Page 69 of Wild Card

My reflection bowed and bobbed as I walked past the shining glass windows of giant skyscrapers. I had walked this specific route so many times I didn’t even have to look up to see which building was which or where I was. I just wanted to run my fingers along each of the words that were supposed to paint my future, where I would find a home, a new purpose in life.

I was nearly there when I heard my name being called. It took me a second to register, but once I stopped and looked behind me, I saw him: dark hair slicked to the side with hair product, a gunmetal grey suit perfectly tailored for his body, a crisp white shirt beneath, and a silver tie. He even wore shining black dress shoes. My mouth dropped at the sheer ridiculousness of how good he looked.

“Wow…you look…” I stalled, still taking in every detail of how Decker’s clean-shaven face was slightly turning red, his mossy eyes hard set under his dark brows. “Fancy meeting or something?” I tried to ask, but my voice came out raspy.

He smirked, stepping closer. “Or something.”

The memory of when I had said that to him in the parking lot came back, making me smile up at him. He took advantage of me lifting my face by pressing his lips to mine. I melted into him, releasing the fears and assumptions I’d been spinning out from. Then a wisp of awareness zipped through me like a live wire upon remembering my dad’s words.

He’s in the city as we speak, meeting with Hamlin.

I shoved the thought down, even with the obvious clues staring me in the face. He looked like he’d just stepped out of a meeting with investors. My eyes drifted to the ground, as if I could see each of my hopes drift there. It couldn’t be him. He wouldn’t do this to me, to us. His eyes seemed to weigh a ton as they bounced along my frame, up my hair and down my figure.

“What are you doing here?” His voice seemed as thick as my heart currently felt. Heavy and thick, rusting over. Dying.

I ducked my head, tucking hair behind my ear. The place behind me suddenly felt like it was a life-sized journal, flung open for Decker to read all the pages. It was sacred to me, a most precious spot, and now he was here staring at it with that look like he’d fix whatever was wrong.

“This”—I gestured behind me to the building jutting into the sky—“is the internship I’m hoping to land with my story.” I moved toward the wall where the nameplate sat, the words Kline Global imprinted in brass lettering.

“You aren’t interviewing, right? You said they only take one person.” He moved his focus to where I gestured then it bounced back to me. The fact that he remembered what I had told him felt like a tiny furnace burning in my heart.

“No.” I let out a heavy sigh, giving the nameplate a longing look. I just wanted to run my fingers over the letters like the weirdo that I was. I couldn’t do that with him here, though. “I just like seeing it…you know, getting perspective. I come here when I need to clear my head.”

Understanding lit up his eyes. Before I could say anything else, his hand grabbed mine and we were heading inside the building.

“No, no, no.” I struggled in his hold.

“What’s it going to hurt to go in and take a look around?” His smile was mischievous and daring.Devilish.

“Well, it could mess with my chances of being accepted,” I blurted in a harsh whisper. The gleaming white marble under our feet was too glorious to imagine. The building was bright and welcoming, and fifty feet from us was a desk no one was managing. My eyebrows furrowed in concern. Where was the security guard? Anyone could just walk in…and…

“Hurry, come on—we can sneak upstairs.” Decker pulled my hand toward his chest and started heading up.

“Decker, no!” I whisper-yelled at him while he tugged me along.

Inside I was coming apart, a cassette tape being unwound, all my hopes and dreams being tugged on and teased. I had never gone inside the building. I’d always just stood outside like a weirdo, running my finger along the letters. The stairs extended up, giving us a view of the lobby below, the desk still unmanned. The first-floor door was wide open, and on the glass doors was something etched in white font that I couldn’t understand. Off to the side was a small alcove where gleaming bronze elevator doors waited.

“Come on.” Decker pulled me toward the alcove while hugging me to his firm side. I loved the warmth he gave off, and his smell. God, he smelled good.

“Seriously, Decker, this is a bad idea,” I muttered as he pressed the up button. Oh my god, what would I do if I saw someone with a Kline Global security badge?

“They don’t even know who we are—it’s not a big deal.”

I swiftly followed in after him at the ding of the elevator. “It won’t matter. They’re still going to escort us out once they realize we aren’t authorized to be here.”

“You worry too much, babe. It’ll be fine.” He laughed, and seeing him smile while in that suit made my stomach flip. I wanted to take him out of those clothes, kiss his mouth, and force him to tell me his secrets.

I looked up, trying not to bring attention to the fact that I loved that he was here with me. I focused on his granite jaw and the fact that a lazy smile tugged his lips to the side. It wasdevastating.

A moment later, the elevator stopped and opened on the fifth floor. Thin, grey carpet silenced our steps as we crept around the corner, and huge potted plants with massive green leaves sat close to the floor-to-ceiling windows. I walked forward, stopping at the glass doors that were currently shut but hid none of the magic happening behind them.

Bustling reporters walking back and forth from copiers to whiteboards. Swivel chairs, bulletin boards, people on cell phones, desk phones ringing off the hook. It was madness and heaven, and I nearly plastered my face to the glass just to get a better view.

“So, this is what you want?” Decker whispered at my side.

I withheld the urge to trace the massive K and G that dominated the doors in sleek lettering. Instead I swallowed a lump in my throat as a man in a white collared shirt walked by with a stack of papers in his hand, not paying any attention to us.

“Yes.” I sighed, staring at the cubicles inside.

---