Wicked (Somerset University #2) - Ruby Vincent Page 0,6
Drop by the bar tonight and tell them their dreams are coming true.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Ugh.” She slapped my knee though a smile played on her lips. “Stick to Bianca.”
“That’s my night booked up. What do you need me to do now?”
“I’ve got a stack of demos with your name on it. Grab Gwen and get to it.”
I left and went off in search of Gwen. I found her in her usual place, hovering around the art department. She was a music and graphic design double major. Working for a record label designing album covers and posters ticked off each box in her dream job listing.
It was pretty sweet down here. The employees decked out their work stations with touches of their personality. Band posters they designed decorated the walls, and couches and beanbag chairs took up a corner of the room. They’d get comfy on breaks and toss ideas around. I enjoyed the time I spent here but I wasn’t an artist. I wasn’t meant to work with them.
“More demos,” Gwen said when she saw me.
“You know it.”
“Want to grab some food of our own first?”
“My chef made paninis. You also know I brought you one too.”
She clapped. “If I knew one of the perks of working here were five-star lunches. My roommates are wicked jealous of me.”
Gwen picked up her tote bag and followed me to the elevator. She never went anywhere without that thing. It was covered in green and white school pins and scribbled-on designs. She looked like a fresh-out-of-university intern living with four roommates. Thanks to my clothing choices, I did too. It made it even funnier when I told people who tried to dismiss me my last name.
We rode the elevator up to my office, talking about nothing in particular.
I called it my office. But the windowless broom closet I claimed for my own was better described as just that—a broom closet. All I could fit in here were a couple of chairs, a small table, and a mini fridge and microwave that claimed almost half the space but was worth it.
I threw our paninis in the microwave while Gwen booted her laptop. Bianca was kind enough to drop off the stack of demos and there would barely be room for her computer and mine on the table.
“Have you started looking for a new place?” I asked.
“Maxie and I can’t decide. He wants the place we can afford someday. I want the place we can afford today. Cottonwood may not be as bad as Evergreen but it’s still pretty pricey.”
Maxie, or Maximiliano, was Gwen’s boyfriend. The guy was in med school and one day, when he was a doctor and she was heading up the art department, they’d live anywhere they wanted. Until then, Gwen refused to tell me how much they owed in student loans because it’d make me cry.
I took out our food and passed hers over. “I heard Jayden mention in the breakroom that he found a nice one-bedroom in a place called Verden Courts. Have you looked there?”
“Verden Courts.” Gwen whipped out a pen and wrote it directly on her arm. “I’ll check it out after work. Thanks, J.”
She reached out to ruffle my hair and I swiftly ducked her. “Must you? I’m not your kid brother.”
Gwen chuckled. “You’re even cuter than my kid brother. I was worried working with Levi’s son meant I’d be doing all the work while you took the credit, but I was so off. You’re the sweetest little thing.”
“What every guy wants to hear.”
I was cracking her up. Apparently, a four-year age difference basically made me a toddler in her eyes.
“What are we doing after this?” she asked when she finally got herself under control.
“I’m heading downtown for an open mic night. Bianca’s got Beyond Berlin in her sights. Ever heard of them?”
She gasped. “Oh my gosh, yes. Maxie and I have heard them play a few times. I’m the one who sent her the link. Can I come with you?”
“Yeah. If you want.”
Smiling away, Gwen put in her earphones and queued up the first demo. If it was possible for someone to love this job more than me, then that someone would be Gwen.
I settled back in my uncomfortable seat as a jazzy, rhythmic bass filled my ears.
But it’s not possible. No one loves this more than me.
VALENTINA
Landon streaked across the lawn, uncaring of the expensive clothes he was getting grass stains on. Michael was leaving him in the dust but that didn’t stop him from