“I get why Miles wants to fight you.”
“Thank you!” Miles lifts his hand and I slap it.
“If we’re not having this meeting, I’m returning to my office,” Jaxon declares.
“We’re having the meeting.” Eli herds everyone out of my office to the conference room.
Everyone takes their place except for Jaxon, who pulls on a pair of gloves to inspect his chair.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“Ensuring someone didn’t decide to coat the chair with molasses the way they did last time.”
I chuckle. “You trying to get up was hilarious.”
Miles grunts. “Easy for you to say. You didn’t have to clean out the stills. I reeked for weeks.”
Jaxon concludes his inspection and sits. “You shouldn’t have pranked me.”
Miles points to Kai. “He helped.”
Kai raises his hands in the air. “I didn’t help. You asked for molasses. I thought you were actually interested in the distilling process.”
Rhett growls. “Can everyone please stop reminiscing about your past pranks? Some of us have families we want to get home to.”
Eli and I nod in agreement.
Miles groans. “You might as well start a nursery here, as many babies as your partners keep on popping out.”
“Technically.” Eli holds up a finger. “My partner is the only one who ‘popped out’ a baby. But a nursery isn’t a bad idea.”
“I’m on it.” Rhett flips open his notebook. “I’ll make some calculations. Paying for a nanny is expensive.”
“Not for everyone,” Miles sings. “Raider brother number four, I’m looking at you.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Don’t start with me.”
He bats his eyelashes. “What? Is it not true? You don’t pay Sloane, do you?”
I can’t answer. I don’t want him to know how Sloane was homeless when we began our arrangement. I won’t embarrass her.
I grit my teeth. “Whatever happens between Sloane and me is none of your business.”
He snorts. “It’s totally my business when she cheats at I Spy.”
I groan. “Not this again. You can’t cheat at I Spy.”
“She said the cloud resembled a grumpy monster. A cloud can’t resemble a grumpy monster.”
“Stop whining. You’ve cheated at plenty of games in your life.”
Miles gasps. “I am not a cheater.”
“This is why I stay in my lab,” Jaxon mumbles. “These meetings are a waste of time.”
Eli clears his throat. “Why don’t you present your marketing idea, Zane?”
I stand and make my way to the front of the room. I log into the computer connected to the beamer and click on my presentation.
