Which will take precious time.
A minute or a year later, a shadow falls over my seat. I squint up, sighing when I see it’s Amanda. She’s wearing a bubbly smile and holding two takeout cups of coffee.
“Looks like you’re hard at work,” she chirps. “Mind if I join you?”
“Are you going to tell Elio about everything I say again?” I ask dryly.
Her smile crumples. “I’m so sorry about that. I shouldn’t have said anything to him. He just… he asked me to get coffee with you, to make you feel welcomed, and then he asked about our conversation, and I didn’t figure there was any harm telling him, but—”
“It’s fine.” I wave at the armchair across the circular table from me. “Pop a squat.”
Her brows furrow. “Huh?”
My eyes flutter shut. “Take a seat,” I clarify.
She sets one of the takeout cups down in front of me. “It’s black,” she says. “Just the way you like it.”
It’s kind of hard to dislike her. She’s just… such a typical golden retriever. I guess it isn’t entirely her fault that her master happens to be a jerk.
“So, qualifying kinda sucked, huh?” she says, trying to break the ice.
I snort. “That’s a nice way of putting it. What the hell was wrong with Elio?”
“I think he and Asher argued last night. Not sure, though. He’s been kinda distant with me.”
I frown. “Why?” Every interaction between them has seemed so chummy that I’m almost certain they’re sleeping together. What trouble could there be in their paradise?
“Well… he didn’t like how I chewed him out over his comment to you.” My eyebrows raise, and her cheeks heat in embarrassment. “He was a dick. I called him on it. He threatened tofire me.”
NowIfeel bad. “Hey, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s done, and we’re good. If you need to backtrack with him to keep your job—”
“Oh, don’t be silly,” she laughs. “He can’t fire me.”
I arch an eyebrow andalmostask why. But if her answer is that they’re dating, I’ll lose any respect I have for her.
“What are you working on?” she asks brightly.
I glance down at my laptop. I’ve reached the point where lines of data are starting to blur, and the characters are swimming around the screen. I can’t keep going without at least a few hours of rest. I also can’t afford to keep running into goddamndelayswith my work. I’m on uneasy ground with the team as is.
“Nothing for the rest of the night,” I sigh. “For the last few hours? An algorithm I’m building. It’s nothing special.”
Amanda thinks for a moment. “Oh, I think I heard Declan and Ilya talking about that! It’s a predictive thingy, right?”
To dumb it down to its most basic form… “Right. A predictive thingy.”
“Well, that’s pretty cool. It could really help with race strategy.”
I nod. “It might also start teaching Asher his ass from his elbow…” I trail off when Amanda’s eyes flick behind me, and she pales. “What’s wrong?” Her lips part, but no words come out of them, and a slight grimace overtakes her face. “Fuck. He’s right behind me, isn’t he?”
“Talking shit again?” Asher asks quietly, confirming that heis, in fact, right behind me.Fuck. “Here I wasstarting to mistake you for a goody two-shoes.” His tone is as dry as a bone, and just as devoid of life.
I twist in my seat to face him, trying to keep my cheeks from heating. He’s wearing atightblack shirt and equally dark jeans with holes around the knees. He looks… far too good for my wellbeing.Why are the assholes always the hottest?
“Believe it or not, that was a one-off.”
“Sure it was.” Asher’s eyes flick to Amanda. “Barbie.”
“Asher,” she responds, the word just atouchtoo breathy.
