Page 47 of Play the Game
Hi, my name is Cooper Wyles, and it makes my dick hard when the woman carrying my child is mean to me. There’s probably something wrong with me. I’m fine with it.
“You fucked up my system for organizing exhibits, again.”
I didn’t—at least not intentionally. It’s just that I could not give one single shit about trial prep or organizing exhibits for the Pierre Pharma litigation. With every day that passes, I care less about this litigation. The firm. The partnership. All of it.
I thought maybe it was my feud with Evan that left me with indifference bordering on complete hatred for my job. But with the tenuous peace Evan and I have made over the past few weeks—this moment notwithstanding—it’s pretty clear to me now that it’s just the job. With everything else going on, I don’t have the brain space to devote to hating my job right now, so instead I decide to needle Evan some more because at least that’s entertaining.
“Your system is stupid.”
“Excuse me?” she says, tossing back her cloud of blonde hair, venom dripping from her tone.
I stand, pressing my hands to the conference table and leaning into them, facing her down. “I said, your system is stupid. The clinical trial data for Pierre’s anti-rejection drug shouldn’t be next to the lab reports for the development phase of the drug. That’s not a logical progression.”
“He’s right, Evangeline. We need to be precise as we prep for this trial, and this does not scream precision to me. Lawyers who want to make partner really need to be precise in their trial preparation.”
Oh, fuck. I don’t have to see the furious flash in Evan’s eyes or turn around to know it’s Austin who just overheard me giving Evan shit for no good reason except to amuse myself, and I just handed him more ammunition for hisWomen don’t belong in BigLawbullshit. I don’t have to be a mind reader to know that Evan is currently wishing me a slow and painful death.
I deserve it.
“On second thought,” I say, making a big show of perusing the long table, “it probably makes sense to check the clinical trial data against the lab reports, so having them next to each other is actually a really good idea.”
I’m not bullshitting—now that I’m paying attention, her method makes perfect sense, but she doesn’t know I haven’t been paying attention until now, so as far as she knows, I tossed her straight under the bus, and anything I say now is too little, too fucking late.
“No, Cooper,” Evan says through a clenched jaw, her shoulders rigid and her spine snapped so straight it looks painful. “Austin is right. We really should be more precise about how we’re organizing all of our exhibits.” She glances up at Austin, and if he wasn’t such a self-important asshole, he would notice the disdain in her words. Then she’s talking to him, but she’s looking at me. “The lawyers who are arguing at trial should getto decide how their exhibits are organized. Not the lawyers doing the prep work.”
I wonder if this is how I die. If maybe I won’t even get to meet my child because his or her mother struck me down with the malice in her voice and the fiery loathing in her eyes.
“Thank you for being such a team player, Evangeline. Cooper is lucky to have you working for him on this. Let me know when the exhibits are reorganized and I’ll come give them a onceover.” With that, he turns and strides away, his whole demeanor givingI’m the king of the castle and you will bend to my will.
I turn slowly back to Evan, knowing Austin’sCooper is lucky to have you working for himwas probably the final nail in my coffin. “I’m so sorry, Ev. Seriously. Your system does make the most sense. I was just fucking with you. I didn’t mean for Austin to hear it. I’ll talk to him and make him see it your way.”
I wince at my words, which are patronizing as fuck and absolutely wrong. I really did screw up and make things harder for her. The one thing I never want to do is make anything harder for her, and my brain is racing with a way to fix it, but offering to talk to Austin is the wrong move. I know it and so does she.
Evan lets out a low noise of frustration, closing her eyes for a second and clenching her fists like she’s trying to restrain herself from jumping across the table and strangling me to death. When she opens her eyes, there’s anger there, but there’s a deep hurt behind it, and that fucking kills me.
“Will you, Cooper?” she seethes. “Will you talk to him? Maybe tell him again how right I am and how wrong you are? I’m sure this time he’ll see it your way. I’m so lucky to have you here to save me.” She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms, her glare boring holes straight through me. “So glad I’m reproducing with such an upstanding member of the male gender. What an absolute thrill for me.”
I open my mouth to speak, but she holds up her hand. “Fucking save it, Cooper. I’m about finished listening to men talk today.”
Evan snatches up her pink notebook and turns on her heel, sailing out of the conference room and leaving me staring after her. I make it thirty seconds, standing there listening to the rain lash against the conference room windows, before I leave too, following her to the elevator. I know I should probably just leave her alone, but I can’t do it. She’s hurt, and it’s my fault. Every instinct I have is screamingfix it.
I catch up with her just as the doors open, following her inside. The second I cross the threshold of the elevator, she whirls around, stabbing the button for the floor our offices are on and turning on me just as the doors slide shut.
“Jesus fucking Christ, Cooper, just leave me alone and stop trying to fix everything. You screwed up. I know it was an accident, and I’m sure you’re sorry, but it happened, and I just need a fucking minute.” Evan breaks off as tears spring to her eyes and immediately spill down her cheeks.
My first instinct is to gather her up, wrap my arms around her and hold her while she cries. To tell her I’m sorry over and over and that I’ll never let anything hurt her, ever again. Especially me. But I like my balls right where they are, so I stay still as she lets out a groan, swiping furiously under her eyes. “Fucking pregnancy,” she mutters. “Can’t even have a good mad without all the damn hormones getting in the way.”
“If it’s any consolation, you’re really pretty when you cry.”
She hisses at me. Literally hisses as tears stream down her cheeks, and I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from grinning at her. “I hate?—”
Whatever she’s about to say is cut off when the elevator comes to an abrupt halt and lapses into darkness.
“What the fuck?” Evan mumbles.
I pull out my phone, turning on the flashlight to illuminate the darkened space. “Maybe the storm knocked out the power.”
Evan looks around, like she can somehow diagnose the issue herself and get the elevator moving again. “Isn’t there supposed to be some kind of elevator failsafe for power outages? Like, ifthe car gets stuck between floors it keeps moving and the doors open at the nearest floor or something? Or some kind of backup generator?”
