Page 118 of The Restoration Program

“She—yeah. I was rushing out the door. I think it just got lost in translation.”

“Sure.” Carlos leaned back in his seat, arms crossed. “Because it’s real easy to misread ‘I’m staying here, I don’t want to go.’”

Ryan shot forward, eyes flashing. “Watch your fucking mouth. She didn’t say that.”

“Language—”Burman started.

“No?” Carlos sneered. “What did she say, then?”

Ryan started out of his seat. Carlos returned his glower unflinchingly. Nicole wanted to run away—to be anywhere but here. The collective, unsettled stares from the rest of the group eased Ryan back down, and he swept a hand through his hair with a sigh.

“Let’s refocus.Calmlyplease, gentlemen,” Burman said. Nicole wondered if he didn’t look a shade paler from the way Ryan had lunged.

“I’m not going to take advice from a guy who flirts openly with my wife in front of me,” Ryan said cooly, gaze fixed on Carlos with a renewed iciness.

Nicole’s mouth went bone dry. How long had this anger been festering? She started to protest, but a chair scraped loudly against the tabletop when Carlos got to his feet, face impassive. His fists were balled at his sides, white knuckled. When he’d been human, he surely would have been a menacing sight. Ryan wouldn’t have stood a chance in a fair fight. But as it was, he merely stalked off towards the NüPrint refreshment area without another word.

The group watched in agonizing, awkward silence until Burman drew their attention back.

“Ryan,” Burman said. “Regardless of what was said, I’m obligated to remind you that it’s unacceptable to let this behavior go unchecked. It leads us to the dangerous territory of forgetting our rights as equal individuals.”

“Seriously? I would never—”

“Don’t interrupt me.”

Ryan started again, but Nicole cut in. “You’re right, Dr. Burman. It was a little scary, but he was a total gentleman about it. We went to his office again and… the rest of the day was pretty boring. No big deal.”

Over.She just wanted this to be over.

Burman let out a soft breath. There was something sosadin his gaze, Nicole nearly doubled back on her lie. “That’s really how you feel?” he asked.

“Yes.”

Dr. Burman stared at her with a rare, challenging intensity. Nicole matched his gaze, creating a stalemate that pulled threads of awkward silence. Something twinged in his jaw. They both knew if he kept pushing, the whole group would know their Program-sanctioned communications were being monitored.

“Very well,” he said, clearing his throat to inject some levity back into his voice. “It’s a relief to know you found a quick resolution together. Ryan, I’d still highly recommend you revisit the role-playing exercise I mentioned in the past. Remember how your wife sees the world. Imagine how these things must feel at her size.”

“Of course,” Ryan said, quiet and gracious.

Daisy, still trying to ease the tension, offered to volunteer her own story. As everyone began to unwind, Nicole leaned back in her chair, hands trembling in her lap. Processing the rest of the meeting was impossible. All she could feel was the burning in her cheeks and Ryan’s stony anger at her back.

She almost couldn’t blame him for suspecting the worst of her. Following the incident, she had been so furious that she’d hardly spoken a word to him apart from meals for a day and a half.

He’d never saidsorry. Not really.

She was still swimming in her own thoughts when something brushed her shoulder. Nicole flinched hard, only to see Ryan’s hand delicately pulling back.

“Easy, tiger,” he said. “Meeting’s over.”

Sure enough, NüPrints were standing from their seats and stretching. Their human partners offered hands to climb into or leaned down to continue conversations. Nicole found herself watching Bethany and Erik again as she stretched her own stiff legs.

“She must get a headache from smiling so much,” Nicole said, snorting under her breath.

Ryan gave a non-committal grunt, looking oddly pensive as he watched them, too. “It’s nice that they had the time to really research the procedure before jumping in.”

Nicole craned her neck to study his face, feeling a pang at the very real sadness that clouded his face. She glanced at his hand still resting on the glass table, resisting the urge to comfort him.

“Yeah, it is,” she agreed softly. “Seems like this was the right call for her.”