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And I was not bringing that bunny-napper a brownie.
I will not call him a spoiled dilettante to his face. I will not call him a spoiled dilettante to his face…
That promise to myself lasted all of twelve minutes in his presence.
And then I couldn’t hold back.
3
KEV
“Huxley, Huxley,” I said in my best Marlon Brando impression, swiveling my chair around to face the door after I’d buzzed the lock that allowed Hux to step into the semi-darkness of my lair. “We have known each other for many years, and this is the first time you come to me for counsel, for help.” I stroked the rabbit on my lap thoughtfully. “But you don’t ask me with respect. You don’t offer friendship. You come to me on this, the day of my daughter’s wedding—”
Hux’s booted feet thunked against the polished black floor as he walked toward me, and the light from the fractals spiraling and morphing across the giant screens that ringed the walls reflected off his messy hair and set jaw.
I tamped down a giddy flare of excitement when he came to a stop less than a foot away and leaned a hip against my enormous glass desk.
He rolled his eyes so hard I was surprised he didn’t give himself an aneurysm, but the edges of his lips twitched like he was holding back a smile at The Godfather reference. “Can it, Don Kev-leone. The only reason I’m here is because Champ asked me to work with you. And gimme my bunny back.”
I shouldn’t have taken as much delight in teasing Hux as I did, but it was fun to poke at the giant chip on his shoulder. It was even more fun knowing that someone understood my weird sense of humor, and even though Hux rarely gave me the satisfaction of laughing, I never doubted that he got my jokes.
“Thought I told you to take that thing off his neck,” Hux said as he reached for the rabbit on my lap. When he leaned close to grab hold of Rodrigo, I caught a whiff of Hux’s familiar scent. There was something about it that made me a little wobbly, which was ridiculous since I was pretty sure it was simply a low-budget sandalwood deodorant stick from the grocery store.
I turned my chair back toward my monitors quickly.
When Hux reached for Rodrigo’s R2-D2 bow tie, he realized it wasn’t on a collar. “Is this… glued to his fur?”
I kept my eyes on my monitor bank. “Not glue. Calm yourself. I already told you, I am not a person who takes out his aggressions on innocent mermen… or bunnies. It’s just lube.”
“You used lube? On my rabbit?”
I tossed him a glance over my shoulder. “Could you stop making it sound weird? How do you think parents get bows to stick on their babies’ heads? They use lube. Google it.”
Hux made a scoffing noise. Then he murmured reassuring platitudes to Rodrigo as he delicately picked the bow off his fur and rubbed at the tiny spot of goop there. “You don’t need a bow to be cute, do you, sweet boy? No you don’t. No you don’t.”
I did not want to find his bunny-talk endearing… but I did.
Just like when I’d pulled up my security feed from the kitchen earlier and caught part of a conversation between Hux and Champ, I hadn’t wanted to find their interaction entirely relatable… but I had.
I fucked up by not finding this myself, Hux had said, sounding legit heartbroken over his error.
In that moment, Hux hadn’t been the arrogant jerk who’d dismissed my skills and blown me off spectacularly that morning. He’d looked almost… nervous, like he was worried Champ might kick him off the team for not meeting expectations or something.
Or maybe I was hella projecting because that’s how I would have felt.
Either way, sympathy had tarnished the shine of being proven right, and now I couldn’t even gloat, which was annoying. How dare Huxley be vulnerable and multifaceted when disliking him was the only thing that made me feel better about his attitude toward me?
In an effort to ignore the man making sweet kissy-faces at his rabbit, I checked my Horn for new messages.
Anomaly451: Hey, sweetie! Security question for you.
I relaxed into my chair and grinned at the screen. At least someone recognized my intelligence and sought me out without being forced to.
HogDocKev: Yeah! Shoot.
Anomaly451: If you wanted to secure digital information so no one can hack it, how would you do it?
HogDocKev: Uh. Wow. That’s… broad.
Anomaly451: Lol. I guess it is. I’m writing an article on it and I’m consulting with a few subject matter experts, so I thought, why not ask my own boyfriend?
HogDocKev: You’re so sweet! Okay, let me think…
Anomaly451: We can chat over comms if you’d rather! Or, I could ask you this weekend! (Hint, hint.) I’m about ready to get out of DC and see some Tennessee beauty. Namely YOU.
