Page 35 of Not How I Saw That Going

“Yeah. Let’s go shoot the hose.” I hop out and round the truck barely in time to catch Crew just as he launches himself out of the cab like a flying squirrel.

He’s going to give somebody a heart attack. Probably his mom.

I pull out the end of the hose and hand it to him. He looks pretty adorable, using all his body weight to pull it out a little more.

“I’m going to shoot you,” he says, aiming the end of the hose at me.

“Good luck.” I run to the side, then dart back in the opposite direction when he aims it at me again. He “hits” me and I go down. Then the game starts over.

He squeals with delight every time I duck or fall, and I laugh along with him.

“I got you.” He giggles so hard the hose slips out of his grip.

“My turn.” I pick up the hose and pretend to spray him.

He screams and runs away.

Right to his mother.

I stand upright and drop the hose. The metal clangs against the ground and echoes through the garage. How long has she been standing there?

She bites her bottom lip. “Um, thank you for playing with him,” she says, and once again, I feel like I’m missing something she’s trying to say with her eyes. Is there an eye language class I can take?

I shrug off her gratitude. “Did you get your car fixed?”

“Yeah. Caleb is just putting away the cables.”

I nod. Do I apologize for not helping her out? I settle on a lousy, “That’s good.”

“Well, bye.” She hesitates a moment longer, then grabs Crew’s hand as they leave. The station feels a little darker when they’re gone.

“Way to screw that up,” Caleb mutters, walking back in.

I frown. “What are you talking about?”

“You could have helped her with her car, showed her you were a gentleman.”

I scowl at his back. “I’m always a gentleman.”

“You’re right. That was the wrong word.” He grabs a grease rag and wipes off his hands. “You could have shown her you had a heart.”

That phrase again. I’m very aware of the fact that I have a heart, and that it’s still beating. Unlike half of my buddies.

“I do have feelings,” I mumble.

He eyes me, folding his broad arms across his chest, a look of dominance I’m sure he will be using when he’s in the FBI. “Sometimes people like you more if you share them.” He drops the rag in the bucket and leaves.

“Pfft.” What does he know?

Thirteen

Lyndi

I’mhalfwaythroughmyworkload the next day when my phone rings. Maddie’s name flashes on the screen.

“Hey.”

“Open your Tic Tac app!”