Holly
“That fucker stood me up!” I announce to Bryn when I return from the unsuccessful lunch trip. Well, not entirely unsuccessful. I did get some spicy wings, and theywerereally good.
But there was no sign of Hot Rod.
I mean, unless he took one look at me and ran the other way…or is in fact a fifty-year-old with missing teeth or an old lady who came in with her emotional support goat. In which case, I have serious questions for Judith.
Actually, Ialreadyhave serious questions for Judith. It’s much too easy to circumvent her code, so I’ll be spending the next few days teaching her to be craftier.
Bryn swivels her desk chair around to more fully face me. “Seriously? Haven’t you been talking to this guy for over a week? Like, a lot?”
“Yes,” I say through my teeth, “and boy did I waste my time.”
Well, not entirely. Hedidtell me about Cinema Sins, but one could argue that that made me waste more time, so…
Mikey peeks over the side of Bryn’s cubicle. “Are you talking about Hot Rod?” he asks.
“Yes, and he’s as much of a flake as Buttercup, I’m afraid.”
“Butterscotch,” he corrects sadly.
“Butterscotch,” I repeat, making a face. “So much for the implausibly high percentage match.”
“Are you going to start dating that frightening man from last night?” He looks a little twitchy while he asks his question.
What the what?
“What are you talking about, Mikey? What frightening man?”
He mimes hulking out. “Jane’s father.”
“Interesting,” Bryn says, looking from one of us to the other. “You sensed something between them?”
He looks a little nervous suddenly, like someone asked him to give a speech he hasn’t rehearsed or to date women who don’t have horse’s names. “Well. Yes. There was a lot of yelling in his office, so I looked through the door, and…”
Dammit. I need to get better about closing doors. Or, you know, not throwing myself at men in public places.
Mikey glances around and says in a stage whisper, “You werekissing.”
“Do not tell Jane,” I say, giving him a warning look.
He mimes zipping his lips, and I actually believe him, if only because he’s clearly afraid of Cole.
“I need to talk to Holly,” Bryn says, and Mikey, bless his heart, doesn’t budge.
“Alone,” she adds, and a hurt look ripples over his face, like she just told him he’s not part of our club. That probably brought up a whole slew of those school memories he told me about.
“See you later, dude,” I say. “Let’s come up with a plot-twist lesson plan for tomorrow to knock those kids on their asses.”
He brightens a little. “Yes, that’s a good idea. And I can tell you all about Applejack.”
I salute him as Bryn draws me away. Several of our other worker bees are looking at me, so I salute them too. “Keep up the good work, gang.”
Someone snickers, and then Bryn’s dragging me through the hallway and outside.
“Holly,” she says, when she’s reasonably sure we’re not alone. “Did you try texting the guy from the app? Maybe he had an excuse.”
It’s a fair point, and I didn’t—I was too pissed. So I pull my phone out to do just that, only for Judith to tell me,Sorry, Cherrybomb. You’ve been blocked from contacting Hot Rod. I can’t tell you why, but Icanconnect you with your next highest match. Want to start talking to Roger Rabbit?
