Charming Like Us (Like Us 7)

The bus is quiet.

We all respect Akara, and I take his words to heart.

I fucked up royally tonight.

“Oscar, Quinn.” Akara speaks to us directly. “If you can’t work together, then you both can’t stay.”

I’ve thought about this moment. I knew it’d come, and I choose my words carefully. “If you fire him,” I tell our boss, “I’m quitting.”

Farrow chews gum slowly with a look at me like what the fuck are you doing now?

Donnelly pipes in, “Oscar quits, I quit.”

Farrow shakes his head and rolls his eyes like we’re dumbasses.

I hear Banks say something about “the Yale boys” to Thatcher in the back.

Both of my friends’ reactions are intrinsically them, and I can’t help but grin. Before tonight, I would’ve probably given anything for my little bro to be sacked. Leave security behind and apply to college. Get an experience he missed out on.

But Quinn’s pain is still so fresh in my mind. I can feel it against my swollen cheek. I can feel it writhing around in me. And I don’t want him to lose anything.

Quinn turns slightly in his seat, earbud cord hanging around his neck. His expression breaks on me, but I still can’t see the gnarled roots under the oak tree.

“You’re really putting me in this position?” Akara asks, staring at me like I’m a ghost of a person.

“He’s my brother,” I say.

Akara looks between me and Quinn. “You both want your job? You want to stay on SFO? Then you have two month’s pay-cut and mandatory therapy together. Once a week.”

Quinn barely even looks my way. How is therapy going to work if he can’t meet my eyes?

I’ll try anything, though.

We go over a few more security matters. Like scheduling for training temps. And I’m biting my nails watching time slip by.

Meeting ends, and I bolt out of the van. I’m going to drive another security vehicle, the Black Widow, and I’m halfway to the SUV when my phone rings.

No, no, no.

If he’s calling, then that means his meeting is over. His fate has been decided, and I wasn’t there. I’m not there.

Don’t be Jack.

Don’t be Jack.

I dig for my pocket and glance at the screen.

Caller ID: Highland.

My stomach sinks. I missed it.

Why in the ever-loving hell would anyone want to be with me?

30

OSCAR OLIVEIRA

Jack drove back to New York to be with me after his meeting. He’s still in limbo. He said they’re still “evaluating” the situation, but Maximoff and Jane have been putting pressure on the execs to keep Jack on in the same role. Like I thought they would. They really care about Jack.

My boyfriend was a wreck last night. Not in a typical meltdown fashion. There were no tears. His leg kept jostling while we hung out on the couch. He hardly ate the takeout dessert, which I brought home as an I’m sorry.

His career is in purgatory, and that’s stressing him out more. If they’d given him a direct final answer, I wonder if he’d be this anxious.

“Sorry, I’m such a buzzkill right now,” he told me, trying to swallow the cake with a knot in his throat.

That hurt my heart. “Do you think I expect you to do cartwheels and throw glitter around me?” I asked him seriously. “You had a bad night. We both had a bad night. Let’s wallow together and eat cake.”

Light touched his eyes.

I slipped a strong arm around his waist.

He slouched back, his smile slowly ascending. After a minute or two, he asked, “You want to kiss it out?”

Yeah, we did a lot more than kiss. It was a freeing cap on an emotional night. And waking up to a new day is like waking with a massive hangover.

It’s already the afternoon, and mentally, I’m scrolling through the charity golf event with a nauseous cringe.

Kitsuwon Securities 1 – Triple Shield 1.

Alpha and Epsilon bodyguards have been boasting all day about our face-in-the-mud failure. How they cleaned up Omega’s mess. It’s a far fall from our high when SFO found the girl squad in Anacapri.

I’d put myself near the top of Omega, at the risk of being an arrogant ass. Mistakes and I aren’t friends. We’re not even acquaintances. I’m the bodyguard who has the brilliant ploys, who has the correct reads on threats, who sneaks around chaos before chaos catches my ass—and now I’m the bodyguard who cost Omega a win.

We’re not losers yet, but I didn’t think I’d be the first one to tarnish the firm’s reputation. Almost guiltily, I’m glad I screwed up because of my brother and not because of my relationship with Jack.

I don’t want anyone believing I’m unable to be a good bodyguard with a boyfriend. If I’m only successful at this job being single…

Yeah, I’m not going to sit on that tragic thought for long.

At the moment I’m preoccupied. And I’m on my knees in the loft—sadly, not to blow Jack Highland and see him come.