He’s almost exuberant as he shoos her out of the room and steps into the shower.
“Of course I’m attracted to her. Who isn’t?” Oro1 says, stuffing a bite of the fake bacon into his mouth. James is too stunned to say anything. He only asked in case there was anything between them he’d be getting in the middle of. Not that it would stop him. He only wanted to know, so he could navigate it fully aware.
Oro1 continues explaining, saying, “I guess I never considered pursuing something more. It’s just not done anymore. We definitely click, but I had a manupartner when our friends group was assigned. I’d had Blue for a long time then. Kate and I became friends.”
“But you knew she wanted a long-term thing,” Jett points out, and James is glad one of them gets to the point. That Oro1 says he and Kate clicked makes James’steeth grind.
“True. And I suppose . . .” Oro1 trails off, then takes another bite. “Kate’s just so special, you know?”
Uhh, yeah. James has learned this quite well.
Jett clears his throat, fake whispering, “I think James is getting jealous.”
James almost chokes on a red berry, which gets the momentary attention of a passing server. He eyes the woman wearing a foam pancake costume. She fits in perfectly with the pieces of bacon and fried egg costumes walking around the cartoonish café. “I’m not jealous.” Then he turns his head so he can lock eyes with Oro1 in challenge. “Kate can have who she wants. Or no one at all. It’s her choice.” He may not be the better choice now, but he would be. And he will ensure that when she chooses, it will be him.
But instead of the barb landing as James intended, Oro1 leans back in his chair and lets out a full belly laugh. When he finally calms down, James is glaring at him. Then his hand claps onto James’s shoulder. “You’re too much. I thought you were over your little jealousy thing. That we were friends?” He laughs some more before raising his napkin to dab his eyes. “Hold on,” Oro1 says. “Do you think Kate is interested in pursuing something with me?”
They are friends, and Oro1 is obviously goading James, but it still makes him bristle. “Ha. Ha.”
Oro1 can barely contain himself now. “This is the most fun I’ve had in a while. Well, besides watching you lose to the Lizard Man. Speaking of, did Sable ever respond to you?”
“Yes, she needs us to pick him up from her unit after breakfast. I’m not sure how Kate would feel about having a borrowed manupartner in her apartment. Can you keep him until the fight?”
Oro1 rubs his chin. “Of course. I know how important it is for you to stay in her good graces.”
James rolls his eyes.
“Do you think there are other manupartners who’ve retained their memories?” Jett asks, steering the conversation in a different direction. “I mean, besides the one from the paper they caught.”
“I’ve been asking around,” Oro1 says. “There have been a few others identified besides the couple that Sable told us GROW caught.” He leans toward James, lowering his voice. “I could arrange a meeting. Might be nice to meet someone from your time.”
James clears his throat as he tries to process this information. “Yeah, maybe once I get a few things settled. Did Sable mention what they’re doing with the manupartners that have been caught?”
“They’re holding them for now. They have a team trying to figure out what went wrong. Not her department,” Oro1 says.
It is exactly what James suspected they would do, but the knowledge still has his wheels turning, though. “I don’t think the boxing thing is going to be sustainable long-term. I have to figure out a way to cover my lease at a minimum until I can get an identity and make a break from GROW.”
Oro1 raises an eyebrow while Jett pretends to inspect a cuticle.
“She told me she has month four covered,” James continues. “I haven’t seen her budget, but she’s repeatedly assured me she has ittaken care of.” He makes air quotes. The woman makes an excellent salary from what he understands, which would be sufficient if it weren’t for her spending habits.
After a tense moment in which Jett continues to avoid eye contact, Oro1 finally replies. “Kate’s a brilliant scientist. But just because someone’s good at one thing, doesn’t mean they’re good at everything.”
“For example, managing their money,” Jett supplies. “If she has month four, great. But I wouldn’t count on more than that.”
“That’s fine. I’ll come up with something before it becomes an issue. How strict are the collections people at GROW?” James can only hopethey’ll understand what he’s asking. Their shared glance suggests they do.
Oro1 sighs. “They used to not be so bad, but I’ve heard they’ve become a bit more aggressive since their recent price hike.”
“Shit,” he says, raking a hand through his hair. Suddenly, those last few bites of eggs seem less appetizing, which is unfortunate since, to his surprise, they are the first actuallyrealfood he’s eaten. Even though Jett politely explained that while they arereal eggs, they’re technically clone eggs grown in a lab environment as opposed to a shell. He was so glad for something familiarenough, he’d dug right in. But now they taste like chalk.
“I’ve been thinking about the dilemma of your identity,” Oro1 says. “There might be a way for us to solve it, depending on what you were up for.”
“I’m very interested, and I have a few ideas myself, but go on,” he says.
“I know Kate told you I dabble on BLACKOUT, but did she tell you what I actually do?” Oro1 grins like he’s about to enjoy dropping a bomb in James’s lap.
James shakes his head, eager for whatever the other man is about to say.
