Page 29 of Beautifully Complicated

Kier’s hands fall away from my face like they’ve been burned.

“What was with all the getting-to-know-you questions if you already knew the answers?”

“I didn’t know the answers,” I say softly.

He takes another step back. “My history is on the jacket of the book I went to Denver to talk about.”

“Your professional history.” I toe the ground. “Where you went to school, your degrees, where you work. Nothing about who you are.”

That seems to give him pause, though a quick glance confirms his expression hasn’t softened. If anything, it’s more critical.

“Why didn’t you ask about my work? I assume you were in Denver for my lecture, and at the bar you had unfettered access to pick my brain. Why didn’t you?”

Finding the courage to meet his eyes, I hope if he hears anything I have to say it’s this. “I thought about it, and as much as I would’ve enjoyed learning directly from you, I wanted to learnaboutyou even more.”

“I—” Kier pinches his eyes shut and rubs the bridge of his nose. “You lied to me.”

“I omitted the full truth.”

“Why?” His face looks as broken as my heart feels. I think that’s why the truth spills out. All of it.

“I just wanted someone to talk to. Things had been messed up with my roommate, so I was avoiding the house, burying myself in my studies, and at that point, I hadn’t had a conversation that didn’t involve computers or AI in close to six weeks. When you sat next to me, my first thought was to bring up the one thing I knew we had in common. But even after hearing you speak and feeling so inspired, I couldn’t bring myself to talk about work anymore. I wanted to make a connection. I wanted to feel seen. You made me feel that, right from the start, and I was afraid if you knew I’d followed your career you might dismiss me as a crazed fan or something.”

The lines around Kier’s eyes seem to fade a bit, and for a second, I think that means his anger has too. Then they’re back.

“You took that decision away from me.”

My gaze falls to the floor. “I know.”

“Jesus, Aiden.” My head snaps up just in time to see Kier look to the ceiling, almost as if he’s pleading for guidance. “You’re astudent. I’m a professor.”

“Not my professor.” I sound like a toddler trying to argue semantics. “I’m not in any of your classes. I can’t be if I’m your assistant.”

“Is that any better?” His tortured gaze meets mine. “You work for me now. I’m not… I can’t… I can’t believe I finally found you and… Fuck!”

The outburst is so unexpected I shudder.

“Why you?” Rather than the velvety-smooth cadence I love, his voice has a gravelly quality to it.

“What?”

“Why’d they assign you to me?”

My blush spreads from the base of my neck to the tips of my ears. “I’m top of my class. Studying how to integrate software into hardware to improve the functionality of prosthetics.”

Kier’s eyes are so wide they look more cartoonish than real. And I get it. There’s lots of ways to integrate software and hardware, but to do it in prosthetics… That’s a niche space.

“Small world?” I say lamely.

“How did you pick that field? That’s not something they do at this university.”

“Not yet.” I offer an equally lame smile. “I’ve mostly been working on robots. I found out about prosthetics when I had to do a paper for one of my courses, and I couldn’t think of a better way to make a difference through my education, so I’ve been researching it on my own. After graduation I hoped to find a position with one of the companies specializing in that space.”

Kier’s shoulders seem to droop. “And I’m your best shot at getting into one of those companies.”

I don’t bother trying to offer another opinion because there isn’t one. His name on my resume, or better yet a recommendation from him, would be like a golden ticket. I could go anywhere. We both know it.

And now I know why my counselor was downright giddy when she told me I needed to get over here as fast as possible. She thought she was giving me the key to my future, not grinding the broken pieces of my heart to dust.

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