Page 45 of The Love Haters

Had I gone off the rails atflies with fingers? Possibly.

But this informationwasobjectively fascinating.

I waited for Hutch to become fascinated.

But he refused.

So I went ahead and asked, “Are you angry right now or something?”

He tilted his head, like that was the most ridiculous question ever. “No.”

“You look kind of cranky.”

“No.”

I put a hand on my hip. “You seemed a lot nicer the other day.”

“You hadn’t taken my brother’s job the other day.”

There it was. At least now we could talk about it. “I didn’t take it! Hegaveit to me!”

“This”—Hutch gestured around at everything we were doing—“was supposed to be happening with him.”

“That’s not my fault.”

“You could have said no.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because you can’t even swim!”

“Shh!” I said, looking around as if the helicopter noise wasn’t swallowing every sound we made. “You could get me fired.”

“Maybe Ishouldget you fired. You lied to get this job.”

“I didn’tlie,” I said. “I justdidn’t volunteer the truth.”

“Also known as lying.”

“Look,” I called over the noise, “this is how my industry works. You say yes, and then you figure it out.”

“Unless you drown first.”

That went dark fast. “I’m not going to drown.”

“No?”

“No! Because you’re going to teach me how to swim.”

“Maybe I should just report you.”

“Reporting me won’t get you Cole. He’ll send every underling there is before he comes here. And the next one you won’t be able to blackmail.”

Hutch looked away.

“Look,” I said, “I know you didn’t want to do this. I googled you. You refused every Puppy Love interview request! You refused60 Minutes! And NPR! And Jimmy Fallon! You’re not looking for cheap fame. You just want to do your job in peace.”

Hutch let out a slow breath.

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