Page 23 of 10 Rings I Hate About You
“Thanks, you guys.”
“You’ll always have us,” Adele responded and leaned her head on my shoulder.
“Always,” Cheryl agreed and wrapped her arms around both of us.
I drew in my first deep breath since Glamma destroyed my night, and then another, in and out, slow and steady. I let it fill my belly before slowly releasing it. They were right. And with friends like the two of them, I’d make it through this.
A familiar throat cleared, making us jump apart.
“Delaney?”
My stomach dropped like I’d missed a step in the dark. I didn’t have to look up to know who it was. I really didn’t want to talk to him tonight.
Marc stood a few feet away, his hands tucked into the pockets of a well-worn canvas jacket, posture rigid in a way that always made him seem like he was bracing for impact.
Knowing him, he likely calculated the appropriate amount of feet between us so he didn’t have to get too close. Because God forbid Marc ever do anything without optimal spatial parameters. I wondered if he had a spreadsheet for social interactions.
Column A: Distance.
Column B: Acceptable greeting phrases.
Column C: Probability of Delaney losing her shit.
Not like this morning, my subconscious threw out at me.Not when his body was pressed against yours in the most delicious way.
Damnit. I was being a total bitch. Marc couldn’t help how he was anymore than I could stop being me. And I was beingan asshole even just thinking those thoughts about him and spreadsheets.
The streetlight nearby caught his glasses, obscuring his eyes, which somehow made the tension between us feel sharper. His mouth tightened as though he could hear my thoughts and wasn’t impressed. “We need to talk.”
Something about the way he said it—flat, precise—made my stomach contract.
“About what?” The question came out exactly the same as it had the summer I was sixteen and he’d “corrected” my bird identification in front of everyone on the nature walk. Just like he’d found some way to criticize me every year of camp. I couldn’t stop the quick snap of my words. It was a knee-jerk reaction to him at this point.
He blinked. The way he regarded me reminded me of a GPS recalculating. Except he was reevaluating which direction he needed to go next in this conversation with me. “We need to discuss logistics for the animal yoga sessions. Given the vote passed with 70% approval?—”
I threw my hand up in a stop motion. How in the world did he know this? He’d left before they took a vote. “Did you seriously just calculate the percentage?”
“Yes. Forty-two in favor, fifteen opposed, three abstentions.” He said this as though it was normal. Like everyone kept running tallies of town hall votes. But this was Marc, and I needed to remember that he dealt in facts and figures, not people.
Adele made a choking noise that might have been a laugh or a cough.
“Of course you did,” I muttered. Clearly acknowledging to myself that Marc dealt with the world differently wasn’t currently softening my attitude.
Marc’s face flickered with an expression I couldn’t quite read. Confusion, maybe. “You asked if I calculated it. I was confirming I had.”
And there it was. The thing he did. Where he answered exactly what was asked, missing the subtext entirely, and I felt like an awful person for being annoyed by his honesty. I needed to remember his way of communicating with the world if we were going to work together.
Adele’s gaze volleyed between us. “We can give you two a few minutes alone.” She grabbed Cheryl’s arm and tugged her forward.
Cheryl stopped moving the second she was in front of Marc. She had to look up—he was easily six inches taller—but somehow still managed to be menacing. “Try not to be an ass.”
“I don’t—I’m not—” Marc stammered, his hand coming up to push at his glasses.
“Historically, you have been,” Cheryl said matter-of-factly. “I’m just asking for improved performance metrics.”
Marc looked like he’d been slapped. “I … yes. Okay. I’ll … try not to be an ass.”
“Good talk.” Cheryl patted his arm, which made him flinch slightly—unexpected touch, I knew that about him—and headed toward Adele’s car.
