The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas (novels for students .TXT) 📕

gift—a mug with a funny quote about being an engineer. To this day, I didn’t know what had come over me. I hadn’t done that for anyone else. And what had Aaron done? He had just looked at it in horror and gaped at me like I had grown a second head as I cracked jokes like a total awkward dumbass.

So, to overhear him say that kind of stuff about me not more than two days after that … it had just made me feel small and all the more pathetic. Like I was being shoved aside after not measuring up to the real adults.

“I’m going to take your silence as confirmation of what I said,” Rosie told me, squeezing my shoulder. “You were hurt, and that’s okay, sweetie. But is it reason enough to hate him forever?”

I wanted to say yes, but at this point, I didn’t even know anymore. So, I resorted to something else. “It’s not like he has been trying to be my friend or anything. He has been a constant pain in my ass all this time.”

Except for that life-saving homemade granola bar, fine. And those papers he’d printed out for me when he didn’t have to, sure. And maybe for the fact that he’d stayed late, working with me on Open Day last Wednesday.

Fine, okay, except for those three occasions, he had been a constant pain in my ass.

“You have been too,” she countered. “You two are equally bad. Actually, it’s even cute how you two have been looking for excuses to trip each other and—”

“Oh, hell no,” I cut her off, turning in my seat to fully face her. “Let me stop you right there before you launch yourself into this weird shit about looks and whatnot.”

My friend had the nerve to cackle.

I gaped at her. “I don’t know you anymore.”

She recovered, pinning me with a look. “You are oblivious, sweetie.”

“Am not. And you seem to need a reminder, so here’s how things are.” I pointed in the air with my index finger. “Since I overheard him saying those ugly and prejudiced things about me, to our boss no less, his name has been on my black list. And you know how seriously I take that. That shit is carved on stone.” I punched my palm with my other hand to be clear. “Have I forgiven Zayn Malik?”

Rosie shook her head, snickering. “Oh, Lord knows you haven’t.”

“Exactly. In the same way that I haven’t forgotten what David Benioff and D.B. Weiss did to us on May 19, 2019.” I waved my index finger between us. “Didn’t Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen, First of Her Name deserve better than that?” I paused, just to let it seep in. “Didn’t we, Rosie?”

“Okay, I’m going to take your side on that one,” she admitted. “But—”

“No buts,” I stopped her, holding a hand in the air. “Aaron Blackford is on my black list, and he will stay there. Full stop.”

I watched my friend take in my words, mulling over what I had just said. Or more like passionately stated—whatever.

Rosie deflated with a sigh. “I just want what’s best for you.” She gave me one of those sad smiles that made me think she might be disappointed in me.

“I know.” Like the hugger I was, I launched myself at her, wrapping my arms around her and giving her a good squeeze. Frankly, it probably wasn’t her who needed it the most. This whole thing was draining the life out of me. “But that’s not Aaron Blackford.” Squeezing once more, I let myself enjoy the embrace, my eyelids falling shut for a second or two.

Much to my dismay, when my eyes opened back up, they tracked a large and towering figure that could only be one man.

“Dammit, Rosie,” I whispered with my arms still around her, making eye contact with the approaching man. “We have summoned him again.”

I watched Aaron Blackford close the distance with quick strides. His long legs stopped right in front of us. We were still hugging, so I peered at him over Rosie’s shoulder.

Aaron took our embrace in, looking somewhere between appalled and engrossed. I couldn’t be sure because he did a good job at hiding whatever he was thinking behind that infamous frown.

“What? Who have we summoned?” I heard Rosie say as we disentangled our arms from each other under Aaron’s attentive gaze. “Oh. Him,” my friend whispered back.

Aaron had definitely heard that, but he didn’t react. He limited himself to standing in front of us.

“Hello, Blackford.” I forced a tight-lipped smile. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“Catalina,” he answered. “Rosie.” He looked at his watch and then back at us—or more, me—with one of his eyebrows up. “Still on lunch break, I see.”

“Break police have arrived,” I muttered under my breath. His other brow joined the one that was almost touching his hairline. “If you are here to impart any of your lessons on how to become a working robot, I don’t have the time.”

“Okay,” he replied simply. Then, he turned toward my friend. “But it’s Rosie who I have a message for.”

Oh.

I frowned, feeling something tug in my stomach.

“Oh?” my friend echoed.

“Héctor is looking for you, Rosie. Something about a project falling through because someone he called Hand-Breaker had a fit,” he explained. “I’ve never seen Héctor so worked up.”

My friend sprang up. “Oliver ‘Hand-Breaker’? It’s one of our clients. He … he shakes hands so hard, you can literally feel your bones grinding together.” She shook her head. “That’s not important now. Oh crap.” She picked up the few things she had—the corporate badge, office keys, and wallet. “Oh no, no, no.” A panicky look took over her face. “That means the conference call is over. I had meant to be downstairs by now, but with this whole mess with Lina and—”

I pinched her arm, stopping her before she said too much.

Aaron perked up—if his eyes narrowing slightly could count as perking up.

Rosie continued, “About Lina’s cat—”

Another pinch. I didn’t have a