Page 100 of Hang the Moon
Friday, June 11
Brendon exited out of Twitter and set his phone aside when someone knocked on his office door.
“Come in.” He leaned back in his chair, swiveling gently from side to side, steepling his fingers in front of him.
The door opened and Margot entered, shutting the door behind her. One of her brows quirked high on her forehead as her dark eyes swept over his seated form. “Wasn’t aware I stepped inside the office of Hugo Drax.”
He frowned. “Hugowho?”
“Drax.” At his blank stare, she huffed. “Hugo Drax, Bond villain.” She mimicked him, tenting her fingers in front of her body. “You look very dastardly. Like you’re about to fire a laser at the moon unless someone sends you one million dollars.”
He dropped his hands and slumped back in his chair. “It’s a sign of impassioned intelligence according to the leading experts in body language psychology.”
“Did you research that?” Margot threw her messenger bag on the floor and collapsed into one of his chairs. She kicked her feet up on his desk, sending his stress ball rolling. “Who am I kidding? Of course you did.”
He leaned down and snagged it off the floor, tossing it at Margot. She snatched it out of the air and gave it a hard clench.
“Did you come here to give me shit or was there some other reason for your visit?”
She rifled around inside her bag before tossing what he waspretty sure was an aluminum foil brick on his desk. “Chipotle. Enjoy.”
Ah,food. He’d spent most of the morning going over his notes for this afternoon’s all-team meeting and had completely lost track of time. By the time he’d checked the clock, it was too late to dash out for a quick bite. He tore the foil open, revealing a steamy burrito nearly the size of his head. “Thanks.”
Margot already had her mouth wrapped around hers, tearing into her meal with gusto.
“Hey, Mar?”
She nodded and continued to chew.
“Is centaur penis placement seriously up for debate?”
She coughed, catching a handful of half-chewed burrito. “Jesus, Brendon.”
“I mean, it’s obviously back by the horse half, right?” He frowned. “Or no? Then again, centaurs have two rib cages, which suggests the possibility oftwohearts, so—”
“Okay.Warn a girl before you start talking about penises,please.” Margot snagged a napkin off his desk.
“We’re hardly in public and you have the foulest mouth of anyone I’ve ever met. Don’t act scandalized.”
She lifted a hand to her chest and sniffed. “Fuck, that might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me. I am touched. Touched, I tell you.”
He balled up his napkin and tossed it at her head. She batted it aside and cackled.
“For the record, I’m the one who made this particular meme.” Margot preened. “I’m especially proud.”
He cracked a smile. “It’s a good one.”
She studied him over her burrito. “How’s Annie?”
“Annie’s great.”
She stared at him blankly. “She’s great?”
He laughed. “Yeah, Mar. Great. As in that state of being that denotes goodness. Positivity. Ring any bells?”
“Normally I can’t get you to shut up about the girls you go out with. Now you’re being all tight-lipped?”
Margot wasn’t wrong. Usually he was eager to share when he’d had a great date. For some reason, this felt different.
