AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What conversation?” Rob asked in frustration.
“Exactly. It’s like we never had it.”
Marcel rubbed the back of his neck and up into his wiry, dark hair, looking torn between amusement and concern. “Well, um. I gotta get to a meeting, guys. I’ll see you later. Good luck with that…” He made the motion of his lips being sealed and turned around, heading quickly down the hall. We caught a hint of laughter before a door closed, and then there was an awkward silence before Rob exploded.
“What was that? I never asked you for medicine.”
Apparently, Rob had never been pranked before either. He looked genuinely baffled.
“That was a warning, dude. The gossip train does not leave this station.” Denver pointed at our office door. “Spreading rumors about things Sadie and I talk about in there is not cool. Unless you want some information spread about you. I can get extremely creative. Are we clear?”
Rob held his hands up. “I didn’t tell anyone anything about you two. I swear.”
“No one?”
He winced. “Okay, well, I did tell Wendy. She asked me what I’d been pestering you two about. But I swear I didn’t say a word to anyone else.”
Denver and I exchanged looks. Targets were being changed. New schemes considered. I could see it written all over his face, and frankly, I was a little scared.
I wondered why he’d never pranked me. It was slightly offensive, to be honest. Was I not a deserving candidate?
“I won’t tell her anything anymore. I promise.” Rob scurried into the office, pitching the offending tube of cream into the garbage on his way in.
I moved to follow him, but Denver stopped me with a light touch to my elbow.
“Ready to follow my lead? We’re not done yet.” His breath tickled the edge of my ear, warm and shivery. I didn’t like it. Nor did I like the slight hint of his new scent washing over me. It mingled perfectly with the smell of his skin, just as I’d feared, creating a powerful pull that had me leaning into him instead of leaning out.
“Follow your lead? Now that I know what you’re capable of, I’m not sure I want any part of it.”
“Come on, brave girl. You can trust me.”
I glared at him and crossed my arms. “That is literally the creepiest thing you’ve ever said. And a little condescending, to be honest.”
“I’m sorry—”
I didn’t let him finish. “Just because you bought me this shirt, it doesn’t mean we’re friends.” There. Space. Firmly reestablished. I could breathe again.
Denver stared me down, his expression unreadable as his eyes assessed everything he took in. My new shirt, the dark jeans I’d paired it with, my beat-up sandals with the old leather straps that curled up on the ends. They were the rebellious part of my otherwise cute outfit. He’d have to pry these ugly sandals from my cold, dead body.
His eyes met mine again, and he crossed his arms to match mine. “You said literally.”
“What? No, I didn’t.”
“You did. You said it was ‘literally’ the creepiest thing I’d ever said. And noted. I’m creepy. We’re not friends. Respond however you want in there then. Let’s get to work.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
He walked ahead of me, pausing in the doorway because he could. I did not check him out from behind while I waited for him to move out of the way. His charcoal slacks were doing nothing for me. Nothing at all.
Denver sat down at the desk next to mine and put in earbuds, rolling his chair as far away from me as he could get. Today, they’d given us five groups to check on instead of three. We were moving up in the training world. Yay for us.
Unfortunately, the task was sort of mind-numbing, especially if people weren’t talking about anything interesting. Brenda had promised our responsibilities would get more and more complicated as we went along, and we’d be doing a bit of everything in the beginning. My job was to take it all in. Some tasks I’d love and others I’d hate. But they were all connected. My gut said to trust in the process, even though patience wasn’t typically my strongest suit.
Okay, I wasn’t patient at all. Case in point: freaking out over how good Denver smelled and panicking. I’d fixed that situation, alright. Denver kept his distance from me all day.
If Wendy was spying on us, we had nothing for her. Denver didn’t talk to me. And I didn’t try to make him. I guess that was as good of a gossip-reduction plan as any. I was full of genius plans today. Like making Denver hate me again for absolutely no reason other than that it felt comfortable and safe.
