Page 23 of Spinning Out Of Control

Without a word, I unlock my iPad and pull up an email thread from a few months back. I scroll to the top and find the first one, dated the Tuesday after his wedding.

“I can’t show you the whole thread. Nondisclosures and all that. But I swear to you, James, this is the first message I received from Jonathan. Go on, read it. You can see that he was only testing the waters.”

He takes the tablet from my hands, looking it over. We sit in silence for a moment, and when he looks back up at me, his expression has softened just a touch.

“This doesn’t prove much.”

“I know that.”

“How do I know you weren’t plotting some elaborate scheme and were just waiting to get her into bed before enacting your master plan?” James raises an eyebrow at me. I’d find it comical if I didn’t know how deathly serious he was.

“James, think about it. What master plan could I have been plotting? What would I have gained from this situation? If I was some asshole trying to trick her into sleeping with me, what good would buying this place after we’d already done it do for me? I wasn’t desperate for a job or a big break. If Jonathan hadn’t accepted my offer, I wouldhave just walked away and kept on living my life. I didn’t need to swindle and lie my way into anything. I didn’t even know she worked here until the ink was dry.

“This is all just an unfortunate happening of happenstance that has fucked me over, too. The whole place won’t stop talking about my penis’s supposed shortcomings, I can’t even get one of the good fucking muffins at the cafe, and Kira won’t even look at me unless it’s to shoot daggers out of her eyes and through my soul.”

He looks at me, his eyes darting back and forth between mine, as though he’s searching for a lie he won’t find. I watch as his searching expression morphs into something that resembles a smile.

“You like Kira, don’t you? Youlike herlike her.”

“Like her,like her? What are you, thirteen?”

“That’s not an answer, Warren.” James waggles his eyebrows.

“I barely know her,”

“Not an answer, either. Warren and Kira, sitting in a tree,” he sing-songs.

“Can you go back to threatening my life, please?” I ask, running a hand across the back of my neck.

“K-I-S-S-I-N-G!”

“That's it, you’re fired.” I toss a balled up wad of paper at his head, but he catches it before it can bean him between the eyes. We both laugh, but when it fades out, I feel a familiar knot forming in the pit of my stomach.I pop my elbows onto the desk and drop my face into my hands.

“Would you consider selling to her? If she had the funds?” James asks.

I shrug a shoulder, a noncommittal answer. I’ve quickly fallen in love with this place, silly rumors and forbidden muffins be damned. I like feeling like I have a purpose beyond serving as a bank roll. I like the close-knit community. I like that for the first time in a long, long time, I feel a bit less lonely for a few hours every day.

I don’t love that my being happy has made Kira miserable. I hate that she feels like I took something from her.

I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t considered giving it all up since our argument in the street. I’d gone home that night and drafted an email offering to hand it all over to her. I’d almost sent it to, but something held me back. The niggling feeling that I could make the whole situation worse. That Kira might just be stubborn enough to not just to refute any offers, but to leave Spin Sync completely just to spite me.

I can’t have that happen. She’s the beating heart of the organization, that much is plain to see.

“She really hates me, doesn’t she?” I mumble, reluctantly asking the question that haunts me out loud.

James sighs, tapping a knuckle on the desktop.

“Her feelings are hurt. Kira is tough. She’s got a hard exterior, but she’s soft on the inside. This wholesituation has wounded her pride, but I don’t think she hates you. I think she has a lot of anger, and you’re an easy target.”

I nod, understanding. I can play the role of the punching bag if that’s what she needs. Because the truth is…

“I do. Like her, that is. It started as just an attraction, but I haven’t been able to get her out of my head. I don’t know what it is. She’s just…” I trail off, unable to come up with the right word.

A knock from the hall grabs my attention. I look up to find Kira leaning against the door frame, pink lips pressed into a tight line and arms crossed against her chest, pushing up her bright orange sports bra with thin straps that crisscross over her breasts. Her hair is pulled into two little buns on top of her head and her skin is shining, covered in the glitter she always dusts over her skin before going on camera. The tiny black shorts she’s wearing are nearly indecent, clinging to her like a second skin and showing off her perfectly sculpted quads. My eyes are drawn to the sweet pink gem hanging from her belly button, a perfect, shining adornment to the ripples of her abs.

My throat goes dry, feeling like I’ve swallowed a mouthful of cotton.

She’s exquisite.

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