But how was I going to lie to the three of them when they knew my every expression and could smell my bullshit even before I spoke?
“What do you mean, nothing? That wasn’t nothing,” Patricia demanded. “Just tell us.”
“She probably fucked something up,” Eva said. “C’mon, spill it. We’re not gonna judge. Lord knows I’ve fucked up plenty of things.”
“Yeah, no, I, erm…” I looked at my computer screen that sprung to life when I touched the mouse, and I remembered the lie I’d told my parents the night before. “The gorgon,” I blurted. “There was a possible sighting of a gorgon on Long Island, and he wants me to dig deeper, make a full report about it. You know, because gorgons are dangerous.”
They blinked at me slowly and waited and waited, hoping their silence would put enough pressure on me to tell them the truth.
It almost did, but I bit my tongue and smiled, remembering what Chief Randall said again.
My friends didn’t buy it, but they didn’t ask me again. The girls shrugged and turned to their computers but not Hunter. With his eyes squinted and his arms crossed in front of him, he mouthed liar at me.
Sorry, I mouthed back. I was going to tell them. I’d tell them all about it when it was done.
“Before we get to work, I’ve got something new,” Patricia said, and for once, I could have given her a bearhug for being obsessed with rumors.
“What? What?” Eva said, pushing the screen of her computer to the side to better see Patricia.
“It was a dream,” she said with a sigh.
“A dream?” Hunter shook his head. “What was a dream?”
“Merry from the second!” she whisper-yelled, like it was absurd to her that we couldn’t read her mind and know what she meant.
My stomach dropped all the way down to my heels.
“Ooh,” Eva whispered with a knowing smile.
“I knew it!” Hunter said, slamming his hands on his desk.
“Yeah—apparently, Merry said she dreamed about fucking Double D last night, not that she actually did it,” Patricia continued with a flinch, like it was the worst news she’d gotten all year. My stomach kept on twisting, and ignoring it wasn’t even working.
“You know what—I get it,” Eva said, nodding slowly. “I am not judging Merry. I get it.”
“Of course, you do. I bet you’ve had those dreams, too,” Hunter said, wiggling his brows at her, which made me smile for a second.
Merry from the second hadn’t slept with Dominic last night—so what? What did it have to do with me? Nothing, that’s what. Nothing at all. I didn’t even like him—I despised him. I couldn’t stand the sight of him, not his wide shoulders, or the way he walked with his chin up, the air itself around him demanding that you drop to your knees and submit, or even his eyes, or his perfectly perfect ass.
“As if I was that lucky,” Eva said, grinning.
“Who do you think he gets it on with, though?” Patricia whispered. “It’s not with anyone from the office.”
“He probably pays for it,” Eva said.
“No fucking way,” said Hunter. “A guy like that doesn’t need to pay for pussy.”
“You guys, seriously,” I said, my cheeks flushing instantly.
“I just mean pussycat,” Hunter said, grinning ear to ear—the asshole. I was tempted to give him my middle finger, but that would just encourage him more.
“Well, whoever he fucks—” Eva started, but I’d already had enough.
“Stop,” I said and picked up the phone to make a call. “We need to be working. Just get to working.”
“Fine, Mom,” Patricia mumbled and picked up her own phone, while Hunter kept on throwing sneaky looks my way, eyes glistening with mischief. I ignored him, like always. He thought he knew something about me, but whatever it was, he was wrong. Dead wrong. And time alone would prove it because he wouldn’t believe me no matter what I said.
Luckily, this time, ignoring him wasn’t that difficult to do, not when I remembered the meeting with the Chief. My God—a mission. I was dying to know more. Where would I be traveling? For how long? Who was I up against?