Page 71 of Breathless Recruiter

“I likelikeyou.”

He chuckled. “I likelikeyou, too.”

When I didn’t know what to say, I defaulted to honesty. “I’m trying to be the man you want.”

Dustin held out his hand. When I took it, he yanked me to my feet and wrapped his arms around my neck. His forehead pressed against mine. This moment needed to go on forever.

“I don’t want the Wyatt you’re trying to be. I like the Wyatt you are.”

“Does this make us boyfriends?”

He kissed the tip of my nose before giving me a bear hug. Dustin’s superhuman strength showed, and I let out a grunt.

“I think it does.” He spun me about the room. “And don’t worry, I’ll take care of Zaster.”

19

“She looks terrified,”I said.

“There’s no way the kindergarten teacher mind controlled her students. It has to be a problem with the app.” Drew took my hand as we inspected the picture of kids running away in horror.

“Maybe she wanted to turn them into her minions,” I said. “Free labor?”

“Unlikely,” Orion growled. He wasn’t thrilled with the report. “Though I’ll admit, it’d be a diabolical plan. Nobody would suspect five-year-olds. Have you seen the park on a Saturday? They’re vicious.”

I poked at my phone, projecting the images onto Orion’s screen. His eyes glowed blue, but I couldn’t stop staring at his t-shirt. He never wore dress clothes, but today was the weirdest shirt yet. It had a picture of… him… wearing a t-shirt of him. The pattern seemed to go on for infinity.

His powers zoomed into a group of heroes smashing into the side of the school. The next series of pictures had the teacher screaming and the heroes apprehending her. The school better give them straight A’s after this.

“That is problematic,” he said.

Drew gasped. “Those poor children. Maybe we should send them a gift basket?”

While they studied the images, I turned my attention to Orion’s office. Compared to my single framed photograph, Orion had spent considerable time putting movie posters on the wall. I only recognized one, a science fiction movie about computers coming to life and enslaving mankind. If that happened, would Orion be spared? He frequently advocated for the printer and microwave.

“Found the issue,” he said.

“That fast?” Drew asked.

When Orion’s eyes shimmered blue, it meant he was using his powers to speak to machines. I learned he rarely used his keyboard or mouse. He preferred talking to his computer one-on-one. This is why Arthur hired him. The two of them spoke a geeky language Drew and I barely understood.

“It looks as if the gym teacher marked her as a villain.”

“Diabolical,” Drew said.

I pulled myself from the chair so I could lean forward. “Can you?—”

“It’s fixed. I pushed a patch to the server, and I’m updating everybody’s phones.” His eyes returned to normal. “Consider that bug squashed. No more jealous co-workers turning people into supervillains.”

“We make a good team,” Drew said. “I’m so lucky to work with my two favorite people.” Kiki explained Drew wanted to fit in and be accepted by those around him. It helped me understand his positive attitude.

“We make a good team.” I held up my hand in a high five. Drew hit it with enough force that my chair slid a few inches. It was hard to be anything but happy around the man. He oozed positivity. I liked Drew. I liked Orion, too, but as he stared at the two of us, positivity isnotthe word I’d use to describe him.

“So,” Drew started. “How are things going with Mr. Security Guard?”

I checked my text messages, hoping I had missed the vibration when Dustin responded. This morning, I didn’t want to get out of bed. Wrapped around him, our legs a tangled mess, it had been difficult to think about going to work. Needing to grab his uniform, he darted out of my apartment, promising to stop by and say hi during lunch.

No reply.

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