“Oh look, Silvia!” Mila suddenly pointed skyward like she’d spotted a miracle.
Silvia shaded her eyes. “What?”
“There!” Mila said, practically vibrating with fake excitement.
“What what?” Silvia asked, suspicious now.
“You seriously don’t see it?” Mila teased, nudging her.
“See what, Mila?” Silvia demanded, squinting harder.
“Cupid,” Mila said solemnly. “Descending from the heavens to ship you and Travis into holy romance.”
Silvia groaned. “Cupid needs better taste.”
“Or maybe he simply knows a perfect match when he sees one,” Mila shot back. “Didn’t you literally swoon when Travis said ‘hi’ last week?”
“I smiled politely,” Silvia muttered, but the tips of her ears were pink.
“Sure. Right before you tripped over your own feet and said ‘good morning’ at four p.m.”
Silvia pretended to be fascinated by the sky. “I hate you.”
“No you don’t,” Mila said sweetly. “You love me. Almost as much as you love?—”
“Don’t.”
“Travis.”
Pierre strolled over with a sigh like this wasn’t even his first romantic ambush of the day. “Are we emotionally blackmailing Silvia again?”
“We’re trying to get her to accept love into her heart,” Mila corrected. “Through bullying.”
“It’s very effective,” Silvia said dryly, cheeks still crimson. “Though I doubt it would work on Travis.”
Pierre looked at her. “You’re doing the thing again.”
“What thing?” Silvia blinked innocently.
“Where your voice goes all soft and sparkly when you say his name.”
“It does not!”
“It absolutely does,” Mila grinned. “Say it again.”
“No!”
“Travis,” Mila whispered, fluttering her eyelashes.
Silvia shoved her. “Stop it!”
“Okay, okay.” Mila backed off with her hands raised. “We’ll stop embarrassing you…for now.”
Pierre sighed. “Where’s Loverboy, anyway?”
Silvia’s head snapped up. “He was over there a minute ago.”
“Probably hiding from his dad,” Mila said. “Or from the crushing weight of emotional vulnerability.”
