I wait for him to elaborate. "Okay, and?"
"Oh, check the cover letter though. You have the word 'conniving' instead of 'convincing.'"
"What?" I shriek, grabbing my laptop. "Holy shit, you're right. How did that not pop up as an error?"
"Because it's spelled right, just the wrong word in this case."
"Oh fuck," I curse.
"Hey, language," my dad scolds.
"Dad, you don't understand. Companies will reject a résumé for any reason at all. Bad formatting, typos, even small fonts."
"That seems so unfair." Molly has my back.Thank you, stepmom.
"Thanks for catching that, Theo." It's like pulling teeth being this gracious. I can barely be this nice in front of our parents, but I did it. Congrats to me.
"You're welcome."
"Yeah, good job. You've got a great eye," my dad adds.
Except Theo doesn't give him a head nod, a smile, nothing.
"Well, Molly and I are going to run some errands today. Do you need anything while we're out?" my dad asks me.
"I'm good."
Theo doesn't answer, so Molly taps the counter to get his attention.
Theo shakes his head no without even giving either parent eye contact.
Molly notices and frowns for a millisecond, but my dad doesn't care.
"Okay, we'll be out for a bit. Text me if you think of anything. Will you be okay?" My dad looks to me to assure I'll be fine being alone with my brooding stepbrother.
I shoot a funny sneer toward an unsuspecting Theo, and we laugh in secret.
And with that, Molly and my dad leave the house and leave Theo and me alone sitting at the counter.
I'm practically shoving my bagel unchewed down my throat so I can fix my resume and get the hell out of here. Something seems up with Theo, and I don't care enough to ask.
"Shit," Theo begins. "I should have told your dad you need shaving cream."
Theo glowers at me with furrowed brows. I can't even hide the guilty look on my face because I am indeed using the expensive kind he has in our shared shower.
"I'll text him," I begin. "I'll tell him you need some deodorant while he's there."
"I think you're mistaken and smelling your own body odor."
"Pretty sure it's you."
"Pretty sure it's not."
"Pretty sure…" I stumble, feeling a bit rusty this morning. "Pretty sure I'm too mature for this conversation."
"Oh,nowyou're too mature?"
"Yes, and if you'll excuse me, I have a cover letter to fix."
