Page 52 of Puck to the Heart
“If I weren’t about to expire from a lack of caffeine, we’d talk about this more. But I don’t want to be late for lab hours today. Brad will blow something up if I’m not there.” I rolled my eyes as I sat up and stretched, cracking my neck.
“I hate that guy,” muttered Ash.
“Mmm—me too,” I said through a yawn. “But he’s a necessary evil.”
“You and he never…”
“Why, Ash Wilder, are you jealous?”
“I don’t like how he touches you and talks to you.”
“Isn’t that the definition of jealousy?”
“No, I’m not threatened by him. I don’t want him around you for your sake.” Damn, why was he so sweet it almost hurt?
“Well, we’re both shit out of luck because I don’t want to be around him, either, but we have to work together. We both have to suck it up.”
“Want me to come beat him up for you?” In the half-light, I couldn’t tell if he was joking.
“In my dreams, maybe. But I’d lose my job if you did it for real. And Brad aside, I mostly like my job.”
* * *
Brad was in rare form,showing up late and playing musicwithoutheadphones. The phone in his jacket pocket blared unremarkable, bland frat-boy rock, loud enough to announce his presence from the other end of the hallway.
Seriously, what is his problem?
Deciding to head him off before he made it further down the hall and interrupted the meetings taking place, I left my office and strode toward him. The click of my heels was satisfying as I walked toward him, but the look he gave me was decidedlynotsatisfying. Ick.
“Lookin’ good, Livy Baby.”
“Shut up, Brad.” Oops. The snapped retort fell out of my mouth before I caught it. “I mean, good morning.”
Brad stared; his light brown eyes confused. “Morning?” The plastic bag in his hand was full to bursting, and I grabbed it, accidentally grabbing his fingers in the process.
“Let me help.”
“If you want to hold my hand so badly, all you had to do was ask.”
It was weird hearing something Ash would also say come out of Brad’s mouth. From Ash, it wasn’t gross, but from Brad, I wanted to claw his eyes out.
Maybe because Ash wasn’t creepy about it, didn’t grab my hand when I tried to snatch it away.
“You know what, here. Put it in your office and meet me in the lab. We need to run through some things before the meeting. Because you put it off until the last minute. Again.”
Our quarterly meeting with the company bigwigs always left me jittery, and Brad was no help. He moved soslowly, his steps taking a million years.
“Brad, chug one of those noxious energy drinks and come the fuckon.” Shit, I hadn’t meant to swear at work. If Dr. Hurst heard me, I’d have to deal with another ‘lack of professionalism at work’ speech. Butfucking Brad.
“Damn, Livy, you want it bad.”
Was it possible to grind your teeth so hard you hit bone? But I didn’t have time for a lecture, so I let it slide. Again.
Instead, I memorized numbers and recited my pitch for potential outreach funding, how it was excellent for visibility, how students responded at the career fair, and the potential impact of scholarships and internships for future employees.
In the lab, I found yet another mess. Papers this time, scattered across the counter, and apparently, as my heel skidded on one, on the floor.
I finished scooping them up and shoved them into a folder when Brad sauntered in, neon can in hand. The can made me want to crush his skull between my palms like the can crusher at the recycling plant. But I didn’t havetimeto berate him and listen to his excuses. So, I didn’t. We ran through data I knew he’d try to pass off as his own work, and Brad’s shit was more than I needed to deal with after the whole Alex-dumping business with Ash.
