Page 15 of Rex

“Why would anyone be upset getting to work with me? I’m fucking adorable,” Horse states in his most reasonable tone.

“Ha! I’m Daddy’s favorite!” Pigeon shouts gleefully.

“No, you’re not. I just don’t feel like hurting you as much. I’m sure before the day is over, I will have changed my mind,” I say before pushing my way past them and walking into my office.

“Are you mad at me over the bath remark last night? I already apologized and—” Reeves asks before I interrupt.

“No. Horse is your punishment for no reason other than it amuses me. Have fun, ladies. Now get to work,” I explain.

“He used to be so much more fun to work with,” Reeves mutters as the trio walks away from my door.

“Not sure I’m going to like this change. If I wanted to work with whiny bitches, I could’ve just stayed at the strip club,” Horse states in his own whiny tone. “I think all of you should be ecstatic to have me as your work husband.”

“Work husband? What the fuck is wrong with you?” Pigeon hollers before I hear the distinctive sound of a wrestling match taking place.

Ignoring the children Gunner has forced me to work with, I turn to my computer. I jiggle the mouse, but nothing happens. I tap the enter key, but still nothing. I sigh at the hassle computers can be sometimes and then hit the button to reboot it. Waiting for it to go through the start-up process, my mind flashes back to Aria.

I may not remember the details, but I know something happened between us that night. Flashes of the evening’s activities have kept me on edge since I woke up Sunday morning. A tanned leg, the curve of a breast, dark, nearly black eyes, and dark chocolate-colored silky strands of hair wrapped around my hand have been tormenting me because I’m missing the parts of the night that I would never want to have forgotten.

“Rex!”

I hear Pigeon shouting my name, and it pulls me back to the present. I stand and make my way to his office doorway.

“What?” I ask, and even I can hear the irritation in my voice.

“Computer won’t load up. What am I doing wrong?” Pigeon asks.

“Probably everything, but move your ass and let me sit down there and see,” I answer honestly since Pigeon is not a computer-friendly kind of guy. I’ve taken a baseball bat and a hammer out of his hands before that he meant for the computers.

After a couple of minutes of messing with his computer, I do the same as I did with mine and do a hard reboot. I don’t get a chance to really think about the fact that both computers have the same issue because Pigeon starts speaking.

“Does anyone else know about you and Reeves?”

“Fuck, Pigeon. There is no me and Reeves. You didn’t see what you thought you did. He got plastered and somehow ended up sleeping in my tub. No idea why. I’m as straight as Vex,” I explain with a snort.

“Really? Okay, if you say so,” he answers in a disbelieving tone.

“Yes, really!”

“Just saying, it’s been a minute since I’ve seen you with a female. That redhead, Cassandra, I think her name was, is the last I saw you with. Even then, I thought she was a beard.”

“Jesus, Pigeon. She wasn’t a beard. I’m straight. Ask your wife,” I say, then bolt out of the chair before he tackles me out of it.

“Eat shit!” Pigeon hollers.

“Let the computer reboot, and then it should be fine,” I shout as I race out of the room.

Once seated at my own desk again, I see that mine hasn’t rebooted properly yet. I realize there’s a real problem. I spend the next hour going through the operating system, and I findwhat the problem is. Someone tried to hack in. I get to work double-checking that they didn’t get through my firewalls and access any files. I’m going to be working late tonight.

“I’m not sure who tried, but nothing was accessed. I’m not giving up, though. I should be able to trace it back and get some information, and then we can decide what to do. In the meantime, I’ve strengthened—” I explain to Gunner when he holds up his hand.

“Don’t start talking computer. It makes my head hurt. Just let me know what you find,” he states.

“You got it, Prez,” I reply with a grin.

“Incoming!” I hear shouted as Mac lands on the bar in front of me.

“Hey, Mac. What’s got your feathers in a twist?” I ask the colorful bird.

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