The Fall Up (The Fall Up, #1)(42)

“This is wooing?”

“You would be surprised how many men have fallen victim to him with far less.”

Devon shook his head as Henry continued to stare in awe, pacing a tight circle around us.

“Is he going to say something?” Sam whispered.

“Unfortunately, yes. And when he does, you’ll wish for the weird silence again.”

Suddenly, Henry stilled and peeled his shirt over his head, announcing, “Threesome.”

“Excuse me?” Sam questioned as Henry advanced.

“Fine, twosome, but Levee gets to watch. She is my best friend, after all.”

I giggled as I pressed a hand into Henry’s bare chest. “Put your damn shirt back on and leave him alone.”

He groaned, finally dragging his eyes off Sam. “This is so not fair. Why would you flaunt this fine specimen of a straight man in front of me and not even let me nibble. Do you not love me at all?” He pouted.

“No one is nibbling anything,” Sam quickly added.

Henry winked. “Yet.”

Sam stepped away and dug into his pocket. “Jesus, I need a cigarette.”

“Oh, me too. Let’s go outside,” Henry agreed, starting to follow after him.

I caught his arm. “Don’t you dare! First of all, you don’t smoke. Second of all, Sam is completely off-limits to you. Let it go.”

His shoulders sagged in defeat. “You’re so selfish,” he whined, pulling his shirt back on.

“Maybe, but if you quit your bitching, we could watch him walk away together. His ass is insane.”

“Seriously?” Sam asked cynically.

“Well, now, you’re just being mean. But I accept.” Henry tossed his arm around my shoulders.

We both turned to Sam, who was squinting his eyes in disbelief at our objectifying exchange.

Henry made the shooing motion toward him. “Go ahead, hot man. Smoke your cigarette. And, before you ask, yes, I’m perfectly okay with you envisioning it’s me you’re putting in your mouth.”

“Henry!” I scolded then burst into laughter.

“What?” He feigned innocence.

Sam curled his lip in disgust then barked a laugh while scratching the back of his head in what could only be described as astonishment. “Yeah. I…uh… Come on, Sampson.”

The dog trotted after him.

I slapped Henry on the chest. “You dumbass. Don’t screw this up for me. You know I like him.”

“Yes, I do. And I completely know why now. Fuck, that man is sexy.”

“He really is. And he’s such a nice guy.” I sighed. “He deserves so much better than me.”

Henry rubbed my arm. “Nonsense. If he’s smart, he’s probably on his knees out there, thanking God that he gets to be with you.” He swayed his head from side to side. “And, since he’s already on his knees, maybe I should go check on him.”

I slapped his chest again. “Shut up! Leave him alone.”

Henry chuckled, throwing his hands up in defense. “Okay, okay.”

Devon spoke up, interrupting our conversation. “Show’s over. I’m bored. Levee, get your clothes and let’s go.”

“I’m not going anywhere. Come get us in the morning.”

Devon’s eyes flared wide. “Us?”

“Sam’s going with me to LA. He can ride back with you after the show.”

“Awesome,” Devon mumbled.

I wasn’t sure what Devon’s problem with Sam was, but he’d made it blatantly obvious he had one. He’d always been protective of me. It was his job, after all. Literally. But our relationship was more than just employee-employer. Over the last few years together, Devon and I had forged a friendship that had eventually evolved into more of a brother-sister bond. I loved and hated it all at the same time.

It would have been nice to have an employee who just did what I said. But I loved knowing that Devon was always there for me, no matter what the task.

“So, who wants a beer?” Sam asked as he came back inside wearing a wrinkled hoodie and holding a six-pack of brews.

“Where do you keep magically producing beer from?” I inquired.

“I have a stocked fridge in my shop out back.”

“And the hoodie?”

His eyes flashed to Henry. “My Jeep. I didn’t think it was safe to come back in without a shirt.”

“Smart move,” Henry said, walking over and pulling a beer from his hand. He winked as he twisted the top off and tipped it to his lips.

“Okay. As very entertaining as this has been, can you two please leave? It’s late, and Sam and I were just about to take a shower.”

Henry’s mouth was full, and he lifted a finger as he swallowed.

“No, you can’t join us!”

“Why are you so hateful?” Henry grumbled.

“Take him home. Please,” I begged Devon, who was glowering at the whole situation—and especially at Sam.

“Levee, we need to talk. Stewart isn’t going to be happy about you being here. We don’t know this guy, and a lot of things are going down for you right now. We need to keep this among the family for a while.”

I walked over and stopped in front of him, craning my head back to meet his eyes. “A lot of things are going down for me right now, but Sam has had a front-row seat to everything for a while. There’s nothing he doesn’t already know.”