“Oh, you have no idea,” I mutter darkly.
Before Gabe can fire back, Sophie rockets into the kitchen at Mach ten, colliding with me hard enough to nearly neuter me.
Thanks to lightning-fast reflexes honed from years of dodging and weaving around my pint-sized hurricane, the family jewels narrowly escape total devastation.
My coffee is not so lucky. It now coats every surface in sight.
“Dad! Ollie dropped the remote in the toilet!”
“Sounds like you’ve got your hands full,” Gabe says, already retreating. “Thanks a million.”
“Wait—”
Too late. The line goes dead.
I grab a towel and scoop Snook up, propping her on my hip to keep tiny coffee-soaked hands from decorating every surface within reach.
So much for my second cup.
My gaze flicks between Snooki’s wide eyes and the flung-open kitchen door. Across the living, I see Ollie hovering over the toilet. Connor stands beside him, handing over something suspiciously familiar.
“Freeze right there, mister!” I bark. “If my toothbrush so much as thinks about kissing toilet water, you’re both grounded until college!”
Ollie shrugs. “Um. We already put the toothbrush in the toilet.”
Connor snatches it from his hands, holding it up like a trophy. Water drips onto the tile. “Relax, Dad. I’ll rinse it off. Good as new!”
I shake my head.
That’s it. I officially surrender.
A night out.
Drinks.
Trading a toilet water-soaked toothbrush for a tux…
Where do I sign up?
CHAPTER 4
Ava
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain. We’ve got a slight delay, but we will be taking off shortly.”
When my phone pings, the obnoxious guy wedged into the seat beside me jolts awake, delivering a side-eye because I guess I disturbed Sleeping Beauty’s sleep.
Please. Like he’s one to judge.
Until three seconds ago, Mr. Charm was open-mouth snoring, each raspy breath assaulting me with proof he cares less about fellow passengers than he does about brushing his teeth.
Would a mint kill him?
I read Mama’s text:
5-6-8-3
Right. The code to Casa del Evans.
