Page 72 of Love Around the Corner
“I got bounced to the Friday night lab.” She couldn’t keep the bitterness out of her voice.
“What?” Michiko bounded to her feet. “In the middle of the semester?”
“He said he needed Peter’s help with his research, so he had to shuffle the schedule.”
There was a beat of silence as Michiko and Anita absorbed that. Finally, Anita snorted in disgust. “That’s some stone-cold bullshit, right there.”
“Totalbullshit,” Michiko said. “What are you going to do?”
“What can I do? He’s the department chair.”
“Actingchair,” Anita growled.
Which was true, but what were the chances Janet was coming back anytime soon? And until she did, Livie was at Langley’s mercy, and that was starting to feel like a very bad place to be.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
When Livie arrived home, both Gemma and Jess were in the kitchen. Gemma was making a pot of something to take to the bar when she started her shift later in the evening, while Jess chatted to her about her latest story. Spudge was crashed out on her feet, snoring loudly.
Gemma glanced at Livie over her shoulder. “You okay? You look rattled.”
Livie sank into a chair and dropped her head into her hands. “I’ve had better days.”
“Problems with that feral hacker you dragged home?”
“I’m going to ignore most of that, and no, it’s not about him.”
“Are we talking about Nick?” Jess interjected. “Did something happen?”
“I told you, it’s not about him,” Livie said, at the same moment Gemma said, “Oh, yes, something happened.”
Jess’s eyes went wide. “Livie, tell me everything.”
“It’s personal.”
“Um, I distinctly recall the two of you grilling me like CIA interrogators the first time I stayed over at Alex’s.”
“We’re sort of...” Livie waved her hands in front of her, searching for the right word to use. Without other relationships to compare it to, she had no idea how to classify this one. How did people describe these things?
“Are you sleeping with him?” Jess pressed.
Livie felt her face heat. “God, Jess.”
“She is,” Gemma said.
“Gem!”
“Holy shit, Livie. This is big! I can’t believe I had to hear it fromGem.”
“Are you going to tell me you don’t like him, too?”
“I like him!” Gemma protested.
“I like him, too,” Jess said. “But he seems like trouble.”
“Ha!” Gemma thrust her spoon in Jess’s direction. “See? That’s exactly what I said.”
“Be careful, Livie,” Jess said, reaching out to cover Livie’s hand with her own.
