Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 71647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
My ears perked up. “Research? I love research. What are you investigating?”
Ezra quirked a grin. “It’s classified info. If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”
“Ah. Well, have fun.”
“It won’t be terrible. At least I don’t have to wear a polo shirt today. And if I can avoid personal conversations with my boss, it’ll be easy. Did I tell you he’s trying to set me up with his daughter?”
A sharp stab of something that felt vaguely like jealousy caught me off guard. Why the heck would I care if Ezra dated his boss’s daughter? We weren’t buddies and his sexual conquests were of no concern to me. I’d had my hands full worrying about ending my own sexual conquest at the moment. Thank you very much.
Okay, Marlon wasn’t exactly a conquest. He was a perfectly estimable gentleman with a talented mouth who knew how to give a nice hand job. I didn’t enjoy talking to him, which probably wasn’t a great sign, but…back to Ezra.
“And you’re opposed to a liaison with your boss’s daughter?”
He nodded. “Of course, I am. I barely know her. But that’s beside the point. Everyone knows you don’t shit where you work. It feels like a setup. Like he’s testing me.”
“To what end?”
“No idea. To test my character or something? I don’t get it. I’m gonna keep my head down, study for the bar, and get my résumé buffed and ready to roll. I don’t know if they’re planning on offering me a spot in the fall. I hope so, but I can’t be worried about professional and personal crossover. It’ll make me crazy. I don’t know how you do it,” he commented wryly, draining the contents of his mug.
I frowned. “Do what?”
“The dude you’re boffing. The one with the coke-bottle glasses and the turtleneck fetish.”
“Boffing?”
“Yeah, you know…”
He made a rude finger-in-hole gesture and topped it off by grabbing his junk. I didn’t realize it was possible to be furious and maddeningly turned-on at the same time. See, this was why Ezra and I would never in a million gazillion years become actual friends. My hackles rose with my blood pressure and the hair on the back of my neck.
I stood abruptly and pointed at him with my teeth clenched. “You…you…saucy lackey! You are not permitted to offer commentary on my extracurricular affairs.”
Ezra rolled his eyes. “Oh, c’mon. Lighten up, snowflake. Hey, if you’re getting some, good on you. Maybe I’m jealous. I’m working my right hand silly lately. I could use an extracurricular affair. Just not with the boss’s daughter. And not with a weirdo who keeps his neck covered when it’s eighty degrees outside. Is he hiding hickeys or something? Geez, Holden, are you a vampire?”
My jaw was on the floor. It took precious time for me to gather my wits and remind myself that strangling my roommate was a federal offense.
“First of all, I would never give a partner a hickey. That’s a gross adolescent mating ritual. Second, Marlon isn’t a weirdo. He—”
“He quoted the entire opening verse of Star Wars the last time he was here. Don’t tell me that’s not weird.”
“You made him nervous.”
“Oh, yeah? Well, he made me itchy,” Ezra retorted, pulling a phantom collar as he stood. “I scratch my neck like a sweaty dog every time I see him.”
“You’ve met him once!”
He furrowed his brow as he stepped into my space. “And it was one too many times.”
“It’s nice to see you two getting along so well,” Tommy interrupted sarcastically.
Ezra and I turned on cue as Tommy and his boyfriend, Noah, entered the kitchen.
Tommy and Noah were an adorable odd couple. Like me, Tommy was a professor at Caltech and a PhD candidate with an emphasis in biomolecular physics. I liked him from day one. Tommy was the most unassuming genius I’d ever met. And trust me, I’d met quite a few. He was a little shorter than my six one, with brown hair, blue eyes, and killer dimples reminiscent of a modern-day Superman. Quite honestly, Tommy was drop-dead gorgeous, and the fact that he had no idea was part of his charm.
His boyfriend, Noah, was a hair stylist and a former soccer standout who loved glitter and didn’t mind long rambling conversations about nothing in particular. He was about five ten with short raven hair, light-brown eyes, and a fabulous way about him. I didn’t know Noah as well, but it was easy to see that he adored Tommy. And that was all I really needed to know.
I was happy for them, but I admit…I missed having Tommy around. Not only was he my best friend and an easygoing companion, but he was good at playing referee and ensuring that Ezra and I didn’t go for the jugular after every squabble.
“He’s impossible!” I seethed.
“I just keep it real,” Ezra bragged.