I smiled at him from around the pen.
“How much are we talking?” Marina asked, completely unaware that I was partially fellating a writing tool.
“Opening the file,” Jeremy muttered. “Give me a second.”
I pulled the pen out of my mouth. “This is exciting.”
Jeremy looked at me again.
The pen went right back in my mouth.
He cleared his throat.
“Chewing on the pen, huh?” Bernie said, and I nearly choked on it as it slipped in my fingers. “Used to do that when I was a kid. Nervous habit.”
“Yeah,” I said, refusing to look at him as I dropped it in my lap. “Nervous habit.”
“Eh. There are worse things. Like cocaine.”
We all stared at Bernie.
He ignored us as he looked back at his laptop.
“Okay, here we go,” Jeremy said. “Let’s see what it says. ‘Desert Realty & Trust is a proud supporter of the Tucson community, blah, blah, blah. We believe in giving back to create a sustainable whatever whatever.’ Ah, here we go. ‘We have always been a proud supporter of LGBTQ rights and promote diversity in our workforce—’”
I rolled my eyes. Apparently they didn’t know they had a Brad.
“‘—and we are pleased to announce that we will be donating in the amount of ten thousand dollars….’”
I deflated slightly. While it was nice, I was hoping for more.
“That’s great,” Marina said, and she sounded like she meant it. “Oh my goodness, I can’t believe—”
“There’s more,” Jeremy said, and I saw the smile beginning to form on his face. “That’s ten grand per quarter in 2017.” He looked up at us, and he was beaming. “That’s forty thousand dollars total, spread out over next year.”
“Holy shit,” I whispered.
Marina jumped up and began to dance around, hands raised above her head. She almost knocked herself out with her tablet, but I didn’t think she would’ve even noticed if she had. “You guys!” she crowed. “Wow. Wow!”
I laughed as she pulled me up with her, making me dance. Marina had moves, for an OG lesbian, and it was infectious. She let me go and went to Bernie, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and kissing him on the cheek before rounding the desk and practically tackling Jeremy. He laughed, head rocking back.
And since we were apparently celebrating, Bernie stood and kissed my cheek before Marina came after him again. Jeremy watched them for a moment before turning to me. He arched an eyebrow as he opened his arms.
I narrowed my eyes at him.
His fingers wiggled at me.
I stood slowly, setting my pen on the desk. His gaze tracked every step I took. I looked up at him from under my eyelashes, and I saw his throat bob.
Instead of hugging him, I grabbed his hand and shook it. Before I let go, I rubbed my thumb over the back of his hand.
And then I let go.
He glared at me.
I ignored him as I went back to my seat. I sat down and picked up my pen again, tapping it against my cheek as I stared at him, daring him to try to fuck with me.
“It’s a start,” Bernie was saying. “A good st