“Bullshit.” I wag my finger in disbelief. “The audacity you three have. Here’s what ... here’s what ... I’ll have you know that I’m so elevated in my craft that it was making Lee, the guy I work with, feel insecure. They had to pull me to the register and let him work alone ...” The last part of that sentence comes out slower than the beginning because I hear it.
Oh man.
Chase starts laughing as I press my lips together, and my eyes grow wide.
“Oh my god,” I breathe out, my cheeks turning red. “Noooo ...”
Noah scrunches his nose and rubs his forehead as Evie looks off to the side.
“You guys. I’m bad. Like really bad, huh?”
“Yes,” they say jointly before we all laugh together. I run my hands over my face before I smack them on the counter.
“Okay. Evie’s right. We have to put me in demand. Clearly my future is not bright here, even though I’m getting shade.”
Chase points at the screen recognizing what I did with that joke before Evie high-fives herself with the bloody hand she’s working on.
“Perfect. Now that the world’s worst floral assistant is on board, here’s the plan—”
Chase raises his hand like a little kid, but she scowls, saying “No” before continuing.
“—Noah, Chase, you two will buy a shit ton of magazines and leave them at all the coolest spots in town. Bonus points if they’re open to the article. Me and the ’rents will be commenting everywhere it appears online. And Mom’s adding it to every single Facebook group she’s in ...” Evie shakes her head. “Trust me, it’s more than you think.”
Noah’s rubbing his hands together like he’s ready to gear up, and it makes me smile. How did I get so lucky? I really like this little life.
Chase grins, leaning in closer to the camera. “Is it weird that I feel like an Avenger on a mission?”
Evie raises her brows. “Yes. But Hulk wouldreallysmash this project if he gave out a bunch of magazines at his restaurant. Because for some unknown reason, the city loves you.”
“Are you kidding me?” he barks in that way we all know prefaces a monologue that Julia Sugarbaker would be proud of.
Noah’s brows draw together, his face half amused, because he’s wondering, like I am, where this is going. I start to pipe up to tell Chase he doesn’t have to put any magazines out just in case that’s why he’s had a sudden change of attitude. But I don’t get anything out because he does an about-face, walking away before spinning back around.
“First of all,” he draws out, his hands landing on his hips, “from this point on, all my questions are rhetorical for you.” He’s speaking to Evie, and, judging by her scowl, she knows it. “And B—”
“That’s not how that goes,” she cuts in, correcting his grammar, but he holds up a hand to shush her.
“I. . . am . . . not . . . Hulk . . .”
Evie cuts him off again. “If you’re claiming Captain America, then I’ll know I’ve died and am living in a nightmare. If anyone is Cap, it’s Noah. Duh, he’s the hot one.”
Chase sucks in a deep breath like he’s been burned—he has—before he comes in close again and the camera jostles because he’s picked it up.
“Agreed. The dreamy blue eyes alone default to it,” he grits out, instantly making me laugh before I slap my hand over my mouth.
Noah raises a hand like he’s saying thanks, but I shake my head and start pointing down at the camera, trying to tell Noah to hang up, but he’s riveted. He actually leans back in his chair, eating candy as he watches.
Chase scoffs, looking disgusted. “ButI amdisappointed that the woman who’ll have my children one day didn’t vibe, Star-Lord.”
He grows so serious that I have to mute my phone. I know Noah does, too, because his shoulders are shaking just as hard as mine.
Evie points at the screen with the hand in her hand. “Every conversation with you feels like I’m eitheronor should betakinga hallucinogenic.”
Chase shrugs. “You make me feel out of this world too.”
Her hands fly up—all three of them—before she stares hard into the camera.
“The chemistry between me and the rooftop is palpable. I’m out.”
