Page 120 of Heart So Hollow

“Haven’t seen you in a while,” I call back to him, slowing my pace while he catches up.

I used to see him every day, but now I only see him at meetings.

“I know,” he flashes me a smile, “you’ve been hiding out more.”

“A little bit, I guess…”

He’s not wrong. I was hiding for a while, until I decided Colson wasn’t an imminent threat. Before, I avoided the break room because I knew he would be there with Alex and Nate. But, now, I’m never there because Colson started posting up at my office during lunch.

“How are you?” Nate glances down at my hand, “Set a date yet?”

“Yeah, we just did. August 24th.”

“Long engagements are cool,” Nate nods, “my sister was engaged for two years and still barely got everything done in time.”

“Oh, um—” I bite my lip sheepishly, “I mean August 24th of this year.”

Nate’s eyes go wide with surprise, “In that case, never mind,” he grins.

“Why wait, right?” I turn the corner onto my hallway and Nate follows, “So, where do they have you now?”

“On the north side,” Nate motions ahead, “since they finished the renovations.”

“The day you got moved, I yelled hello into the hallway thinking it was you,” I’m finally able to laugh when I recall the memory, “but it was Colson, and he scared the hell out of me.”

“Don’t tell me that,” Nate groans, “now I feel bad. I should’ve warned you.”

I cast him a sideways glance, “You should feel bad.”

“Did you know Colson before he came here?” he asks.

It’s not a strange question. Wolfsson is the kind of place where everybody seems to know everybody else because they were recruited via word of mouth. It’s how Dallas and Colson ended up here...I think.

I give a nod, “I know him from college.”

“How well did you know him?”

I shrug, “I mean, we had a class together.”

That’s as much as I want to elaborate. Things are going well between us and I’d rather not rock the boat. Nate stops at my doorway, but doesn’t follow me in. When I look up from behind my desk, he’s staring across the floor like he’s deep in thought.

“What?” I ask. Nate shakes his head with a smile, but doesn’t say anything. I cast a suspicious glance at him, “Why are you being weird?”

“Not being weird, just…” he hesitates, choosing his next words carefully, “making sure you’re OK. You’re the only one over here, you know.”

I love Nate’s roundabout way of poking around for information, as if he himself hasn’t tried to do the exact same thing he’s implying Colson is doing.

“Because Colson’s batshit?” I ask nonchalantly.

Nate lets out a surprised laugh at my unexpected candor, “Batshit…” he repeats, which finally makes him get to the point, “and he seems real interested in you.”

“Does he?” I feign ignorance, but he catches my subtle smile.

“But, seriously, is he batshit?” There’s a catch in Nate’s voice, like he’s deciding whether I’m joking or not. “Like, for real?”

This is too easy.

I lean onto my elbows and crane my neck to look past Nate’s shoulder into the hallway, “Fucking. Nuts.” I murmur with a nod.

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