Page 16

I scrutinized it, feeling that odd, disembodied sensation as I often did when I read, like my mind refused just to recreate a scene, but had to give me the weird phantom sense of having been there.

I even ignored the world around me as a loud swear, percussive beating, and a mournful screech echoed back from that corner. “Take that, rotten bastard!”

Another screech.

Aaaand cue for some very loud music.

I popped my earbuds in, nodding to the music as I tossed a few pages back and forth, trying to find that hot sex scene from a week or so back. The conservative chess game where the nut used to be was getting frustrating.

A polite tap on the counter drew my attention up as the man who’d fallen from the ceiling smiled down at me. “Morning.”

I stared, eyes tracing him. Light-brown skin, eyes like amber in that striking way that always gave me a second glance.

A patrician nose that didn’t match his pallor perched atop his sculpted face, prominent brows framing wide eyes. I glanced away as I took in his finger-length locs; the hair cultivated into dark swatches that topped his head neatly. Biracial, if I had a guess, not that either feature stood out much. Handsome, certainly.

Not quite my type, what with his goofy half grin and prank he’d played earlier. Still, I could nibble on some eye candy. “Can I help you?”

“I—uh. I haven’t introduced myself. Formally. I’m Zeke.” He smiled wider, and I pulled my earbuds out, tucking them into the charging case.

“Lex.” I straightened up. “You’re like, my boss, right?”

“Uh, not like, officially. We have different roles. Senior? Yes. Give orders? No.”

“Huh, kinda expected someone like in their fifties or sixties.” I eyed him closer. Guy couldn’t have been past his mid or late twenties.

“Hah, not that young.” His laugh was pleasant, and I ignored the joke.

“So, about earlier…” He waved a hand as if waiting for me to play into his little prank.

“Origami-book spider and a jump scare?” I raised a brow.

He opened his mouth as if to speak, closed it, and huffed. “Not intentionally…”

“Right.” I could put up with worse for the money I was making. “You really got me.”

His lips twisted in genuine remorse. “Sorry, book got away with me while I was reading.”

I said nothing. I’d gotten lost in plenty of books and never felt the need to scare someone with an origami-book crab-spider thing.

Though there were other pranks I pulled with Gio… those usually involved half-assed comments about spraying sanitizer on books or threatening to dogear pages.

His prank was more…elaborate.

“Anway… Now that we’ve met. Want to grab a bite to eat with me?” He pursed his full lips hopefully, and I reached under the desk to pull out the plastic container full of salad I’d brought with me in my little insulated lunch box. He stared at it in defeat and deflated. “I’ll have my salad. Sans crab.”

“Look, we got off on the wrong foot just now—”

I gave him a look that clearly didn’t get through to him. “We’ve been off on the wrong foot since day one when you stared at me around corners and avoided me like the plague.”

His face paled, and mouth tilted in disbelief!

Bruh.

“You saw?” He wilted.

“Saw. Heard. Chased after you a few times.” I huffed and went back to peeking at my book until he reached over and closed it abruptly. “Hey!”

“Don’t go diving in like that in front of someone. It’s rude. Dangerous, too.” He rolled his eyes. “I haven’t—I’m not good with introductions. It’s been a while since I dealt with people.”