“OPEN A WINDOW!”
“Oh. Right.”
By the end of the week, he proudly reports, “You'll notice I made breakfast today without an intervention.”
“Oh wow,” I tease. “What culinary masterpiece did you whip up?”
“Toast.”
“With?”
He pauses, like he knows how pathetic it sounds. “Avocado.”
I laugh every time I think about it. And between the laughter, between the dumb things and the smart things and the tender things, I start to get attached.
Too attached.
It’s the little conversations that ruin me.
Like when I ask about his workers and he says, “Would you believe I just gave the L.A. workers a raise, as well as fucking arm and leg in union demands.
"Really?"
"I don't know what I was thinking."
“What will your father say?” I ask, already knowing the answer.
There’s a pause on the line.
“Oh, he's going to be tickled all shades of purple,” Jordan says, sarcasm laced through every word. Then, quieter: “He thinks raises make workers lazy. That rewarding loyalty is a weakness. He’d rather fire someone than listen to them.”
My teeth clench. I’ve never even met the man, but I already dislike him.
Jordan exhales sharply. “Doesn’t matter. I averted a full-blown union strike. And screw what he thinks. It was the right thing to do.”
I look at my phone like I can see him through it. “And that right there, Jordan Farrington, is the man you really are.”
Silence. Then, “Christ, Sabrina. You… fucking ground me, you know that?”
I blush hard as my heart flips over. That might be the sexiest thing anyone has ever said to me.
A few days later, I mention Murphy offering to take me to see the new release in my favorite Marvel series. He goes silent.
"Jordan?"
"You're joking, right"
No. I've been waiting two years for this sequel. Everyone at work knows I'm obsessed with it. And now it's finally out
“No,” he says. “You can't go with him.”
I blink. “Excuse me?”
“I’m not sharing you with some teenage fool who wants to score cheap shots by giving you something you've been excited about for months.”
“Jordan, he's just a friend who's doing something nice for me.”
“He's not your friend. Besides, if you want to go, I should be the one to take you.”
