word science means?” I ask, just as Rory slides into the conversation diplomatically.
“If we put a good dent in the project, we can all go somewhere else for a while.” She claps her hands together and appears by my side. “A vacation.”
“Really?” Richards drops his arm, his eyes lighting up.
This feels a lot like we’re his parents, promising him a trip to Disneyland if he makes good grades. Only there’s no way we could conceive someone like him, because I’ve met goats more sophisticated than this man.
I hitch one shoulder up, not correcting Rory’s soon-to-be-broken promise.
Richards frowns. “Sex Slave chick needs to give it to me in writing. I don’t want her to run off with her boyfriend and fuck it up for us.”
I turn around to Rory, but she is no longer standing next to me. I think she got a phone call. Probably her boyfriend whining because he can’t see her after all.
When I turn back to Richards, he’s jumping to his feet, buttoning his jeans, and tucking a joint into the corner of his mouth. He slaps my back.
“Thanks, man. I appreciate you coming to get me. I was getting this weird vibe, you know? Like you didn’t like me very much. Like we didn’t gel.”
He says the word gel like I say the word cunt.
I remove his hand from me. “Couldn’t be farther from the truth.”
Rory
Double shit with a side of crap.
Callum is here. In this building. Checking into a room with the receptionist.
Summer’s work, I’m sure.
After Mal slipped me the napkin with the new developments and our sudden Greek trip, I beckoned Summer for an emergency freak-out. I told her about the chocolate bar incident, which prompted her to slap Mal with the pet name Mal-Teaser. I also heard her plugging her vibrator into the charger and am pretty sure she was swiping left and right on Tinder, trying to find a playmate for the night.
“Please don’t do something stupid.” I closed my eyes and threw my head skyward, praying silently.
“Oh, honey, that’s rich,” she said, “considering you just out-stupided an avocado after less than a week in Ireland. I’m trying to make things better for you. Trust me, okay?”
I didn’t know if I should. I still don’t.
I love Summer, but she has very precise, very definite ideas for my life, and I don’t necessarily agree with them all.
She must’ve told Callum where I was, redirecting him from his pending trip to Ireland to Greece. And he, the charming boyfriend that he is, decided to surprise me. When I got a text from him, I couldn’t stay in the room watching the face-off between Mal and Ashton. I ran down to the lobby, threw my arms over Callum’s neck, and pretended to be elated to see him.
As I should be.
“Missed you, love. Have you lost a little weight?” He frowns, chuckling. “Looks good on you,”
He leans down and gives me his customary peck on the mouth. The kiss seals my guilt on my lips, like a closed envelope.
Mal kissed those lips yesterday afternoon.
Right after shoving a chocolate bar into them that had been shoved between my other pair of lips.
“Let’s get you settled!” I grab his hand.
I already know I’m going to tell Callum what happened. And I already know he is probably—rightfully—going to break up with me. What I have yet to find out is whether it’s possible to live with myself after doing what I did to Callum.
I tug him toward the elevators, frazzled, and punch the button five hundred times, turning back to him with a giant, fake, plastic smile.
“Yay!” I wave my fist around. “Reunited. Again. Awesome.”
Just shut up, you idiot. You’re making it worse.
“Rory.” Callum’s voice is laced with worry, his eyebrows pulled together. “Are you drunk? You know I don’t take well to public lewdness.”
“Totally sober.” I let out a nervous laugh.
The elevator doors slide open, and, of course, Mal is standing on the other side, looking devilishly gorgeous—for a homewrecker, that is.
“I was looking for you.” His expression softens until he notices Callum behind me.
His whole face changes again. It’s painful to watch. He looks…disappointed. Not that he has any right to be.
“Malachy,” Callum greets him from behind me, stepping into the elevator. I step in as well, swiping the electronic card over the screen and pushing the button for Callum’s floor.
“Shiny Boyfriend,” Mal answers, his voice dripping ice.
“How’s the writing going?” Callum asks.
I jump into the conversation before Mal gets the chance to offend Callum.