Page 29 of Not As Advertised

“Ind, not that you both don’t look amazing, but what the heck are you doing?”

Indie gave me one of her signature mischievous grins.

Emery, tuned into the conversation for the moment, called out, “Don’t worry! I’ve taken lots of pictures. What she’s not showing you are the scratches on her arms from wrestling your little kraken into that costume. Mew definitely got his revenge already.”

“Babe, you said one of us had to come over and check on Mew each day. Did you know one of those anime con things is happening in LA this week? You should see if you can get tickets one night. But just in case you can’t, I figured the least Mew and I could do was give you the best check-in possible. And Emery was keeping herself locked in her studio, so I dragged her over too.”

My chest warmed at the thoughtfulness of the gesture. Most people just saw Indie as a force of nature, but under her confident nature was a tender heart. She simultaneously took care of Mew and Emery at the same time.

“Aw, girl, you are the best. Here’s the thing. Aiden kind of…” Rushing my next words in one breath, I said, “Hekindofalreadyboughtmetwoticketsandwewenttogetherthisafternoon.”

“I have my ways, babe. My neighbor dressed her pug up as Pikachu last year, and she gave it to me after they were done with it. I’ve been saving it for just the right moment, and that smile on your face was worth it.” Indie beamed proudly. Mew was definitely not loving his first foray into cosplay and let out a sound that was something between a loud meow and a bellow.

Indie had been so excited about her costume find that she’d missed the second part of my sentence.

Emery, however, was not holding a furious dressed-up cat and parsed my statement with no difficulty.

“Heboughtyou tickets! And youwenttogether! Like adate?” Emery’s voice alternated in volume as she processed each piece of information.

“Wait,what?” Indie had caught up after setting Mew on the couch beside her. He remained a pissed-off lump of yellow. “Daddy Aiden bought you tickets to Anime Expo?Mister Cracks-A-Smile-At-Everyone-But-Abbie?”

Emery’s eyes widened as she mouthed the words “Daddy Aiden.” Maybe it was the first time she’d heard Indie say that. Wishful thinking could hope it would be the last, but it was highly unlikely. Indie loved riling us up.

I groaned. “Em, it was definitelynota date. And Indie, please have pity on me and stoppppp with the nickname already! Not my thing!”

Indie just smiled. Rolling my eyes, I should have known by now that I wasn’t going to change Indie. Nor would I really want to. No one told her what to do.

That afternoon had not been a date, just two coworkers going to an event, as he’d said. Nothing romantic about it. Although, it had been such a kind gesture for him to get those tickets. I never would have considered buying a ticket for myself, being too conscious of my tight monthly expenses.

And Aiden wasn’t really that intense. Okay, maybe he was, but after seeing his softer side with his sister, I was having trouble holding on to my reservations about him.

He also played along with your cosplay idea, don’t forget. And never complained once about following you around as you browsed endless booths.

Damn, he’d been cute with his pretend Persian Pokémon under his arm.

“Anime Expo is amazing! It’s just like I pictured it to be. Aiden even carried around a stuffed cat I got at a gift shop. It’s actually been pretty okay so far…”

Indie made her signature expression, raising one of her perfectly shaped dark eyebrows at me. Whenever she did this, she looked like an assassin in a spy movie. I knew Indie wasn’t going to let it go unless I elaborated.

“Our flight got all mixed up the first morning, and he was completely cool about it to the airline employee. Not a single grumble or complaint. And if that wasn’t enough, he took me along on an unscheduled visit with his sister and her best friend, who was totally interested in Claire, by the way. I’m pretty sure I’m the only one at the table who understood that. And there were these amazing French pastries at the café where we went, and he said to order whatever, and I got so many and…”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Go back to the part about meeting his sister. You’re telling me he actually invited you to meet her? Mr. I-Haven’t-Revealed-A-Personality-Trait-That-Proves-I’m-Not-A-Robot took you to meet his sister?”

“Indieeeee… He’s not that bad. I told you before. He’s not a robot. Just closed off. His sister was amazing. She talked more than any person I’ve ever met before. She’s so warm and open and kind. Maybe it was a brother/sister thing. She hugged me when we said goodbye. Me! A stranger who just works with her brother.”

“Whoa. That’s kind of a big deal in sibling territory, babe,” Emery chimed in. “I would never let my brothers near anyone I was dating until the day before the wedding. Meeting the family is serious stuff. He must think really highly of you.”

I didn’t have the time or the inclination to think about what it meant that Aiden had let me tag along to meet Claire.

Indie hummed in response. “It’s that trustworthy face you have. It tricks people into involving you in all sorts of situations they’d never consider otherwise.”

I ignored Indie’s musings for the moment.

“I wonder how they can be so different? What happened to him that made him so unapproachable?” I asked.

Indie shrugged, causing her to jostle Mew, who had been frozen in his prison of misery for the entire conversation. At Indie’s movement, he turned his head to give her a death stare.

With a laugh, Indie booped his nose. “Okay, dude. We’ll get you all fixed up now.”

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