Page 85 of The Honeymoon Hack

His reply came quickly:I’m in the cafeteria. Do you need something?

I hesitated, then typed:A friend.

The response was immediate:B-24. I’ll be right there.

I glanced up at the signs on the wall. I was already close. But when I turned the next corner, I came face-to-face with the last person I wanted to see.

“Brie?” Claire stood a few feet away, her lips pressed tight.

Shit. I hastily wiped at my face.

“Where the hell did you go?” She marched up to me as though I were a misbehaving student. “You said you were grabbing a sweater and never came back. I had to finish those updates alone.”

My throat closed up. I couldn’t do this—couldn’t maintain the lies and professional facade. Not now. All I managed was, “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” Claire’s eyes narrowed. Despite everything we’d suspected of her and what the other staff said about her, she’d been nice to me. But now? She sounded downright hostile. “You abandoned your shift partner in the middle of a job, and you think ‘sorry’ is appropriate? Thousands of people would kill for this job, and you?—”

“It was all Will’s idea.” The words tumbled out before I could stop them.

Claire’s irritation flared even hotter. “And you had nothing to do with it?”

I looked away, unable to meet her probing gaze. I just had to keep up the cover that we’d snuck off to be together. “The whole thing. It was his idea.”

“I specifically told you going into the Atlantic section wasn’t social time,” Claire said, her voice cutting. “It was work.”

I couldn’t answer. Couldn’t keep the lies straight when all I could think about was Will’s words spiraling through my brain.

‘Friendship or nothing.’

Claire’s anger drained quickly, and she came closer. “Did he hurt you?”

“What? No, I?—”

“Because if he did something to you…” Claire tilted her head. Her voice grew softer. “Do you have anything you need to tell me, Brie? Anything at all?”

“I…” What could I say? My lips were still tingling from his kiss. God, the way he’d slid my glasses out of the way. How he’dpulled me closer, how he’d put my hands on him, inviting me to touch him.

“Because if you want to confess,” she said, “now’s the time.”

I wiped the back of my hand across my eyes. There were too many things to confess: I’d tried to use Ken to get inside the Atlantic server room. Used her to find Meridian. Used the guard to get my upgraded security badge.

“Ladies.” Rav’s steady voice cut through our conversation. I hadn’t heard him approach, but there he was, his presence immediately calming me.

“Brie, right?” he said, with a slight nod in my direction. “We had breakfast together earlier this week.”

Claire’s posture stiffened. “We’re fine. No one called security.”

“She seems upset.” Rav positioned himself slightly between us. To me, he said, “Do you need a walk back to your room, Brie?”

No, anywhere but back to Will.But because Claire was standing with us, I said, “Yes, please.”

Claire hesitated, glancing between us, as though Rav had robbed her of something. Of my company? “I can walk her back.”

“No need.” Rav’s tone was firm but polite. When Claire didn’t budge, he smiled at her, maybe leveraging the flirting they’d done earlier in the week. “Thank you, Claire. I’ll take care of this.”

She hesitated, but eventually nodded. Leaning close to me, she whispered, “Remember, there’s an emergency button in the Mnemis app if you need it.”

After she disappeared around the corner, I gripped Rav’s forearm. “I can’t go back to my room.”