I wave down a cotton-candy guy and get two big bags of it for us to share, just as Jerome is scoring a game-winning sixty-seven-yard touchdown. The crowd is erupting, including Cole to my right, but all I can think about is him.
And then when they show Jerome on the jumbo screen, all I can think about is the picture he showed us of them together. Finally, we are filing out of the stadium just as my phone vibrates in my pocket.
It’s been posted, the text reads from an unknown number. But when I scroll up, I see where I sent my address earlier. It’s Brooks.
Fuck. Okay,I send back.I’m leaving the stadium now. Will apply as soon as I get home.
Take a breath,he writes back.They’ll be looking for your resume.
I want to ask who and how, but now’s not the time. I slip my phone back into my pocket and try to focus on Cole. He’s my whole heart. My reminder that there is still innocence in the world. And my reminder that there are still little wonders everywhere. He’s going on and on about Jerome’s touchdown and that the Empire is going to the Super Bowl, and all I can do is smile. I wish so badly sometimes that I could exist only in the world that he does and that I haven’t been hardened by the world around me.
Finally, I’m walking back into my apartment and dropping my keys on the counter after dropping him back off with my parents. I kick off my shoes by the door and scurry into the living room, snagging my laptop off the counter as I go.
I open up my email and look for the link that Julian said he was sending from the burner email address he gave me earlier. I click on it, and my heart starts pounding in my ears. I drag and drop my resume, then I click into the box that says, “Tell us why you are the best fit for this position.”
My mouth is dry, and I clear my throat.
Because I am going to be the woman who gets justice for every other woman before me,I think.
I draw in a long breath, type my response and click “submit.”
Submitted,I text.
Great,Brooks writes back.Now open your door.
My heart is pounding in my chest. I jump up from the couch like the room is on fire, scrambling around like an idiot. This is the second time he’s shown up to my door unannounced, and the second time I have very much not been ready for it. My hair is windblown, my cheeks are burnt from the sun, I smell a little like sweat and popcorn, and there is nothing I can do about it.
I draw in a long breath as I pull my hair up into a very messy bun. This is as good as it’s gonna get.
I open the door, and he’s standing there, leaned up against it like he’s posing for a magazine.
“Thought you could use this,” he says, handing me a bottle of wine. I smile as I take it.
“Thank you,” I say. “Come on in.”
He follows me inside and closes the door behind us. I pull down two wine glasses from the cabinet and set them down. Within a minute, I have the bottle opened, two glasses full, and one of those glasses is rapidly emptying. He chuckles as he takes a sip.
“Easy,” he says with that killer smile. “Now we wait.”
There’s a brief silence for a moment. I want to keep my cool. I want to stay composed and controlled, like I have so desperately wanted him to see me.
But something in me breaks. I look up at him.
“What if it doesn’t work?” I whisper. He sets his glass down and leans over my counter, sliding his hand over mine.
“It’s going to,” he says. I cock my eyebrow at him.
“How do you know? How do you know my resume is going to get picked out?”
He clears his throat as he slowly retreats his hand.
“I casually mentioned that I met this hot young girl a few weeks back to Larry’s assistant. Told her we should find a way to get her around the office more. She asked what your background was, and I just said, ‘young, single, and new to the city.’”
I smile and nod.
He doesn’t know I’m single.
“Hot?” I ask. He smiles and nods.
