Page 68 of Ice Cold Rival

Reece kissed my forehead. “Get your work done. I’ll take the animals upstairs so they don’t harass you. Cole, Mase, let’s go.”

Mase snorted. “I’m not following you upstairs, and neither is my duck. Let’s go, Sunny girl.” He stood and headed for the basement with his duck trailing behind him, but he turned to me at the last second. “Say the word.”

Cole shook his head as Mase closed the door behind him. “At least he’s on our side. Kenzie, let me know if you need anything. I’ll be upstairs harassing Avery to ignore her study session and come over.”

When Cole started up the stairs, Reece scooped Boo out of my lap and gave me a sweet kiss. “This isn’t over.”

I smiled, feeling better. “I know. I look forward to battling with you about my living arrangements.”

“Can’t wait.” He grinned and lectured the cat about personal space on his way up the stairs.

Finally calm enough to try to finish the stupid project, I opened my laptop on the dining table. At first, I didn’t know what I was looking at. I’d left my project files open when I went to get coffee, but the only thing on my screen was my background. Nothing open, nothing saved.

No project files.

No amount of searching found the files I’d worked tirelessly on for the last two days. Even my own part of the presentation was missing, though I’d logged mine into the classroom drive, so I knew I could recover it.

My first thought was I must have hit something when I haphazardly packed everything up, but then I remembered Toby’s smug smile as he patronized me. I’d thought it was about the housing crisis or the theft accusation, but he’d never cared where I lived—and he’d been far too happy.

That asshole had deleted my work while his evil girlfriend hid her stuff in my room.

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I’d never understood the phrase “rage blackout” with such clarity before. Granted, I was sleep deprived, but I couldn’t fathom a worse scenario. With growing panic, I tried everything in my limited repertoire to recover the files, but with no luck.

My chest constricted until I had trouble drawing in a breath, so I leaned back and concentrated on providing my body with air. I still had my portion of the presentation and something like sixteen hours to rebuild what I’d done already. It couldn’t possibly be as much work the second time.

With a groan, I pushed the laptop away and debated if this was a situation I was supposed to bring up with Reece. I’d seen the way he’d tensed when he thought Kane was threatening me. What would he do if he knew Kane had already done his damage?

“Everything okay?” a deep voice asked.

I nearly fell out of the chair, but it was only Mase, looking like he wished he’d stayed quiet. “You really do need a bell.”

“So I’ve been told. I’m only here for a water, so if you’re okay…” He trailed off and glanced hopefully at the refrigerator.

Say the word.Mase had offered to move all my stuff in an hour. Maybe I could ask for hypothetical help without getting Reece involved.

“How much do you know about computers?”

He frowned and speared a hand through his hair. “Enough. Why?”

“I seem to have lost a couple of files I need. I’m hoping you know more than me.”

Mase sighed and pulled a chair up next to me, turning the laptop to face him. “What are the file names?”

I rattled off the names I’d been using and prayed.

“These are the ones you’ve been working on?” he asked gruffly.

“Yes. I really don’t want to have to redo all the work.” My fingers clasped together in my lap as his flew over the keyboard. I couldn’t follow what he was doing, but he clearly knew exactly how to fix my problem with no hesitation.

He paused and tilted his head. “When did you go for a walk?”

“What?”

“Earlier. You said you went for a walk while they were fucking around in your room. What time?”

I frowned, unsure why he wanted to know, but if he needed the information to get my files back, I’d do my best. “Around two. I wanted a coffee.”

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