I sit back. “Hey,” I say, giving him a smile. There’s something comforting about Jack. He definitely reminds me of guys I’ve been around my whole life. While Brett is mysterious and all bad boyish, Jack is like my favorite blanket.
“You do not look happy,” he says.
“I’m just having trouble with this orientation video. What are you doing here?” I ask, glancing around the place.
“I can’t keep away from the office. It’s connected through that lobby,” he says, pointing behind me. “What’s going on with the video?” he asks, sitting down beside me.
“It’s working fine. Operator error,” I say. “I’m having focus issues, I guess.”
“How can that be possible with the stimulating material in that thing?”
I smile at him, rolling my eyes at myself.
He points to my laptop. “May I?”
“Sure,” I say.
He flies through the test, hitting answers and arrowing through like a machine. I glance around, trying to be cool about this, but I’ve never cheated on anything in my life. He reaches the end of the test and the words Congratulations, you passed! fill the screen, and relief floods my chest. “You’ve saved my life.”
He hands me the computer back. “It’s pretty easy when you’re the one who came up with the questions.”
“So I can blame you for this?”
“Sorry, Robert said to make it tough. He wants people to take it seriously.”
“Now I feel guilty.”
“Don’t. You’ve been working on this thing for like two hours.”
I shift my body to face his. “How do you know that?”
“I get an alert when a new hire logs into the test.”
I frown at him. “So you knew I was here this whole time?”
“Pretty much.”
I consider him. “Did you come here just to help me with this?”
He shrugs. “I went and lifted some weights first. When I never got the notification that you passed, I thought I’d come check on you.”
I smile at him. “So you do this for all the new hires?”
“Oh, hell no.”
This makes me giggle, and then I straighten up. “I guess I’m really working that damsel-in-distress angle this weekend.”
“Maybe I just wanted to say hi,” he says. I can’t tell if he’s flirting or just trying to be my friend.
I look down at my laptop to avoid his gaze. “I heard some stories about you this weekend.”
“Oh, yeah?” he says.
“Mmm. The words teacher’s pet were used.”
He raises his eyebrows. “Hargrove said that about me? That’s a bit hypocritical.”
“No, it wasn’t him. I was hanging out with some girls I met who work here.”
“Ah. Well, I can’t really deny it. Robert’s been mentoring me since I was a junior in college. He came to Cornell to speak about resorts that are thinking outside the box, and I was so impressed with him I waited a half hour to meet him. We stayed in touch, and he offered me an internship. I’ve been working for him ever since.”
“So he mentored both you and Brett at the same time?”
“Hargrove’s story is a bit different from mine. He’s been working with Robert since he was sixteen.”
“He mentioned that. He was working in games and then got interested in Kids Company.”
“He was interested in Kids Company before he ever came to work here.” He looks at me and then shakes his head. “Sorry. Not my story to tell.”
“Because of his brother,” I say, putting together that it was no accident that he happened upon Kids Company. My heart constricts as I think of him as a teenager trying to help his brother when the school system failed him.
Jack narrows his gaze. “Yeah. I’m surprised he opened up to you about Matthew. Brett gets pissed if anyone even mentions his brother.” He huffs a laugh. “Damn, you hooked him fast.”
“It’s not like that. We’re totally platonic,” I say, my neck sizzling.
“You might be. He’s not if he’s talking to you about his brother.”
I shift in my seat, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear, not sure what to say.
“Robert took Brett under his wing because he appreciated his dedication to his brother and his tenacity to find this resort and get a job here doing whatever he could just to get his brother help. Services are free to family members of employees. Robert took me under his wing because of my detachment from my family and my ability to be cutthroat in business.”
“I guess the two of you really are opposites.”
He gives me a humorless smile. “Yeah, but I’m the stupid one. If I wanted a chance with you, I wouldn’t have told you what a great guy Hargrove is despite his façade.”
His words come off self-deprecating, but his bravado tells a very different story. I’d bet my last precious dollars he never had any intention of asking me out. “You didn’t have to tell me Brett’s a good guy underneath his act. I figured it out for myself.”
“Not surprised.” He stands. “But do watch yourself. He’s broken more hearts around here than questions on that stupid test.” He holds up a hand in a wave as he walks away.
I close my laptop and pack up, my stomach growling as I head out. I can’t get Jack’s words out of my head. I don’t want to be that girl who thinks she’s the exception. Sure, Brett and I have had some good conversations, but that doesn’t mean I’m special. He breaks hearts. That’s what he does, good guy or not. The last thing I need right now is more harm to my already damaged heart.
11
Kylie
I make it home…I mean back to Brett’s house, by five thirty. The fumes of disinfectant are replaced by sizzling meats, onions, and peppers. I haven’t had anything to eat today besides a pack of crackers this morning and a candy bar for a consolation prize after I failed the test for the second time. I’m so hungry I could eat my hand.
I peer into the kitchen to find Brett in there with a spatula.
