Hunter watches me, and I watch him, and both of us just stand there watching each other.
I wait for him to catch up.
He doesn’t.
“So … revenge? Yes or no?”
“It seems … drastic.”
“More drastic than fucking a bunch of guys behind your fiancé’s back?”
Hunter’s jaw tenses as pure anger crosses his face. It reminds me of the night we met, when he looked like a titan about to go on a rampage. “Good point.”
“Anyway, you let me know. I need to go answer my phone before Gates spits his false teeth at me.”
“He has false teeth?”
“Doesn’t everyone over the age of forty?”
“Not even close.” The tension in Hunter’s face makes me realize I don’t actually know how old he is.
“Wait. Are you over forty?”
Hunter almost falls off the doorframe as he chokes. “I’m thirty-one, asshole.”
“Ah. So almost.”
He throws his hands up. “Go answer your phone.”
“Is it ringing?”
Hunter huffs, takes me by the arm, and tugs me out of his room. I’m not prepared when his dark eyes meet mine, and I forget to look away, forget what he said or if I should be coming or going. Those eyes crease slightly at the corners for the second before he closes his door between us.
I have to physically shake myself free from whatever that was.
By the time I get back to my desk, grin taking over my face, I drop back into my chair and cross my hands behind my head. I wait for the phone to stop ringing before I pull the little plug from the back and relax into the luxury of stillness.
The office isn’t a good place when I’m feeling overstimulated, and today has been an absolute mess, so I grab my noise-canceling headphones from the drawer and lean right back in my chair, trying to see into Hunter’s office.
Our eyes instantly meet, and he shakes his head my way before turning to his computer.
The interoffice chat window pops open on my screen.
Hunter:
Now I know what you meant about “exchanging” puns
Me:
Did you consult a dictionary?
Hunter:
I just didn’t assume you’d be enough of a cocky shit to play boomerang with this stupid plant.
Me:
You really are breaking my heart. I put a lot of thought into that gift.