Page 101 of Best Served Cold

“You did?” I ask, astounded. “That was quick.”

“Look, I know it was worth eight grand or whatever. But I got four for it. I think that’s the best we can do based on what I’ve seen online.”

“You did that for me?” I ask, feeling a little emotional all over again.

“Yeah, Soph. Just like you took that Myers-Briggs thing with me and got me that job at Buchanan. I mean, the job didn’t workout, but I knew you had my back. You have everyone’s back. You shouldn’t be so shocked if we want to have yours.” But he gives me a knowing look, because he understand my struggles in a way other people don’t. “You’re my family.”

“Don’t make me cry,” I say, even though the tears are already welling.

“So we have four grand.” He claps his hands together. “What if we started a business together, Sophie? We could combine our Myers and Briggs talents and knock it out of the park, Ginnis style?”

“You want to do that withme?” I’m so surprised, I don’t immediately know how to respond. Maybe I should tell him no. Otis isn’t always the most reliable person. But then again, he’s taken initiative lately. He sold my dress. He took that test…

He’s been trying, really hard, to catch that pigeon. There’s a little notepad in the kitchen chronicling all of his attempts.

Maybe he just needs someone to take a chance on him. Maybe that’s all both of us need.

“You want to open The Crafty Monster together?”

“Hell, yeah, I do. It sounds dope. I’m going to help out at Rob and Travis’s place as practice. He offered the other day. I was checking out their socials, and I can tell I’m going to love working with those little bastards.”

Oh, my heart…

Leave it to Rob to give him a chance before I even considered it. “I hope you don’t call them that.”

He mimes zipping his lips. “You saw my Briggs results. Working with kids is my thing. Yours too.”

“I think we should workshop ideas together,” I say, trying not to get too excited. “But I’m afraid four thousand dollars might not go very far. We’ll have to save up, probably for a while.”

“So we will,” he says, sounding like he really means it. “I have some ideas for making money. Other than catching Fluffnut, I mean. He’s one wily bird.”

“They don’t involve selling drugs, do they?”

He laughs. “Soph. What do you take me for?”

I grin at him, feeling a sense of belonging that’s still very new to me. “I take you for my cousin, whose room smells like cheap pot, but who is very good at purchasing spoons. Let’s use them to eat some ice cream.”

“I don’t know,” he says. “I’ve become very fond of forks.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

ROB

It’s Saturday morning. Just over a week has passed since Sophie and I announced our fake relationship to the world.

A number of things have happened since then, some good, some…well, I suppose it depends on perspective. For starters, Jonah called me and told me I was an asshole. Patricia unfriended me on all the major social networks and then informed me via text, which surprised me because I hadn’t realized our accounts were connected in the first place. And then my father officially uninvited me to Thanksgiving, which is several months away. I wasn’t going anyway, since I’d already told my mother I was coming to see her in Montana.

I should probably be upset by some of that stuff, but I’m not. I’m surprised by how much I’m not.

It’s actually freeing, being lifted from the obligation of trying to get along with them. I’ve known for a while now that my father would never be proud of me. It’s not in his makeup. My successes aren’t the kind that mean anything to him.

The situation with my familyhasupset Sophie, however. She’s been a nervous wreck, thinking she ruined my life with her fake-relationship scheme. No amount of reassurance hasworked, even though she knows how important it is for me to get approved as a foster parent.

There’s probably only one thing that will convince her. I need to tell her everything. But we made that bargain, and I’m not sure she’s ready to share her story with me.

On Wednesday, Sophie and I met up after her shift to get a pizza. It was one of those places that had a make-your-own-pizza option for kids, and I convinced the server to let us do it. Of course, Sophie gave the thing a smiley face with olives and pepperoni.

While we were making it, Jonah’s friend walked past the window. I noticed because he paused and did a double take. Naturally, I leaned in and kissed Sophie, making it a good one. He snapped a photo, I gave him a one-fingered salute, and that was that.

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