Page 35 of Breathless Recruiter

Arthur shook his head, holding up his hand to keep Drew in his seat. “Let’s hope everything goes off without a hitch. Thiscould be the start of something big for… forallof Vanguard.” With our work cut out for us, Arthur exited the break room.

“Back to Dustin,” Drew said. “Is he as dreamy as he looks?”

Orion’s eyes flared a bright blue. Somewhere in the room, he talked to a machine. “He received straight A’s in high school. His resume includes a lot of boring jobs. This is the first time he’s ever worked security.”

“Stop snooping!” Drew said.

Hmm. Did the security job come at the same time Dustin gained powers? The two might be linked, but I didn’t want to give away his identity. Just like I wouldn’t tell him about Orion and Drew. Secrets were safe with me.

“We kissed.”

Orion’s eyes returned to normal. He and Drew leaned forward. The wide eyes suggested they needed more details. “Are you going to tell us about it, or do I have to pull security camera footage?”

“On your date?” asked Drew.

“Before, when he saved us from Prowler.”

“Oh,” they said in unison.

I blushed as I thought about kissing the man in a cloud of white dust. “He’s brave.” I didn’t know what else to say. Did I tell them about the tingles every time we touched? Would they understand the whirlwind of emotions I couldn’t label?

“He’s crushing hard,” Drew said. “Big guy, that’s wonderful. Enjoy it.”

“What if he hired the villain to attack? What if he’s a mastermind? I’m going to need to probe?—”

“No!” Drew never raised his voice. He wanted to be everybody’s best friend, and he worked hard at it. His statement was out of character. “The only probing will be between Dustin and Wyatt.”

“But what if?—”

Drew’s usual smile faltered, his lips pursing as he turned to Orion. “You heard me. Take your conspiracy theories elsewhere.”

“Fine.”

The moment he agreed, Drew’s smile returned. His head bobbed back and forth as if he listened to music none of us could hear. Gobbling up the last of his cupcake, he got up and patted the top of my head. “I expect to hear about this probing.”

Humans were obsessed with aliens probing them. IthinkDrew meant sex.

Orion pushed back from the table. “I still say there’s a conspiracy here. Maybe not Dustin, but itissuspicious that a villain would attack here.”

I shrugged. Conspiracies were his hobby. I took the last cupcake out of the Tupperware and bit into it. I froze half-way into my second oversized bit. Shoot. I should have made some for Dustin to share with the other security guards. When I got home from the launch, I’d make more. Then I’d surprise him and his co-workers. I hoped he thanked me with more kissing.

Kissing Dustin was the only thing better than chocolate.

11

Orion:I’m jealous you get to come as a hero.

Drew: I’ll make sure to get photos.

Orion: Loverboy is here.

Wyatt: Loverboy?

Drew: It’s a pet name. He means Dustin.

Wyatt: He’s not my pet?

Orion: If you play your cards right, he could be.

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