She told Zee the total, and their smirk deepened. “I always forget how much it costs to feed you,” they said to Kade. “That’s the thing I can share aboutyou.”
Kade grinned. “My mom, who doesn’t speak Mandarin, she’s from a small farm town. She used to say I ate a week’s worth of groceries in a day.”
Everyone laughed. Everyone but Joan. Sadie and Mark had grown accustomed to being around the Supers. Joan still couldn’t fully trust them. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
She busied herself shaking the fryer basket.It’s not a big deal. It’s nothing.
They were just here fishing for information. Information Joan and Mark didn’t have. Greta would’ve said something if she’d heard anything. They just had to keep their noses clean and this would blow over.
Wait. Greta was at her newly renovated apartment in France. She tuned out Vector City gossip while over there. But still.
Kade blocked the flat-top with his bulk. Joan gestured to it. “I can’t get to where I have to make your sandwiches,” she said.
“Let me make some room,” Sadie said. She edged around Zee to get to the rear entry.
“Where are you going?” Joan asked.
“To do my job and wrangle up customers.”
“I don’t want you out there alone tonight.”
“I do it all the time.” Sadie tucked the truck’s tablet under her arm.
“Not tonight,” Joan said.
“Why?”
“Just not tonight.”
Sadie rolled her eyes. “Then come with me.”
“Hang on. I just dropped some fries.”
Mark waved a hand. “I’ll get them. Go find us warm bodies.” The glint in his stark blue eyes said he wanted to have some fun with his crushes.
Joan followed Sadie onto the sidewalk. Foot traffic was noticeably lighter. The gay bar that let them park in front had its usual packed house. People were getting to their destinations and staying put.
“I’m not sure we should leave those three unsupervised,” Sadie said.
Through the service window, Joan spied her brother shooing the Supers away from him. “Mark’s got this,” she said. “Did you see Zee get jealous with how much he was flirting with Lunk—er, Kade?” She looked around to make sure no one had heard that slip.
Sadie crossed her arms. “Why don’t you want me out here by myself?”
“Because there was a douchebag throwing cars around earlier. You can’t protect yourself from superpowers.”
She half-laughed at that. “You do know I sleep next to someone who generates fire. And spend a lot of time with a guy who can freeze something with the touch of his hand.”
“That’s different.”
“You have the same potential to hurt me. I’m not afraid.”
An anxious knot twisted in Joan’s gut. “But there are people who mightwantto hurt you.”
“I think you can trust me enough to know I’d get the hell out of there if someone was throwing cars.”
She choked back that Sadie had been walking to work alone when Hide and Volt grabbed her. That Trick had used mind control to get her to comply. She simply didn’t have the right genes to fight off a vengeful Villain.
“You know I trust you,” Joan said. “It’s the assholes throwing cars I don’t trust.”
