“Is that all you guys think about?” Velma asked.
“Yes,” three of them replied in unison.
An eye roll and she grabbed her laptop bag from the counter. “I’ll leave you to rot your brain cells with senseless violence.”
“Much appreciated.” Jase fist-bumped Eli, and they went back to their game.
A bubble bath sounded better and better. Velma could escape to her room for the night so she didn’t get anxiety over the lack of coasters and the abundance of feet on furniture. She shut her door, propped her coral-colored throw pillows behind her on the bed, turned on her laptop, and clicked open her spreadsheet.
Someone knocked lightly against her door.
“Come in,” she called.
Brek poked his head into the room. “You’re not havin’ all the fun without me, are you?”
He clicked the door closed behind him and strode to her bed with a jar of Nutella marked with aB&Vlabel in one hand and two spoons in the other.
“Fun?” she asked as he crawled onto the bed beside her.
“Fillin’ out your spreadsheet. I’m here to help.” He stretched out and propped the Nutella between them. “What’ve we got so far?”
“Nothing. I just turned it on.” Velma wiped at a fleck of dust on the monitor with her thumb.
“Perfect.” He rolled onto his side so he could see her screen and dipped one of the spoons into the jar before lifting it to her lips.
She moved her head back. “What are you doing?”
“Sharing.”
When she literally didn’t bite, he moved the spoon to his mouth. The way that man ate. She could watch him lick cutlery all day long.
Ack. No. No. No. Not her focus tonight. “Shouldn’t you go play with your friends?”
“Nah. Usually Dean and I team up against Eli and Jase. Dean had to take off. Which means we’re down a player. Which means, they’re playin’ one-on-one. I’m guessing, since you’re here, you didn’t get your post-date dessert with your girls. So here I am.” He glanced to her screen. “Whatcha got so far?”
“Okay. So, we have height, which was acceptable. Employment, he’s a pediatrician. Bonus points there. A good investment firm manages him. I’ll give him an eight on that. I deducted two points because it’s not my firm. Housing, nine. He said he’s got a place in Cherry Creek.” She tapped in the scores.
“Transportation?” Brek read the heading in the next column.
“Definitely a nine. He drives a Mercedes. Sleek but not the highest safety rating.” She clicked away on the keyboard, adding up the numbers. Her heart dropped. He was already at a nine-point-five, which really wasn’t a surprise.
Brek shoveled more Nutella. “What’s the ‘style’ column for?”
“Like does he wear a suit? Regular haircuts. That stuff.”
“Well?” Brek asked.
She sighed. “Nine. And attraction is at a big ol’ zero.”
“His name’s Paul. You should deduct points for that.” Brek pointed at her screen with his spoon.
“Why would I deduct points for that?”
“It lacks creativity. A name like Breckenridge. That’s creative.” He nodded along with his assessment.
“Where’d your mom come up with it anyway?” She continued adding numbers in the columns.
“She named both of us after where we were conceived. A condo in Breckenridge for me and Aspen…well, you get the idea.”
