Page 119 of The Restoration Program
“Would you have made the same choice?” Ryan asked suddenly. “If we had been given a chance to look into it. To plan.”
Nicole was taken aback by the question. “Yes, of course,” she said. As if she could answer any other way. She hesitated before softly adding, “Hey, just so you know—about what Burman said… I didn’t say a word to him about what happened, I swear. I didn’t like that any more than you did.”
He met her earnest gaze, expression nearly vacant before he offered a clipped smile. “Okay,” he said simply. “Let’s head out.”
Nicole shied away from his reaching hand, glancing around the room. He was still pissed. She saw Rebecca standing nearby, talking animatedly with Erik and Bethany. Carlos was still standing by the refreshment table. He caught her eye and waved her over. Ryan followed her gaze and touched her arm.
“Do youhaveto talk to him?” Ryan asked under his breath.
She jolted. “Ry, you don’t really think he’s hitting on me, do you? We’re just friends.”
He rolled his eyes. “You and I werejust friendswhen we slept together for the first time.”
“Please, we were more than that. And it’s not like that with Carlos. I’ve got you.”
Her smile did nothing to ease the tension on his face. “I don’t like the way he looks at you. Besides, you’re always more wired after hanging around with him. Sometimes I think he deliberately pits us against each other so he can stand back and watch what happens.”
“You’re like ten times his size. Are you really this paranoid?”
“I’m observant.”
“He’s a good guy, Ry. Besides, I need to socialize with other NüPrints. It’shealthy. And you should apologize for whatever the hell that was earlier.”
He pursed his lips, but he had to know he couldn’t deny her with so many people in earshot.
“Fine,” he sighed. “Let’s go fucking socialize.”
He knew a group conversation wasn’t what she had in mind; he practically dared her to argue with his unconvincing smile. Without fuss, she strolled over to Carlos with Ryan tagging along slowly beside her.
“Hey,” Carlos said, doing a horrible job of hiding his stony expression even when Nicole silently urged him to relax.
“Hey,” Ryan said with equal severity.
“You getting her a leash soon?” Carlos asked. “Since it seems you can’t let her walk across the room without an escort.”
“You gonna stop undressing her with your eyes?” Ryan quipped back.
“Where is this coming from?” Carlos shook his head. “Change your meds or something? You need to fucking chill.”
“You’re the one who chimed in when you weren’t wanted,” Ryan said. “If you’ve got something to say, how about you say it now that we don’t have a whole fucking audience?”
Carlos looked ready to do just that, but Nicole raised a placating hand.
“Please.” She didn’t expect her voice to crack, but the sound was so pathetic that she almost couldn’t go on. She looked between Ryan and Carlos, desperate to ease the rapidly advancing hatred on their faces. “How many people can we say we trust now that we’re in the Program? You’re fighting overnothing. I’m fine, everything’s fine.”
She shuddered. Darlene was still kept at a distance. Holly was gone. The thought of losing Carlos made her want to collapse.
The tears welling in her eyes finally seemed to trigger something in Ryan. He draped his hand at her back and rubbed her arm with his thumb. She peeked up at him.
“Can you cool it?” she said pleadingly.
Begrudgingly, both men assented. Nicole breathed easier—marginally. Even if the bridge wasn’t entirely burned, it was unlikely that things could go back to the way they were. Her stomach twisted at the thought of having to de-escalate fights every time Ryan and Carlos were in proximity to each other.
“Thank you,” she said anyway. She leaned back into Ryan’s palm for good measure.Look how I’m touching you and not him. She wiped her eyes and glanced at Bethany. “Isn’t it crazy how the procedure has a price tag now? I wonder if insurance companies will start offering it.”
“Right. Maybe it’ll be an alternative to life insurance,” Carlos muttered.
“It really could, actually,” Ryan said. “Our understanding of what a lifetime looks like is so different. If they have the funds, people can essentially restart their lives upon retirement if they’re willing to lose some height.”
