Page 15 of Ride the Lightning
Jonah wasn’t surprised by Avery’s thoughtful gesture even after his display of surliness and abrupt departure, nor was he a stranger to the guilt surging through his body.
“Avery looked like a kicked puppy,” Desiree continued, jabbing a finger in his conscience. “Someone should do something nice to cheer him up.” She batted her eyelashes innocently. Jonah didn’t fall for her act. He met and held her shrewd gaze until the woman’s cheeks turned pink, and she broke their staring match to roll her eyes. “Fine. I’ll stay out of it.” She wouldn’t, but Jonah would take the reprieve for as long as it lasted.
Jonah’s mood was darker than ever. Nothing about the past twenty-four hours had gone his way, and he was taking it out on the wrong people. He needed to get his shit together and put his energy where he needed it most, which was preparing—emotionally and physically—for a meeting with Trexler. He swung by the break room to get his caramel fix and was further irritated when he saw they were all out of Twix. He settled for a Milky Way and bought a package of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups for Avery since they were his favorite. It was lame as far as peace offerings went, but it was better than nothing.
Avery wasn’t at his desk when Jonah got back, so he left the candy on Avery’s desk and headed inside his office. The space often felt like the eye of a storm, peaceful and serene, allowing him to block out the chaos swirling like howling winds on the other side of the door. Sitting down at his computer, he pulled up their instant message system and requested a meeting with Trexler. Jonah expected his supervisor to ignore him, so he was surprised when a reply came through almost right away.
It will have to wait until the morning,Trexler replied. He imagined his boss’s gruff voice when he read the words.
Jonah didn’t want to delay the investigation another day, but his hands were tied. Plus, it gave him more time to come up with an argument even Trexler couldn’t refute. His supervisor might insist someone with more field experience review the details. Trexler might even investigate the situation himself to earn extra brownie points with Malcolm. Jonah wouldn’t like either of those outcomes, but he could live with it if someone pursued the case seriously.
Avery entered his office carrying Jonah’s coffee mug and had Jonah’s peace offering tucked inside his shirt pocket. “Permission to approach your desk?” Avery asked. Jonah was pleased to see the teasing light in his eyes.
“I don’t know. How hot is the coffee?” Jonah asked, quirking a brow.
“Very. I just made it for you,” Avery said.
Jonah scooted back from his desk, giving Avery a wide berth and nodded. “It smells delicious.”
“I found these salted caramel coffee pods at the store last night, and they reminded me of you.” Knowing Avery thought about him at random times did funny things to his stomach and delicious things even lower. “I hid them in my desk so no one else would drink them.”
“That’s very thoughtful. Thank you.”
“I can be exceptionally nice sometimes.” Avery set the mug on Jonah’s desk.
The temperature rose inside the office, and the temporary peace Jonah had felt evaporated in Avery’s warmth. The glint in his intern’s eyes saiddance for me, moth.Oh, how he danced.
“When you’re not dousing me in hot coffee,” Jonah quipped. “Speaking of, I know I’ve said this several times, but it bears repeating. I—”
Avery waved a hand and cut him off. “I know. I know. This isn’t the fifties and making coffee or retrieving your lunch isn’t part of my duties.”
“Unless it’s an excuse to get out of a lousy lunch date, then by all means.” Jonah wanted Avery to tell him it had been a miserable experience and that he was never seeing the man again, but he didn’t.
Avery laughed as he sat down across from Jonah. He tore open his candy bar and hummed happily as he chewed the first bite. “Thank you for the Reese’s. I needed something sweet to counterbalance all the salty stuff I consumed at lunchtime.”
Jonah nearly choked on his coffee. A dozen remarks came to mind, but he left them all unspoken because it would’ve been impossible to hide the innuendo or his jealousy. He didn’t want to think about Avery’s swollen lips, let alone talk about the activities leading up to the condition.
“Don’t make a big deal out of it,” Jonah groused. “Let’s get to coding.”
“I don’t get you, Jonah St. John.”
That makes two of us.
“I ordered enough food for ten people,” Kendall said as he unpacked the delivery bags from their favorite Chinese restaurant a few hours later. “You could invite your podcast friends over. I can change and put on something nicer.” Kendall gestured to the shortest pair of pale blue shorts Jonah had ever seen. They clung to his roommate’s ass like a second skin.
“For future reference, neither Felix nor Rocky would be upset if you wore those shorty shorts around them. It might make it harder for the fellas to concentrate though.”
“Good to know,” Kendall said with a wink.
“If it’s okay with you, I prefer a quiet night at home with just the two of us.”
Kendall’s head snapped up, and his perceptive gaze raked over Jonah’s face. “What happened?”
Where did he start? His conversation with Marla the previous evening? Or the disastrous way his week had started with meetings from hell followed by the impending discussion with Trexler in the morning?
Jonah pulled a soda out of the refrigerator for himself and a bottle of strawberry-kiwi water for Kendall. He set them on the counter and met Kendall’s curious gaze.
“Oh, honey. That bad?” he asked.