Desi’s eyes widen. “Butwhy?I want us all to be friends! I want you and me and Cass and Auntie Ez and Uncle Obie to all befriends!”
“Well, we’re allyourfriends,” Cass says quickly. “And that’s what counts, right? That we’re all your friends?”
“But JJ isgreat,”Desi sniffles. JJ barely has time to enjoy a flash of satisfaction before Desi turns her imploring eyes back on him. “And Cass is great, too! Cass is really cool and fun and funny, but you—you’re never nice to him.”
The words cut through JJ more than he expected. “I…tryto be nice to him,” he hedges, darting a glance at Cass. “I really do. I’m just—I’m just not always good with, um. People.”
Cass arches an eyebrow. “With demons?”
JJ tries not to grit his teeth.Work with me here, Chin.“Maybe,” he says evasively, and he turns back to Desi. “I have friends at the Sanctum, but I don’t really talk to many other people. So I guess I might just be, uh. Out of practice. At being friends with other people.”
Desi purses her lips. “Okay,” she says resolutely, and she grabs one of his hands with both of her little ones. “But you gotta beniceto your friends, okay? That’s super important! You have to be nice and say nice things to each other!”
“Right,” JJ says faintly, and he clears his throat. “Well, I—I can say some nice things about Cass. He’s, uh.” Wait. What nice thingscanhe say about Cass? “Well, he takes really good care of you. And he always stands up for people who can’t stand up for themselves. And he’s friendly with all the shopkeepers, and he’s loyal to his friends, and he’s really good at fighting and spellcasting, and?—”
Huh. Looks like JJcansay some nice things about the demon. “And yeah,” he finishes awkwardly. “That’s Cass for you.”
Desi beams. “Great!” she says, and she hugs his arm, turning her big eyes on Cass. “Cass?”
Reluctantly, JJ follows her gaze. Cass is staring back at JJ like his brain short-circuited the instant JJ said a nice word about him. “Um,” he says, and he takes a deep breath. “Well, JJ is…”
He trails off, still squinting unsurely at JJ. The seconds trickle by in paralyzed silence, JJ’s indignation rising more and more by the moment. Seriously?Seriously?Cass can’t think ofonenice thing to say about JJ for Desi’s sake?
Eventually, Cass comes back to himself. He nods firmly, turning to Desi. “Well, JJ’s butt looksreallygood in those jeans.”
JJ chokes on nothing. Desi bursts into giggles. “Well, I guess that’s a nice thing to say!” she agrees happily, and she shovels the last bite of her crepe into her mouth. “This was super yummy, JJ! Thanks so much!”
“No problem,” JJ says weakly, still trying to shoo away his blush. Hastily, he fishes a penny out of his pocket and holds it out for her. “Do you want to go make a wish in the fountain?”
Desi’s eyes light up.“Yes!”she says, and she bounds away towards the tiered fountain in the center of the Courtyard, leaving JJ and Cass alone.
Letting out a slow breath, JJ finishes his crepe and stacks his plate on top of Desi’s. “You done?” he asks, gesturing towards Cass’s nearly empty plate without looking at him.
“I’ll throw it out. Thanks.”
“Okay.” JJ gathers the rest of their garbage and walks it over to the trash can, keeping an eye on Desi. She’s currently maintaining an enthusiastic conversation with a high school girl, very seriously explaining how to make fountain wishes while the high schooler nods very seriously in response.
Desi really is a good kid. Always trying to help people, always trying to be friendly?—
And trying to make JJ and Cass be friendly with each other, too. Grimacing, JJ drags his feet back to the table, where Cass is sitting backwards on the bench seat to watch Desi. “Is she close enough for the glamour?” JJ asks briskly, sitting on the opposite end of the bench.
“Mm-hm.”
“Good.” JJ decisively lets them lapse into prickly silence, watching as Desi excitedly shows the high schooler her penny. For a few minutes, he and Cass ignore each other, just focusing on their semi-adopted daughter.
On the little girl who brought them together in the first place.
“Jackson?”
JJ glances at Cass. “Yeah?”
Cass’s eyes meet his before flickering downward. “Your butt reallydoeslook nice in those jeans.”
Really?Mortified, JJ hunches his shoulders. “Thanks,” he mumbles, resolving toneverwear this stupid pair of jeans again.
“And you’re a damn good father, too.”
JJ’s heart stutters. He turns to face Cass, but Cass is already looking at Desi again. “Oh,” JJ whispers, and he swallows hard. “Thank you.”
