“Damn, keep your voice down,” I whisper to Juliana who hovers at my desk with her arm on the back of my chair. I look over my shoulder and find her smiling like she already knows the reason why, her hair hanging over her shoulder like she’s modeling for me.

“I’m not trying to hear any of that, Alina,” she says as she spins around and grabs a chair from an empty desk behind me and slides it over to mine. She sits down and leans her elbows onto her knees. “Okay, so as I’m sure you’ve noticed, Mr. Whiteman isn’t here today. One can only imagine it’s because his face is a giant bruise from someone’s favorite author going Mike Tyson all over him.”

The memory of Nas punching Vance in the face at Chili’s comes back to me and I smile. It was so unbelievably hot when Nas hit him, and it’s just another thing I’ll never forget about Nas. It seems that the list just keeps growing.

“I thought the place seemed more peaceful today,” I say with a childish grin lingering from the memory. “I just figured it was because Vance was on an assignment somewhere. Either way, I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s glad he’s not here to terrorize us. He’s probably setting up meetings with the police to run a sting operation to have Nas raided.”

“I definitely wouldn't put it past him,” Juliana agrees with a giggle. “So, tell me—how wet were you after watching Nathan Booker punch Vance in the face? I bet the sex after that was otherworldly.”

“God Juliana, do you have to be so crude and unrefined?” I quip, making Juliana frown until I continue. “I’m just kidding. Yes, I fucking loved watching Vance drop like a sack of potatoes, and the sex … I can’t even put what we did into words.”

Juliana’s mouth drops open. “You better learn how to put it into words. You're the only person I know who admits to being into kinky shit, and the man you're dating … wait, are you guys dating?”