Page 95 of Hacking His Code

I force a smile.

“Something tells me you don’t want to come back.”

“That’s not it,” I insist. “You caught me at a rather unexpected time in my life.”

“You can relax with us. We all keep each other’s secrets, and you’re not the only latecomer to the squad.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Cassius catches Zev’s eye. “Hey, Cass!” he calls. “Get your ass over here!”

The pharmaceutical giant veers in our direction, and Zev and I rise from the couch.

Again, I sneak a glance over at Ari.

“Sadie, you too!” Zev calls.

Sadie dons a sardonic look, walking over slowly. Ari tries to stay behind, but Sadie insists on her inclusion.

“I’m beginning to feel like a sales rep,” Sadie jokes as she forces Ari into our circle, “trying to convince the new girl that she should join our cult.”

“You’re all just so nice,” Ari mutters, clearly uncomfortable.

“Well, I’m still working on Hunter here,” Zev claps a hand on my shoulder, “and I was going to get his thoughts on the big question at large.”

“Jesus Christ,” Sadie snaps. “Not this again!”

“We might as well suffer through it for the dozenth time,” Cassius says with a chuckle. “They’re never going to let it go.”

“You see, Hunter, there’s this ongoing question—”

“There is no question,” Sadie interjects.

“Regarding who Cassius made come first: Sadie or her mother.”

I remember Cassius telling me the story at the hospital, but I feign shock all the same.

Ari’s face is paper white.

Sadie sighs. “You may have heard that during the trial for the O Go, there was a woman admitted to the hospital.”

Ari nods.

“That was my mother. She found a bottle of the O Go lying around and thought they were heart pills.”

Arinessa’s eyes flutter open and shut a dozen times. “That was your mother?”

Zev is bright red from laughter, and even Cassius is wearing a comical grin.

Sadie, however, does not look pleased.

They begin talking amongst each other, and Ari slips away.

Unable to bear the tension any longer, I go after her, tapping a finger on her shoulder.

She turns, her brow shooting upward.

“You look great,” I say awkwardly, which is completely unlike me. I’m pretty suave when it comes to women, but then again, none of the others have ever meant anything to me before.