Lose You to Find Me by Erik J. Brown

Author:Erik J. Brown [Brown, Erik J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781444970029
Publisher: Hachette Children's Group
Published: 2023-05-01T18:30:00+00:00

When I said everyone who works at Sunset Estates knows someone who either lives or works there, I didn’t mean it like that!

The boy I like isn’t supposed to be related to one of my managers. Especially not the manager who prides herself on being a sadist and who blackmails teens into behaving in exchange for letters of recommendation.

Also, why wouldn’t she tell me Gabe was her nephew when he was hired?

Also-also, why the hell didn’t Gabe tell me Natalie was his aunt Natalie?

Also-also-also, why was I still holding up my phone to take a picture of her car?

I looked at it, then swiped the camera away and held it up to the sky, then down toward the ground.

‘Sorry,’ I said, trying to keep my voice as normal as possible. ‘I sent you a text, Gabe, not sure if it went through. I have sh— really crappy service out here.’

I locked my phone and put it away.

‘I got it,’ Gabe said. He had the self-awareness to be very clearly embarrassed, so thank God for that. It meant he knew he’d done something wrong. ‘You can go up. I’ll be right there.’

I nodded. ‘See you at work, Natalie.’

Where I hope to only see you ever again.

She waved and turned back to Gabe, who she started speaking to quietly. I couldn’t catch much of what they were saying, but I did hear Gabe say, ‘I’m friends with a lot of people from Sunset Estates. If you didn’t want me making friends, maybe getting me the job there wasn’t—’

At that point I was far enough away that I couldn’t hear him.

Also, he was calling me his friend, which for my own personal well-being I’d like to hear as infrequently as possible.

I waited on the couch, mind reeling. My face burned. What would this mean for me? Natalie clearly didn’t like her nephew hanging out with the gay know-it-all from Sunset Estates. Would she start treating me like crap? No, of course not – she already did that.

A wave of nausea numbed the heat on my skin. What if she decided not to write me my letter of recommendation after all? Maybe this was just the thing she needed to disqualify herself from having to write it entirely. Of course, she’d let me complete the second task and whatever the third mystery challenge was, but right after that she’d give me that smile that looked like she was going to unhinge her jaw and swallow me whole, and then say, I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to write a letter of recommendation for one of my nephew’s friends. Conflict of interest and all that, you understand.

The door to the apartment opened, and Gabe entered, his shoulders slumped. Thank God he didn’t bring Gertie and Arnold, because I wouldn’t be able to fake the doggie talk, which I just wasn’t in the mood for.

‘Natalie is your aunt?’

‘Yeah.’

‘You couldn’t have said that three months ago when you first started?’

He hopped up onto the counter, still keeping his distance from me.

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