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“I briefly considered interjecting,” he said, “but I assume that would have only made things worse.”
“No shit,” I muttered. “You made the right choice staying upstairs. So you heard what happened?”
“I think all of San Mateo heard,” he replied. “I knew things were too quiet between you two the past few days. Like the calm before a storm. You’re lucky Owen showed some restraint. Because if hedidwant to fire you, I’m not sure I could have changed his mind. If the investor saw that…”
I felt a wave of embarrassment as Jude and Michelle looked at me. Guilt bubbled up and made me nauseous. I wanted to prank Owen, not potentially damage his career and the future of the company. He didn’t deserve that.
I hated him a week ago, I thought.Now I care about hurting him? Maybe the pranks were flirty after all.
Jude must have read my emotions on my face, because he stepped forward and folded his arms around me. I closed my eyes and sighed against his chest, and told myself that I wasn’t going to cry.
“Let’s go upstairs before Phil gets here,” I said.
We took our plates of pasta up to my room and closed the door. I took the computer chair while Jude sat on the edge of my bed. I realized that my room was kind of a mess, with a pile of dirty clothes in the corner, but my tank of embarrassment couldn’t get any more full at that moment.
“You were right,” Jude said around a mouthful of pasta.
“About what?”
He gestured at the room with his fork. “Your nerd cred is unimpeachable. ThreeMatrixposters. A signed copy ofReady Player One. And that gaming PC looks like a powerful rig.”
I nodded at the compliments. “I need to upgrade the video card. But the GeForce RTX 3090 is still on backorder.” I stirred my pasta around on my plate. I wasn’t hungry anymore. “I think I fucked up. With Owen.”
Jude shrugged. “I’ve known him a long time. He’ll get over it. Or he’ll get even with you.”
“It’s the latter I’m afraid of,” I said.
Flirty fun. Was that really how Owen had thought of our pranks?
“When I heard his voice,” Jude said, “I was certain he had found out about us.”
“Me too! I thought he followed you here from the office.”
“If he had…” Jude shook his head slowly. “I’m glad he didn’t.”
“It was a close call for sure.” I swallowed my last bite of pasta and put the plate aside. “Does it make you regret things?”
“Not at all,” he replied without hesitation.
“Does it make you want to… stop?” I didn’t want to say the words, but I forced them out anyway. “Do you think we should end things now, before hedoesfind out?”
Jude put down his plate and gave me his full attention. “Nothing would make me want to end things now, Amber. Not even Owen finding out. I still hope to avoid that happening, but if it were to occur…” He stood up and walked over to the computer chair, stroking my cheek with a thumb. “No. It won’t change a thing.”
He kissed me, and I forgot all about the embarrassment I had felt in the kitchen downstairs.
25
Amber
Sunlight streamed through the window in my room the next morning. I had been up for almost half an hour now, but I didn’t make a move to get out of bed. Jude was asleep next to me. The comforter was draped across half his body, and I was enjoying watching him sleep. A tangle of his sandy-blond hair was bent into a cowlick from the pillow, and he looked absolutelyadorablewithout his glasses.
I could watch him sleep all day.
But we had worked up an appetite last night, and my stomach felt like it was gnawing at my spine. I gently kissed Jude on his forehead, then slipped out of bed and went downstairs.
Coffee was already brewing in the pot. I poured myself a cup and fixed a bowl of cereal. I was sitting on the island stool, shoveling Honey Nut Cheerios into my mouth, when Phil came downstairs.
“Morning,” he said with a smug grin.
