These three words make me want to melt into a puddle or explode into a thousand little butterflies. “Fuckin’ amazing.”
“Who the hell does that guy think he is?” She’s still so angry on my behalf on the ride to the house, and I could not for the life of me explain how exhilarating it feels to be on this side of the wrath of Annie Li.
“I mean, honestly, you called it,” I tell her. “Exactly what you said. He was my advisor for all of about two seconds before I realized what a dick he was. He was one of my professors and had a massive chip on his shoulder. I think Duke hired him as some sort of promising young professor, but his research never amounted to much of anything. I guess just enough for tenure, since he’s still at Duke.”
She huffs.
“How did you figure it out?” I demand to know. “How did you know he was such a shithead?”
“He looked like someone who wraps his entire mouth around a water fountain spigot.”
The car swerves, the force of my laughter twisting the wheel.
“Why did he have it out for you so badly?” Annie is so grumpy I could tickle her.
“Because I was better than he was,” I admit. “Smarter. Excellent grades. I was accepted into some of the best PhD programs in the country—Cornell, MIT, Stanford. But then he decided he could lord one over on me when he found out I was going for an unconventional concentration. Food chemistry is kinda frowned upon. Also when I decided to go to NYU. ‘Cause NYU’s good, but it’s not the best.” It also paid PhD students the least amount of stipend money, at least relative to the cost of living in New York City.
“Go Bobcats,” Annie mutters, with an enthusiasm reserved for airport security lines. “Why’d you decide to go to NYU?”
“Ma got sick,” I tell her. “Wanted to be close to home.” It was so soon after Dad died that I freaked out. Would’ve dropped the PhD dream altogether and worked in a kitchen somewhere close to Bensonhurst if I hadn’t gotten into a New York program.
“Oh.” Annie reaches over and squeezesmyknee. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. Is she okay now?”
“She’s doing better. We finished paying off all her medical debt.” Entirely thanks toNakedReactionsand the advance for the cookbook from Hawk Publishing.
“Well, good for you,” she says indignantly. “You should be damn proud of all the choices you’ve made.”
We pull up to the rental. This one also has a separate pool house, which is definitely for the best considering I’m in the mood to show Annie my gratitude with hundreds of orgasms. Would eat her pussy for three to four hours?—
“Like, come on,” Annie says. She waves her hand at all of it. “Handsome, successful, rich Dr. Nico. Taking care of his mom’s medical bills. This is amazing. Look where we are. Own every single one of your choices that brought you here, and fuck what everyone else has to say. You deserve to do what you love.”
I stop the car and smile over at her. You know what? Maybe she wouldn’t judge me forNakedReactionsafter all. After that whole shpiel? I should put her in touch with Ali.
On second thought, maybe they should never meet.
“Thanks,” I tell her, “but can you take your own advice? Why don’t you own all the choices you made? Look at you now. And you say you regret them, but how fucking cool are you? You’ve had all these crazy experiences and an amount of fun that most people only dream of having.”
She looks out the window and doesn’t answer.
I’m dropping her off before heading to the restaurant in town. She decided she didn’t want to go, and I’m not arguing with her about it. Not arguing with her about anything after the stunt she just pulled for me.
Before she gets out of the car, though, she gets all quiet. “That comment he made about your accent.”
I shrug. “I’ve had worse.”From you, I don’t say.
“He wasn’t used to hearing you with an accent because you got rid of it. You wrestled it out. You changed your whole voice. Because of me. Because of the way I bullied you about it.”
I shrug again. “Successful scientists definitely don’t sound like Tony Soprano dollar slice dimwits. Probably would’ve dropped it even if you hadn’t harassed me about it.”
She turns and looks me directly in the eye. Hers are fierce. “I’m really sorry about that, Nico.”
I’m kinda taken aback by the force of it. “It’s okay, Annie. We’re past it.”
“I don’t care. I want to apologize for being such a bitch. You’re one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. I’m sorry.”
I take her hand and kiss the finger with the heart on it. Her middle finger. “Apology accepted, honey.”
She smiles and my world ends, because Annie Li is smiling at me and it’s so debilitating it’s apocalyptic.I did that, I think. I suddenly cannot breathe. It’s warm instead of ice, it’s directed at me, and it fries my brain with the force of a laser beam. I decide in that moment that I’m going to spend the entire rest of the trip working for more of them.
