Page 35 of The System

Carina laughed and asked, “Have you told him officially that he doesn’t?”

“Yes, a thousand times.” Kieran laughed. “Why do you think I’m now correcting people when they call me Miss Hart in front of him? I’m not trying to be a jerk to him. I just need him to get it.”

“Maybe you’re just impossible to get over,” Carina suggested and felt a flush creep up her cheeks, so she turned away.

“I highly doubt that. I’m still that same nerdy engineer he met when we were eighteen. I just finally got my acne under control.”

“I don’t think any of us is the same person we were at eighteen.”

“So, you’re one of those people who believe people can change?”

“Aren’t you?” Carina asked.

“I guess I never gave it much thought.”

“Well, I’m not the same eighteen-year-old girl who was scared and in the closet, so she dated a boy she wasn’t attracted to at all just to avoid having to tell people that she was gay. I’m sure I’ve changed in other ways. too.”

“What other ways?”

“Well, I hate ramen now.”

Kieran laughed and asked, “Beef or chicken?”

“I bought whatever they had because it was cheap, so now I can’t stand any of it. I had ramen for lunch, dinner, and the occasional breakfast for years when I didn’t make it to the dining halls when they were open.”

“So, if they served ramen here, you wouldn’t want, like, a large bowl of it?” Kieran teased.

“Don’t even joke,” Carina said.

“Mine is Pop-Tarts. Specifically, the strawberry ones.”

“Can’t eat them anymore?”

“Nope. They were my snack and sometimes, meal of choice when I gamed. All through undergrad. I went through boxes of them a week. I changed things up in grad school and got really into Cheetos. The puffy ones, not the crunchy ones.”

“Healthy,” Carina joked, laughing.

“I used to go through a big, family-size bag every three days. Definitely not healthy. Also, it’s really hard to play with Cheetos on your hands, so that made things complicated, and I switched snacks again.”

“To what?”

“Popcorn. Not buttered, though. Now, I douse it in butter except when I play, or I wash my hands first.”

“Don’t want a dirty controller, I suppose.”

“Not just that. It hurts your game.”

“Oh, of course,” Carina mocked playfully.

“Do you not have hobbies?”

“I’m a lawyer, so no.”

“Diego golfs.”

“Diego golfs with the partners, right? Not a hobby. Just more schmoozing, so it’s work.”

“I guess that’s right,” Kieran replied as their plates were dropped in front of them. “But you really don’t do anything other than work?”

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