Page 68 of Pick Me
And helping Aiden finish up his school project, which had not only earned him an A, it had gotten me an invite from Mr. Williams to teach the kids in his class how to build some simple robots.
And I’d been working weekends at the orchard, which was still doing a serious business with hayrides, and a haunted hay bale maze, and cider donuts, even though Webb said peak foliage time was just about done.
And setting up a website for the Averill Union Christmas fundraiser, because Em was a teenaged Napoleon in a lacrosse sweatshirt who’d twisted my arm with her pretty smile and bright green eyes.
Plus, it seemed like I still had a lot left to do for the Pond App, so it was kind of pointless to go all out to get a jobnowwhen I really wouldn’t be able to start until after the first of the year… Right?
And then there was Knox.
Knox, who occasionally threw paperclips across the desk at me when I got distracted and daydreamy, because he was thirty-nine going onthreeand had never been told you could poke an eye out with those things.
Knox, who had not only reinstated friendly erection checks, but had volunteered to help me “take care” of any erections he happened to spot because, he’d informed me, he was a “truefriend.”
Knox, who’d been making a point of leaving the office one afternoon a week to talk to his therapist, even though I knew better than to ever mention this out loud.
Knox, who was a closet stealth cuddler, pretending to fall asleep on one side of whoever’s bed we happened to end up in at night, only to plaster himself up against my side once he thought I was asleep, wrap his arm around my waist, and thread our fingers together.
Knox, who’d murmured, “Gage,” against the back of my neck that morning with such sleepy satisfaction that I couldn’t even give him shit about it being the first and only time he’d called me by my first name, but had rolled him over and thanked him with an early morning beej instead.
Knox, who I was developing Capital-R Real, Capital-F Feelings for, even though I’d sorta kinda low-key pinky sworn that I could stick to the rules.
“And what did Jason have to say?” I prompted, not really giving a shit about the answer.
“Mmm.” Knox chewed pumpkin bread for a second, then grinned smugly. “That he’s ready to move forward with the hiring process. One of his R&D guys left, so they had this whole organizational reshuffle, and now he has an opening in his New York office.” His grin got bigger and smugger than I’d ever seen it. “He said, ‘Hey, so, I have this position, but I’m not even sure what to call it. I want someone who’s going to do some research and find fresh, new ideas that will get our guys excited to solve problems, and ideally this person will also want to see the project through from beginning to end. Think Gage is up for that sort of thing?’ I remained very calm and told him I felt confident you’d be interested in at least taking a meeting to see what he had to offer.”
“Wait. Wait, what?” My heart pounded for a whole other reason that had nothing to do with Knox—at least, I was pretty sure—and I felt both excited and weirdly scared. This was more than I’d expected. It was much more like… everything I’d wanted. “In New York?”
“Yup. Right in Chelsea. Imagine yourself looking out at the city from your office.” Knox practicallybouncedhe was so damn excited, which was at least as terrifying as the whistling because Knox was not a bouncy person.
“Well. I won’t imagine it yet because I haven’t even had the interview.” I smiled. “Though I appreciate the vote of confidence.”
“He started researching you when Myles first mentioned your name a while back—”
“Researching me?” I echoed.
“Yep. I guess a friend of his in Florida is friends with one of your old professors, who had extremely positive things to say about you. And I managed to dredge up a couple nice things to say, too. So the interview is seventy-five percent formality, just to make sure you mesh with the corporate culture, that you’re cool with the salary… All that stuff.”
“Oh.” I nodded with the enthusiasm I knew I should feel—andwouldfeel, no doubt, once it had really sunk in. “Wow! Well. I’m happy to talk to him, obvs, but when is he looking for someone to start? ’Cause I still have abuh-uh-unchof work to do on this app.” I forced a laugh. “And Webb said I could take my time. Right, Webb?”
“Oh yeah.” Webb nodded. “Long as you need.”
Knox tilted his head and looked at me like I was being weird, which I super wasn’t.Iwas not the one practically vibrating with excitement at the idea that the guy I was fucking might trot off to New York months earlier than anticipated.
It was fuckingrude, was what it was. And I wanted my morning blow job back.
“I’m sure he’ll go over all that during the interview,” Knox assured me. “But if he’s letting you pick your own projects, I’m sure he’ll be fine letting you choose your start date. Then again, I think Webb could hire someone else to finish the app if you had to start sooner. Right, Webb?”
“Well, sure.” Webb nodded again. “I mean, you’ve gotta do what’s best for you, Gage.”
I folded my arms over my chest. “But it would be a pain for you to find another app developer at this stage,” I challenged. “And I’d still be working on Pipsy anyway. Right, Webb?”
“Uh.” Webb frowned, his gaze flickering between me and Knox. “I mean—”
“But since it’d be almost impossible for Goodman to find a dream job like this ever again, everyone in town would understand. Right, Webb?”
“I, um—” Webb scratched his head and squinted at Knox. “Guys? What’s happening here?”
Knox shrugged like he was just as mystified as his brother, which was evenruder.
