Betting on You(18)

I shook my head, remembering how much he’d irritated me. “I definitely did not.”

“Seriously?” His eyebrows scrunched together, and he looked at me like I’d confessed to being an alien.

Which made me want to laugh, because how could he be so unaware of what a total jackass he’d been? I said, “Why is that so hard for you to believe?”

“Because I’m rakishly charming,” he replied, although the slight tilt of his mouth told me he wasn’t wholly serious.

“Oh, is that what you are?” I said, exhaling around a laugh. “I guess I missed that.”

He barked out a quick chuckle, and for a minute it was great. For that brief, fleeting moment, it was nice with us. And then he said, “Wait. I’m not hitting on you.”

“Oh my God—gross.” I shook my head as the annoyance returned. Why did he feel the need to say things like that? Still the same Mr. Nothing. I said emphatically, “I know.”

“Okay, good.” He pushed his plate toward the center of the table and added, “And I second the gross.”

I couldn’t believe his nerve; not just the gross comment, but the overall disclaimer that he wasn’t hitting on me. “Why would you even say—”

“I don’t know.” He held up a hand to stop me from talking, then raised the other one as well. “I’m pretty sure no two people have ever been as disinterested in each other as we are, but I just wanted to make sure.”

“Oh, I can definitely confirm.” I thought back to the Fairbanks airport and said, “Honestly—the first time we met, I was in awe of how irritating you were. Like, I don’t think I knew just how obnoxious a person could be before that day.”

“Same,” he said, nodding in agreement.

“What?” I narrowed my eyes at him. I hadn’t been remotely obnoxious that day. If anything, I’d been a pathetically quiet little mouse. “I wasn’t irritating.”

He moved his straw around in his cup and said with a feigned scowl, “You wouldn’t let me cut in line because of rules. Irritating as fuck.”

I was about to explain to Charlie how there was nothing the least bit irritating about following the rules when Nekesa interrupted, appearing beside our table with Theo. “Hey! Guess what? Mr. Cleveland sat with us at lunch, and when Theo told him he’s majoring in accounting next year, good old Cleves transferred him to Protostar. So he’s on our team now too.”

I looked up at the two of them and was mildly annoyed by this news. Theo seemed fine, but Nekesa and I had taken the job together—as a team—and his presence was really messing with the vibe.

“Wow.” Charlie leaned back and stretched. “So you got upgraded? I got demoted to Protostars just because I said glitter was the devil’s calling card.”

Nekesa snorted. “You said that?”

“Respect.” Theo gave Charlie a slow grin of appreciation. “There was an entire section in the Red Giant handbook on the endless joy of glitter bombs. I can’t believe you actually said that out loud.”

“Listen to what you just said and tell me I’m wrong.” Charlie crossed his arms over his chest. “?‘Endless joy of glitter bombs’—are they kidding with that?”

Charlie and Theo started talking between themselves, and I glanced at Nekesa. “Are you sure we shouldn’t quit and find normal jobs?”

“Normal sucks,” Nekesa said, and I got distracted for a second by Charlie and Theo. They were doing that whole low-talking, smart-ass grin-wearing thing guys did that usually equated to a conversation about breasts, and I rolled my eyes.

I just knew I wouldn’t approve of their conversation.

Nekesa reached down and grabbed my cup. “Can I have a sip?”

Charlie looked up from his conversation with Theo and said to Nekesa, “Only if you like a malt made with vanilla ice cream but only half a spoonful of malted and two squirts of chocolate syrup instead of three. And half whipped cream, no cherry.”

I hadn’t realized Charlie had heard my order at all, much less heard it and remembered every little detail. A part of me was impressed by his perfect recollection, but a bigger part of me was taken aback by the way he acted so familiar with me.

Because we didn’t know each other at all, right?

So why did it feel like we kind of did?

“So on-brand for my girl.” She lifted the cup and took a long drink before saying, “Ooh—but so good. Do I have time to get a malt?”

I said, “No,” and at the same time both boys said, “Yes.”

Nekesa stuck out her tongue at me, and I glanced down at my watch. “Well, be fast. I don’t want to be late.”

“Such a Protostar,” Theo teased, and I couldn’t believe he was self-assured enough to mock me when we’d only just met.

“Takes one to know one,” Nekesa said, “Mr. Private School.”

“Did you really just say that?” Theo said, giving Nekesa a flirty smile. “Miss Public Education?”

“I think I did,” she said, grinning.

“Looks like someone upped the attitude since we last met.” I watched as Theo tilted his head and gave her an appraising look. “I’m not sure if I’m scared or if I like it.”