Page 8 of Finding Jack
“Why? It’s funny.”
“It’s not even kind of funny. I’ve already smoothed things over with Paul.” Probably. I texted him on the way to the gym to see about grabbing a movie later, but he said he was snowed with work. It had happened before, so it could be true. It was true. Probably? “But I yelled at Jack, and now I’m going to yell at you.”
“You yelled at Jack? Poor Jack. That’s not nice.”
“Neither is putting him up to stuff like this! Take it down, Ranée.”
“Fine.” She hobbled over to a kitchen chair, plopped down, and pulled her phone from her pocket to delete the picture. “There. Done.”
“Good. Now promise not to do it again.”
She gave me a “no deal” grimace.
I turned my back on her and settled onto the couch withPeople.
“What are you reading?”
I didn’t answer.
“Emily?”
I ignored her.
“You’re giving me the silent treatment?”
I licked my finger and made an elaborate point of turning the page.
“Very mature, Em.”
I’d learned through three years of experience that it was the only thing that would work. I turned another page.
“Ugh, all right. I won’t post any more Fabio Photoshops.”
“Aw, thanks, Ranée. How nice of you. You couldn’t if you wanted to. Jack won’t do any more of them.” I settled down to enjoy the magazine for real.
“I thought my magazines were too lowbrow for you.”
“They are. Unless they have Chris Evans on the front. Which this one does. Now shut up so I can concentrate on finding out what he’s looking for in a woman.”
“Why would you need Captain America when you’ve got Paul? He’s Captain All-American.” She grabbed her water bottle for a swig and set it down abruptly. “Wait. I just realized that Captain America is the most boring superhero. Of course he’s your favorite.”
“Uh, no, Superman is the most boring superhero.”
“Oh yeah. That’s right.” She took another swallow. “You know which superhero you really need in your life?”
I could already sense where this was going. “Don’t say it.”
“Thor.”
“Because big pecs and long hair. Got it.”
“Tell me he’s not hot.”
“Oh, totally. You know,afterhe got the haircut in the last Thor movie.”
She opened her mouth like she wanted to argue the point then shrugged and settled into the easy chair and drew her knees up to her chin so she could peer down at her toenails. “Will Paul let you have purple toenails?”
“Paul doesn’tletme do anything. Can you lay off him?”
