Page 82 of Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World
Amira shook her head. “Hang on. I thought you both worked for a secretive tech startup or something. People are being burned alive? And that sword!” She pointed at Eric, eyes now as wide as they could go. “You both saw that sword, right? Where did it come from? Was it onfire?”
“Okay, let me explain,” I began to say before Lex cut me off with a loud groan.
“I can’t believe this,” they muttered as they gripped their mohawk with both hands. “You were dating a sworn enemy of the company. What am I saying? Ofcourseyou were. Why wouldn’t you be?” They looked like they were about to scream.
“I didn’t know he belonged to an organization that opposes everything we do!” I shouted, waving my arms around. “Believe me, I wasn’t thrilled when I found out!”
“Sothat’swhat he was lying about?” Amira glowered at Eric, who was watching all of this unfold with a bemused expression. “Youmonster!”
“How are you such a disaster?” Lex demanded of me.
“Hey,” Amira murmured, abruptly switching gears as she reached around me to touch Lex’s arm. “This was the first guy in a really long time that Colin was excited about.”
“He was literally sleeping with the enemy. That’s not good.”
“I know, but let’s not make him feel worse simply because we have some reservations about his decisions.”
“But how does he manage to make theexact wrong choicein every situation? Like, how is that even possible?”
“He’s doing his best. That’s all we can ask.”
“Hello?” I interrupted loudly. “I’m right here, you know. Stop talking about me like I’m your clueless teenaged son!”
“We’ll stop treating you like a clueless teenager when you stop acting like one,” Lex said sharply.
“We’re very disappointed that you didn’t tell us any of this sooner,” Amira added.
Muttering dire imprecations under my breath, I started moving toward Eric again.
“Don’t you walk away from us, young man!” Lex warned.
Sighing heavily, I turned back around, rolling my eyes. “Stop picking on me,” I whined sullenly. “Eric has a weapon that might stop The-One-Who-Hungers. Okay? Are youhappynow?”
“Who’s The-One-Who-Hungers?” Amira asked.
I covered my face with my hands. “Oh my god.”
“These people are clearly idiots,” Ivan observed.
“Why are we wasting our time with this?” Corrine demanded.
“Colin,” Eric said in a clear voice, “can we talk?”
Lowering my hands, I looked at him for a long moment. He gestured down the block and I nodded. The two of us walked a couple of dozen feet away, leaving the others to watch one another suspiciously.
Coming to a stop, Eric turned to face me. “Hey,” he said quietly. There were dark circles under his eyes and new, unfamiliar lines etched into his beautiful face. He looked tired.
Traitorously, my heart ached a little at seeing him like that. I tried to say something, but my throat closed and I could only nod once, stiffly.
Reaching into his leather jacket, he produced a slim bundle of dark cloth. “This is the weapon I told you about.” He held it out without meeting my gaze.
Rather than reach for it, I asked, “Do you know what I thought when I first laid eyes on you in that coffee shop?”
His eyes lifted to mine.
“I thought,This can’t be real. Guys like you ignore me at bars, or block me on apps. You seemed so genuine, though, that I let myself believe there was something there. But there wasn’t, was there? I was right. It wasn’t real.”
Slowly, Eric lowered the bundle in his hand. “Do you know whatIthought when you walked into that coffee shop?All I want is to keep him safe, whatever he’s done, whatever he might do.The weeks before that, when I was watching you, you looked so sad and alone. But you kept striving. That’s how Amira put it when she talked about you. No matter how bleak things got, you picked yourself up and tried again. I could see that in you, when you walked up to me on our first date. You were so nervous, but you were hopeful as well. I wanted so badly to take you in my arms and protect you from everything that had already hurt you.”
