The #5Star Affair (Love Hashtagged Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

could find a distraction. Rich had offered to set him up with someone. Now seemed like a good time for Ethan to take his buddy up on the offer.

Chapter Five
    The chatter of a dozen different conversations filled the family-style restaurant, mingling with the clang of silverware and clink of ice in glasses.
    Ethan clenched his hands in his lap, fighting the urge to rub his face, lean on his palm, or do anything that might give away how completely bored he was. He tried to focus on his date. Not what she was saying—he’d given up on that a couple of hours ago. It hadn’t seemed to matter. If he nodded at the right time, she kept talking.
    He was never letting Rich set him up again. It didn’t matter how amazing his friend promised the girl would be, Ethan was finding his own date next time. Going out was supposed to be a distraction. A random hookup to remind him of why he preferred random hookups to letting his libido lust after an off-limits roommate.
    Instead of taking his mind off the woman at home, the date had left his thoughts free to linger on Jaycie most of the evening. How gorgeous she looked first thing in the morning, hair still damp from the shower. The passion she poured into talking about the things she loved, when she let her defenses down. It didn’t matter if it was games or music, or the flowers she’d seen blooming outside the apartment. The way her eyes lit up, how she licked her lips when she was distracted, the conviction in her voice—it all brought his senses to life.
    He shouldn’t be thinking about Jaycie. He pushed remnants of hamburger bun around his plate, and covered them with fries. Could he build a house out of them? Maybe the potatoes were cold enough to shape. Sonja had hardly touched her food. Would she mind, if he borrowed some of the lettuce for texture? He was being a horrible date, but the few times he’d tried to bring the evening to a close early, she’d cut him off.
    “…and then it took them forever to find it. How was I supposed to know it was called The Horde and not That One With All The Gross Aliens and Guns ?”
    The game name drew Ethan’s attention, and his brain clicked back to the conversation. “I loved that game. Incredible graphics. And the things they did with skins instead of polygons? Epic.” He didn’t like to give Rinslet any credit, but they’d created the game when they were still under DM, and it was his company’s intellectual property now, so he could ignore its past, in favor of an amazing title.
    She snorted, staring at him in disbelief. “Seriously? You sound like my brother. Except he’s ten. So lame.” She spit out each word, as if expelling them got rid of a bad taste in her mouth. “Anyway. The store manager was so apologetic about the whole thing…”
    He knocked back the rest of his drink, cold tequila with a squirt of lime sliding down his throat. If he wasn’t driving, he’d order a second. Or third. Maybe he should anyway. Would anyone miss them, if they accidentally drove off a cliff? He wouldn’t have to figure out what he was going to have to sacrifice, to pay for this meal. But he wouldn’t get to play The Horde anymore either. That would blow. Not that there were any cliffs between the restaurant and home.
    His attention drifted to her lips. They just kept moving. The red looked like enamel. Why would someone put high-gloss resin on their lips? Maybe he should finish that model robot he had in his closet. He followed her jawline to her collarbone. Should he tell her the black dress was too tight? Tits shouldn’t be squished like that, bulging over the top of the satin. How was that even comfortable? The moment he had the thought, he felt bad for it. Then again, she’d spent most of the evening insulting his career, so it was hard to summon enough empathy to stop the rambling thoughts.
    “Hello?” Sonja’s soprano whine severed his drifting thoughts, and a set of perfectly manicured nails—the same blood red as