“See?” DJ throws her hands up. “You can’t justsaythings like that to people.”
“That was unnecessary,” Nico says.
“In my defense,” Griffin says, “I didn’t think his haymaker would be that good.”
“Was it a case for us?” Nico asks.
“I scanned the entire area and nothing registered, so everything points to it being a standard homicide,” DJ says. “Word around the bar seemed to be the boyfriend did it.”
“Get cleaned up,” Nico says. “I’ll update Donny.”
Why are DJ and Griffin reporting to Nico? The way they defer to him… there’s a clear chain of command here, and Nico ranks high enough to be the one updating Donny.
Is Nico going to be my boss?
DJ steps closer to where I imagine Nico is standing, since he’s still hidden by the wall. She leans up on her toes and glances over her shoulder. “Is she here yet?”
“Upstairs,” Nico grumbles.
“What’s she like?”
The silence goes on long enough to be uncomfortable, but Nico finally settles on: “Chatty.”
I’ve never in my life wanted to be Elastigirl more than in this moment. I’d reach across the living room and around the corner to smack him across the head with my weird rubbery arm. Chatty? Seriously?
Okay, maybe I did talk a lot in the hallway, but I was trying to befriendly. He makes me sound like a hyperactive middle schooler following people around, asking about their favorite colors and whether they think aliens are real.
I turn to go, but because the universe hates me, a floorboard whines under my foot. Griffin and DJ’s heads snap in my direction.
Griffin’s eyes find mine, and a smile stretches his busted lip. “Look who it is. You must be Eden.”
Icoulddart back behind the landing and run away, but that would make this weirder. There’s no way I can play it off like I wasn’t eavesdropping, so I need to own it.
“That’s me,” I say, clutching the towel tighter against my chest as I try to look as easygoing as I can manage. “Hi.”
Nico leans forward into the doorway, glancing through the living room to where I’m standing on the staircase. His eyes drop to the towel, then back up to my face. The towel suddenly feels way too small.
“I’m going to go change,” I say.
I trip over my own feet in my rush back up the stairs. There’s a laugh behind me as I close the door to my room, and I leanagainst it as if there’s a chance they might come charging after me.
Why. The hell. Did I go out there in a towel?
What was I thinking? Oh right, Iwasn’tthinking, because I don’t thinkahead. I just feel something and act on the feeling and suffer the consequences as I go.
I bang my thumb knuckle into my forehead. How did I think I could be sneaky? I’ve never been sneaky a day in my life. Forget feet, I trip on air.Of coursethey were going to see me.
I yank on a clean pair of jeans and theWickedsweatshirt I bought when Mom and Dad took me to see the show for my twelfth birthday, as if the act of wearing clothes could erase the fact that just happened, then crawl back into bed. Bob curls up next to me, and I scroll through my phone until the house settles into quiet and I can hear no more voices.
Bob’s stomach grumbles.
“Hey,” I say, glancing down at Bob, whose tail twitches from side to side. He doesn’t actually wag his tail back and forth. It does this small quiver instead, like he can’t fully commit to being happy. Not surprising considering where he came from. “You hungry for dinner?”
He doesn’t seem to be in pain walking on his cast, so I let him walk next to me to the top of the stairs. I’m bending down to pick him up when a voice behind me says, “You and I got to stop meeting like this.”
I spin around so fast I stumble to avoid stepping on Bob. Griffin stands ten feet away with a towel wrapped around his waist. His chest is bare, his shoulders are broad, and he’s made of so much dense muscle that he must live at the gym. His left leg is a prosthetic, a metal bar connecting to a rubber foot. His towel sits dangerously low on his hips, revealing the sharp V of his abs that disappears beneath the cloth.
I can stare for a couple of seconds before I realize what I’m doing. Is there something in the water here? I don’t remember theGhostbustersall being this hot.
