s, wiping tears from his eyes.

bio mimics Bastian's clipped tone perfectly. "'I expect excell

rly comes out my nose. "He'd probabl

h hysterics. One of the prep cooks is lite

ench stagiaire gasps

nd the sugar rush from the bite of kouign-amann I just stole. "Foreplay: tw

d schedule sex like a business meeting. 'I have an opening bet

h, he'd block fifteen, tops. Five for the act,

l in bed,"

inside you,

eels like it's been dipped in hot sauce. Making fun of Bastian like this

ice-blue eyes narrow in that way that makes my stomach do weird ju

rable high of making your coworkers laugh while you talk shit abou

he

even as I start to turn, I

nough,

e cuffs rolled up to his elbows. His scowl is at full force today. That ten percent smirk from last

et across t

er dies in

wls. "Tell me, Ms. Hunter: what wo

were real, I'd be a pile of ash

ng to run but can't move fast enough. The horror on their faces mi

overs first and tries to j

It's like watching a nature documentary where the antelope sense the lion approaching and

s. I want to reverse time and tell past-me to keep her stupid mouth shut

do any of

m sorry" that crashes and burns before it

sweeps around as if to memorize every flushed, guilty face. "How thoughtful of you to cater a breakf

nd wobbles. "It's not-" I

ct my entire kitchen staff during extremely important crunch time hours with... "

Rubio tries again

nothing-of last night's warmth in them. "Unless Ms. Hunter has also taken it upon herself to do that for

ng at their shoes, their half-ea

ng to be ni

in your job descri

, b

, Ms. Hunter, and you are not exempt from the rules or from the work. You're an employee. One of many. And like every ot

l listen. What happened to the bright-eyed tease from la

who

maybe, or naively-but I fel

t another employee. A food fair

cry in front of Bastian Hale an

y," I manage. "

have enough of that, perhaps we're not challenging y

in a horrifyingly sa

agrees. "Y