Page 28 of All We Need

Smoke might as well be blowing out of her nostrils.

She rises gracefully, plucks a menu from the filing tray beside her, and slaps it down on the desk.

“This.”Shejabs at the paper. “Whosaid you could do this?”

“I did?”Myeyes bounce between the menu and her fiery glare untilI’mdizzy. “Listen, it’s been a long week, but if you’re pissed we changed the menu, leave a review onYelpor email in your complaint.”

“I didn’t take you for an idiot,BoothSadler.”Shesits behind the desk again, one leg crossing elegantly over theother. “I’msorry you’ve had a hard week.Goodnews, though, it’s ending before you can mark offSundayin your calendar.”

I raise my hand, because apparentlyI’mback in middle school.I’lladmit,Iwas a little shit back in the day—always pulling pranks and messing around, butIusually knew whatIwas in trouble for.

Not today.

“CanIask why my week is being cut short?”Concerntrickles into my voice.

“You just did.”Hereyes drill into mine as she points at the door. “You’refired.”

CHAPTER TEN

booth

I’m a prettygood judge of character.

I can tell when someone is ingenuine or manipulative.

Then again,Iget along with most people.Notto blow my own trumpet butImake friends easily, and most people like my low-maintenance, no-shits-to-give attitude.

NotAlessandra.

She has also proven thatI’ma terrible judge of character and a moron.

I’m frozen in my seat, scouring my brain for any warning signs and come up empty handed.

The intense expression she wears never breaks.Nota single crack in her stony mask.

I blink slowly, hoping to make sense of everything, then a torrent of emotions hits me with each second that passes.Confusion.Disbelief.Denial.

And finally.

Anger.

Florence will never let us live this down when she finds out our mysterious benefactor is, in fact, a woman.

I’mnever going to live this down becauseI’vebeen flirtingshamelessly with her, desperate for a morsel of attention, when behind closed doors, she’s been making my life a living hell.

She never once led me to believeIstood a chance.ButdidIlisten?No.

Fuck myI-love-a-challengenonsense.

I hate them now.

Especially when they come in the form of a silver-eyed she-devil.

“You.”It’snot a question.Moreof a claim.

“Me,” she replies casually.

“B-but, you’ve been here for weeks.Howdid no one know?”I’vereverted to a state of confusion asIwrack my brain for any clues about her true identity.

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