Page 29 of The Office Games

She taps on her contact usage and clicks on Cameron’s name.

Total phone time this year: 40 hours total.

Then she scrolls down to my name.

Total phone time this year: 40 hours per week.

THIRTEEN

JAMES

Traveling on I-80 East

There’s nothing but blistering white ahead, and my windshield wipers are squealing under the weight of all the falling snow.

The worst of the storm is expected to bear down in a matter of hours.

“Warning: Limited emergency services!” “Shelter in place!” “Winter storm alert!”

The dashboard’s weather app serves me a fresh round of warnings.

Shit…

“I have a confession to make.” Taryn suddenly sits up on the backseat.

Why did I let her sit back there again?

“I’m listening.” My eyes meet hers in the rear-view mirror.

“It's a very honest confession.”

“You don't need to announce that you're attracted to me, Taryn,” I say. “I’m well aware.”

“That's not what I was going to say.”

“Can you finally admit that it’s true?”

“No.” She continues to live in denial. "I'm way too tired to drive the next stretch. We'll need to pull over so I can take a nap."

“In that case, we should get a hotel.”

“For a few hours?”

“No.” I look at my screen again. “We might as well stay put for the night and power through tomorrow. It’ll cost time, but we’re going to lose it anyway with this weather.”

“I’m fine with that as long as we get separate suites.”

“With the storm this close, we can’t afford to be picky.”

“I just want to make it clear that I’m not sharing a bed with you.” She’s doubling down on her insanity. “Ever.”

“Scared you might never want to share one with anyone else?”

“No, I…” She blushes, failing to come up with something else sarcastic.

“There are five exits and a truck stop ahead,” I say. “Start looking up the closest hotels.”

Half an hour passeswithout Taryn uttering a word, and we’re down to two exits.

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