Page 14 of City of Wind and Lies

"Yeah, don't need you telling the boss I didn't do my job."

"Ha," I laugh awkwardly, desperate to get out of this exchange. "Well, I've got to get going. My friend’s waiting on me," I finish, throwing a thumb over my shoulder.

He nods, taking a step back, but still standing there. Watching.

Weirdo.

The moment I'm inside my car, I smash the lock button, jab the key in the ignition, and throw it into reverse, putting as much distance between me and Allen as possible.

"To-go margaritas are the BEST thing to come from the pandemic," I say, sitting on the barstool and pulling a leg underneath myself at the kitchen island.

"Ugh, I miss day drinking and Tiger King," Drea whines as she drags another tortilla chip through the vat of queso I brought home.

Grabbing a few more chips, I reach for the cheese dip. "Thank god your parents let us take over the basement."

"For sure. Speaking of, ma and papá invited us for dinner tomorrow. Drew leaves Monday for New York."

Using the ankle that's dangling, I twist on my stool to face Drea. "You know I won't say no to your mom’s cooking- do you know what she's making?"

"Tamales, they're wonder twins' favorite," she replies with a roll of her eyes, wiping her hands on the front of her sweats.

"Stop, you know your parents are just as proud of you as they are of Drew."

"I didn't get into Columbia Medical School though." She pauses, bobbing the straw in her cup up and down. "Now where's this file you wanted me to look at?" She eyes me, pinching the straw and bringing it to her lips.

"Oh!" I slap my hand down on the counter. "So, creepy Allen snuck up on me in the parking garage and gave me another thumb drive with the correct version of the file."

Drea scrunches her nose, pinning me with a discontent stare. "That's sus. Why wouldn't he just email it?"

I shrug my shoulders. "He said he wanted to make sure I had it and didn't tattle to Bowie about it."

"Hmm," she hums, reaching for another chip. "Send it to me anyways, let me put those two years of computer science classes to use."

"Okay, I will next time I get my laptop out. I need to look at the new file and get the report together for Bowie anyways."

I slide off the stool, grabbing another marg from the drink carrier. "Let's watch a movie, I'm tipsy and want something sappy."

"Oh, yes! The choices on the Hook'dUP app are NOT appealing." She replaces the lid on the queso and rolls the chip bag shut. "Any movie in particular?"

"Nah," I say with a shake of my head. "Lemme grab my phone and see what's trending."

Drea continues putting away the rest of our dinner as I grab my phone from my bag and flop onto the couch. I go to unlock it and see that I have two missed calls from Trey and a message asking to meet up.

Absolutely not.

I delete his message without responding and block his number. I do not need his brand of crazy on top of Allen’s.

6

"Do you want another whiskey, Mr. Sorrentino?" Crystal asks, picking up my empty lowball glass from the table.

"Make it a double, thanks," I respond, still eyeing the players who've turned up at the 708 Club so far for Friday night's game.

A harsh pounding rattles the back door, and Rhodes pushes up from the leather club chair beside me, passing his glass to his girlfriend Crystal on the way to see who the fuck has that level of audacity.

I don't know how Rhodes manages not to break the hands and pluck out the eyes of everyone in this room as Crystal walks around in that slinky burgundy tube dress that barely covers her ass. I'm pretty sure he gets off on watching men flirt with her.

I couldn't do it.

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