Page 54 of All Superheroes Need PR

“They were on the plane.”

“Pointy how?” It fills me with a strange relief how seriously she’s taking this.

“I don’t know, like wide and then to a short point.”

“Almond shaped, maybe? Or diamond?”

“I don’t know. Almond, maybe. Wider, though.”

“Hm.”

She looks at me as she grabs a tool from a drawer under her desk. They look like little pincers. “Come sit down here and put your hand on the exam table,” she says, gesturing to a short stool the same height as hers and the metal table next to the exam bed.

“You gonna chop it off?” I say, taking a seat and swiveling over to the metal surface.

“Would you miss it?”

“Yes.” I lay my hand down anyway, but it twitches.

She laughs. “I meant the nail.” She shows me what’s in her hand, and it looks like one of those things you use to take the calluses off your feet.

I give her my hand, and she takes a few shavings from my nails, whittling them each down back to the quick. “I’m gonna ask you to do something you aren’t going to want to say yes to.”

“Then I’ll spare you the grief. No.”

She rolls her eyes. “Let your nails grow out one week.”

“One week? You kidding me? I’m not gonna wait a week to touch Vanessa.”

She snaps her little plastic box of my nail shavings shut and points at me with her file. “You are going to get your girlfriend injured. I touched your thumb a few hours after you last filed it. If it cut me with only a slight amount of pressure, it could cut her, too, if you’re engaged in more intimate activities.” My face burns. “We need to figure out what your nails are made of, then we can devise a plan or even a coating to go over them, if needed, to make sure you can live your life and engage in all the benefits of a new relationshipsafely.”

My face is hot as fire. And not in the way I find comforting. “Fine. A week.”

“A week. And in the meantime, you’ll engage in hands-free activities.” She raises both eyebrows, and the smile on her lips is too large, even though I can tell she’s trying not to tease me.

“Pervert.”

She laughs again, even more boisterously this time. “Call me if anything changes with you. Have you told Vanessa yet?”

I shake my head and am surprised when Emily doesn’t berate me for keeping secrets but says instead, “You can tell her I need to check her ankle, and I’ll give you the results of your sample Friday. We can check your nail growth then too.”

“Thanks, Emily.”

“No problem, Roland.” She swivels back to her laptop, and it’s like she’s forgotten I’m still in the room. I haven’t left yet, my hand still on the doorknob as I turn to her. She finally registers I’m still here and cocks her head. “Can I help you?”

“You got a good recommendation for a restaurant?”

“What kind?”

I shrug. “Italian? Anything a smart, shy girl not used to dating might like?”

“And I’m assuming money is no object.”

I give her a flat look.

She grins. “Just checking. After all, not evenyoumight get in to some of these places looking like a grizzly.”

“What?”