Boss I Love to Hate: An Office Romance(56)

Her change of mood gave me whiplash. I sort of liked horny Sonia.

Jeff approached with Jean, and my eyes widened when Sonia, who’d previously bawled her eyes out over her two-timing ex, released Ava to grab one of his hands and then Jean’s.

Jean enjoyed the attention and began to dance to some upbeat version of some Adam Levine song, moving like an awkward duck that had rolled out of its mother’s womb.

“I thought I was mad, but I’m not mad anymore. Everything tends to work itself out, ya know,” Sonia slurred.

Shit, this was bad, really bad. I had pinkie-promised that I wouldn’t let her make a fool out of herself.

“I mean, he hated the way I ate, and I hated the way he couldn’t last more than three minutes,” Sonia said loud enough for Jeff to hear.

“She’s drunk,” I heard Jeff say.

“Sonia.” I reached for her, but she pushed me off and continued to dance and move with Jean following her lead.

Jeff and I stood awkwardly by the side, watching our dates interact. Jean was laughing hysterically. Then, without warning, she handed Sonia her phone, and Sonia proceeded to plug in what I could only think was her number.

Fuck. This isn’t good.

I walked over and wrapped one arm around her waist. “Okay, Shorts. Maybe it’s time to go home.”

A full-on pout escaped, and a big part of me wanted to bite her bottom lip again.

“No, we have to dance,” she demanded.

“YMCA” played next, and before I even had a chance to deny her, I was on the dance floor, laughing and twirling her with my hands up in the air, YMCA-ing. If my brothers could witness me dancing, they would never let me live this down.

“Aunt Chelsey!” Sonia shouted, hugging a short, stout woman beside her. Small brown curls encompassed this woman’s head, and I imagined that she wore curlers overnight.

“Sonia …” Aunt Chelsey said, mid-YMCA. “Who is this? I didn’t know you had a new boyfriend.”

“I do.” She tugged me forward, almost making me trip. “This is Brad. My man.”

All right then. Isn’t Sonia cute?

I extended my hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Well, well, well. Does your mom know?” Aunt Chelsey pulled me into a bear hug, and I had to bend forward to hug her shorter frame. “You will have to go to the monthly family dinner. We have one on Monday.”

“He is; don’t worry,” Sonia said, eyes crinkled, smiling with all teeth and definitely drunk.

I cringed. She’d hate me in the morning if I didn’t fix this.

“If I don’t have work, honey.” I raised my eyebrows and stared at her, doing the silent-speaking thing that Mary and Sarah did when they had done something bad and didn’t want to get in trouble. “You know how work is.”

She tiptoed and surprised me by kissing me on the lips. “Don’t be silly. You love your Shorts.”

Shit. This is so bad.

After twenty more minutes of dancing, I grabbed more water for her. Maybe she would be able to dance and pee herself to sobriety. But, after the electric slide, the chicken dance, the cha-cha slide—which she taught me—I knew there was no slowing down.

I was practically dripping sweat, but I couldn’t help but smile. My mood was in between enjoying the night with Sonia and stopping her from talking to Jean and Jeff as though they were all best buds. I hadn’t ever danced so much, nor had I ever been more entertained by another human being.

I thought Mary was amusing. Drunk Sonia was a totally different level.

At one point, the bride had me in the center of the circle, doing some Michael Jackson move that I hadn’t known I had in me.

When a Frank Sinatra song came on, I twirled Sonia around and brought her close to my chest. Like before, her body melted against mine, her softness to my hardness.

“Thank you,” she whispered against my cheek, and nothing felt righter.

“Don’t mention it.”

Her eyes were closed, her breathing even.

“No, really. Thank you. I’ve been dreading this day for weeks, but I don’t think I’ve ever had more fun.”

Tiny breaths escaped her, and when my hand moved to the small of her back, I pulled her closer.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had this much fun either.” Because it was the truth.

I’d never experienced a whole spectrum of emotions in one night like I had tonight. I’d never laughed so hard. I’d never been so pissed before than I was at Jeff, at Jean. I’d never danced like no one was watching. Most of all, I’d never felt this undying need to be this close to someone else.

She nuzzled her nose against mine, and then she kissed me, sweetly, passionately. This time, her kiss was the end of me, the end of everything platonic, an end of everything I had ever promised my brothers. But it was the beginning, the beginning of a hope that I wanted to explore. A hope with Sonia.





Brad

It was almost midnight, and the band’s music was all slow jams, indicating the end of the wedding. Sonia was hunched over with her head on the table, asleep. Her mouth was ajar, and I could hear soft breaths escaping her mouth. I wouldn’t doubt it if she was drooling. She had knocked out mere minutes ago, but as soon as she was down, she was down for the count.

Ava and her boyfriend had left, and only a few college friends remained.