Chapter 3
CHAPTER
THREE
MILES
“You’re kidding me.” I stare out the window at the dark-haired Barbie inching her way toward the dumpster behind the building. She’s holding a small trash bag out as far from her body as possible as if she’s worried there’s radioactive waste inside.
Uncle Luca chuckles and lets the curtain drop back into place. “Hannah’s daughter is one of Lainey’s friends.”
As if that explains everything.
“Hannah? First name basis is awfully informal for a law office, isn’t it?”
“Ms. Kirkpatrick,” Luca corrects himself, waving off my insinuation. He smooths a hand over his beard and returns to his desk. When he sits, the light hanging over his desk highlights the way his hair is starting to gray.
Hiring an airhead to satisfy one of his niece’s weird friends seems like the worst kind of nepotism if you ask me. I’m not sure how Luca thinks he’s going to tolerate Law Office Barbie for longer than a few days.
“If we’re done admiring your new assistant, do you mind telling me why you summoned me?” I can think of better ways to spend a Tuesday afternoon than being at my uncle’s beck and call.
“Sure.” Luca leans back in his chair and crosses his arms over his chest. The guy isn’t a meathead but he’s got some muscle definition that makes him look just intimidating enough that I don’t push my luck too hard mouthing off to him. “Your mom called me yesterday to tell me you walked out of your school newspaper gig.”
I scoff. “I’m not going to sit around writing puff pieces for idiots who think an article on graduation rates is hard-hitting journalism.”
Luca glares at me as he lets out a strangled groan. Being involved in something at the college besides my regular coursework was a condition of him paying my tuition. I stuck to the agreement all of last year by working on the college newspaper staff; I was hoping Luca might back off now that I’m a sophomore.
“What are you planning to do instead?” Luca has descended into his deep, firm lawyer voice.
“Oh, I don’t know. Studying like a normal college kid? If you’d prefer, I could look at rushing a fraternity. Pick up hobbies like binge drinking and checking out hot chicks.” I wouldn’t be caught dead hanging out on Frat Row, but someone has to keep Uncle Luca’s negotiation skills sharp.
“Very funny,” Luca deadpans.
“Thanks. A great sense of humor runs in the family.” I would venture to say my dad’s whole life is basically one big joke. All six of his marriages certainly have been.
Luca knocks his fist on his mahogany desk and shakes his head at me. I enjoy exasperating him. “I’m serious about the extracurricular though, Miles. You need to be involved. Socialize. Be a normal college student.”
“What if I’d rather be an intelligent college student than a normal one?” I would hardly classify the average student as noteworthy or enviable.
“Be both.” Luca stares intently at me. He’s adopted the disappointed dad look well for someone who never had kids of his own. I guess helping with my cousin, Lainey, and me all this time has left a mark on him.
“I’ll find something.” I shrug.
“Too late.” Luca picks up an envelope that’s sitting propped up against his desktop screen and hands it across the desk to me. I take it reluctantly. “I picked for you. You like reminding everyone how much smarter you are than your peers—now you can do so in an official capacity. Your schedule for the tutoring center is in there.”
I drop the envelope back on the desk. “No.”
“Yes.”
“No way. I’ll go back to the newspaper.” The tutoring center is a joke. Even the student-athletes opt for private tutors instead of using the center where anyone can sign up to tutor whether they’re qualified or not. I don’t want to be associated with that place.
“Too late,” Luca repeats. Now he’s the one who shrugs.
My jaw clenches. I can tell Uncle Luca thinks he’s giving his final say right now. I’m not going to convince him to stop micromanaging my college experience. And knowing my uncle, he’s probably already talked to the tutoring center about keeping track of me and updating whether I show up or not.
I’m totally fucked on this one. My father sure as hell won’t budge on paying my tuition even though he can afford to. So long as I have my mom’s last name and am studying literature, Uncle Luca is the only one stepping up to make sure I don’t drown myself in debt going to school.
“Well fuck me,” I grumble out loud.
The office door swings open behind me. “No thanks, you’re a little young for me,” a cheerful voice responds to my comment clearly not meant for her. “I can make you a cup of coffee though if you’d like,” the new assistant offers.
Luca almost imperceptibly shakes his head to discourage me from taking her up on that offer. I note the abandoned, full mug of coffee on the corner of his desk.
“I’m going to pass but thanks, Office Barbie.”
Hannah Kirkpatrick walks around to the side of Luca’s desk to face him. She spares me a sideways glance only long enough to chide back, “Barbie is blonde.”
Obviously we all know that. She doesn’t seem the least bit bothered by my attitude. So maybe there’s hope for her surviving a job with Luca after all. He can be a real asshole when he’s in the thick of working on a case.
I just have to make sure my dad doesn’t drop by here any time soon. He has a thing for leggy brunettes. And blondes. And redheads. Any woman with eyelashes to bat, really. Bonus points if they’ll refuse a prenup and are carrying a crippling amount of debt that they can beg him to pay off as a wedding gift.
“Please excuse my rude nephew,” Luca tells Hannah. He’s got it bad for this woman if he’s apologizing on my behalf. “He’s extra surly this afternoon because he hasn’t been properly socialized at college. He’s a work in progress.”
“Oh, yeah!” Hannah swivels to give me her attention, her eyes widening. “Your uncle was telling me you’re at the same college as my daughter. She’s a freshman. Maybe you’ve crossed paths? Her name is?—”
“I better get going,” I cut her off and stand. I’m sure I don’t know her daughter and don’t want to.
If the daughter is anything like the mother, I imagine she’ll be dropping out of college any day now. Though maybe I’m underestimating the daughter. There are always state schools or junior colleges.
“Your first shift at the tutoring center is tomorrow. Don’t even think about ditching,” Luca warns me as I make my way to the door.
“Heard.” I won’t ditch just yet, but I sure as hell am going to find a way out of this one. I just need to find a more suitable extracurricular so that Luca doesn’t have as much room to argue when I tell him I’m not tutoring all semester.
I’m barely two steps out of the office—haven’t even closed the door behind me yet—when Hannah barks out a jingling laugh that echoes into the hall. “Your nephew is a real prick, huh?” I pull the door shut hard and don’t stick around to hear how Uncle Luca responds to that one.