.
“You know the saying curiosity killed the cat, right, Westbrook? Just a heads up, I’ve been known to sharpen my claws.”
Connor leans forward with a slow, teasing grin spreading across his face. “Good. Because I’m very curious and I don’t mind letting you sharpen those claws on me.”
“You guys are making me nauseous,” Margo chimes in, scrunching her nose.
