I reached for a waffle. “We all grieve and process in different ways.”
“Still, if I were you, I’d report the fuck out of him. H.R. is there to help us in moments like this.”
I shrugged. “Trust me, I’ve got him right where I want him.”
“Can I ask you something, then? If you promise to answer truthfully?”
I nodded. “Sure. What’s up?”
She downed the rest of her drink and poured herself another one. “How did you really injure your tongue?”
I blinked. “What?”
She groaned. “Don’t act stupid. The entire office knows what happened last week with Tommy in the parking garage. The man has a few screws loose, but someone overheard the excuse you gave that paramedic for your tongue. Even they didn’t believe you, either.”
I rolled my eyes. “Sounds like a personal problem, then.”
“So, what happened? How did you really injure your tongue?”
I racked my brain for something to tell her, but I came up with nothing. Was I really that bad of a liar? Or was JoJo simply that far out of control? I didn’t want to ruin this man’s life. Maggie had already done that for me. And even though he was a narcissistic, abusive asshole, he didn’t deserve to have his life ruined for a second time.
Which meant I had to come up with another excuse for my injury.
And quickly.
“Becca, don’t you even think about--.”
I held up my hand in mock surrender. “Fine, fine. You caught me. I give.”
Brit sighed. “Finally. Now, what happened? Because I know Mr. Ryker had something to do with it.”
I took a bite of my waffle. “Look, I was in his office and we had a moment, you know?”
Her eyes widened. “What kind of moment?”
I smiled softly. “The kind of moment where you realize that the cold, hardened man in front of you might not be as cold as you think.”
“Did he hit on you? Wait! Did he kiss you!?”
I shook my head. “Nothing like that. I was in his office turning in some work and I hadn’t eaten dinner yet. I thought I could get all of my work done before nine so I could hit up that sushi place.”
“Oh, we have to do that for lunch again soon. That place was amazing.”
“Right!? Well, turns out that I couldn’t. So, I went from twelve-thirty until almost ten that night without food. I went to leave the folders in that little basket attached to his office door? You know the one?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I do.”
“And he was still there. So, he took the folders from me and I turned to head to the elevator and I turned too fast.”
“Oh, shit. Without food in your system, too.”
I giggled. “Yep, and I went down hard. The next thing I know, my mouth is filling up with blood because I’ve faceplanted right into the fucking marble floor and Mr. Ryker’s scrambling to get me to a doctor. It was an absolute mess.”
“So… why were you bleeding in the middle of the day?”
I barked with laughter to try and sell the story. “He paid the E.R. expense out of pocket so I could get stitches and I wanted to pay him back, but he wouldn’t let me. I got mad, started going at it with him because I sure as hell don’t want to owe that man anything, and I raked my bottom teeth across the fresh stitches and popped them wide open.”
Her jaw hit the floor. “You didn’t!”
