Perry’s eyes flick up to meet mine, and between that and the way he’s sucking on the straw, a burning starts deep in my gut. All I can picture is those lips stretching wider as they sucked on something else.

“That’s enough.”

I yank the drink away and set it back on the table. If Colin could see me lusting after this guy, he’d force me to get a full medical checkup and take a week’s break. Lack of sleep really does lead to shitty choices.

“Thanks,” he says like none of this is anything out of the ordinary.

I don’t answer him.

“No chance you have snacks up here? Only, it’s supposed to be my break time⁠—”

“No snacks.”

“I’ll take a chocolate bar. Salted nuts …”

“I said there’s no snacks.”

He puffs his cheeks up with air and lets it all out again. “Bummer.”

“Bummer?” I lean against my desk, still looking down at him, less shocked at how his brain works and more curious. “Maybe it’s me, but you don’t appear worried at all.”

“Why would I be worried?”

“Because someone wants you dead.”

“We don’t know for sure it was me they were after.”

“We do know it’s you they were after.”

“Potato, pot-ah-to.”

“That doesn’t apply here when you were the only one there and you were the one the bullet almost hit.”

To my surprise, Perry’s lips twitch higher, and he lets out a soft laugh. “Can’t say that’s not comforting.”

“Not the word I’d use.”

He tries to move his arm, and when that doesn’t work, he shakes his head instead. “Comforting that they missed. It’s good to know I’m not the only one who does that.”

“Th-that’s what you’re thinking about right now?”

“Well, I’m handcuffed to a chair. I’ve gotta find my silver linings somewhere.”

“Most people would be worried.”

He thinks that over for a second. “Yeah, sure, I can see it. But really, what does being worried accomplish? As of right now, we’re safe. It’s all good. Whatever comes next will happen whether we worry about it or not.”

“There’s no we,” I point out on reflex, but I’m struggling to hold on to being annoyed with him. Which is ridiculous because if you can’t be annoyed with the guy who tried to kill you, who can you be annoyed with? When Colin kissed my ex-girlfriend behind my back in high school, I held on to my grudge longer than that. I mean, we broke up because I’m gay, but still. Not cool.

On a scale of least to most fucked-up in life, shooting off my ear should definitely rank higher than that.

Perry gives me a sympathetic smile. “You’re still thinking about it, aren’t you?”

“About what?”