Anyone But Nick (Anyone But... #3) - Penelope Bloom Page 0,78
said, winking at Nick. “But nice. I gotta admit it. Nice. I was wondering why you were interested in a dog company. But now I see it’s because you were the dog all along.”
Nick groaned. “He’s making it up, dumbass. Did you forget the part where we didn’t even know Miranda was coming to interview before we bought the company?”
“I mean, she did walk in the door right before you handed Dan the check. An argument could be made—”
“An argument could be made that you’re dumber than the snails you spend all day thinking about,” Nick snapped. “It’s bullshit. He knows it, and we know it. It’s that simple, but it won’t matter to anyone else. Good gossip spreads, and people will eat the story up.”
“Okay, first of all,” Cade said. “Way out of line. You really have no way of knowing how dumb a snail is. They could have an entirely different method of communication from us. Shit, for all you know, you just gave me a compliment. Would we even know it if snails had colonized other planets? Mastered interstellar travel? No. They’re so small we wouldn’t even see their factories or spaceships. So, yeah, now who’s the dumbass?”
Rich put his palm to his forehead. “I’m pretty sure it’s still you, Cade.”
Cade held up his palms. “Whatever you say. Just don’t come crying to me when it turns out I was right all along.”
From the look on Rich’s face, he knew arguing the obvious was futile.
“The point is,” I said, “he’s going to run the story if I don’t go work for Robbie in LA. And since my decision could possibly impact everybody here, I wanted to talk to you all before I made a choice.”
Cade put his hands over Bear’s ears. “Fuck Robbie,” Cade suggested. “Figuratively, I mean,” he said quickly once he saw the look on Nick’s face. “Though, I do think fucking Robbie—or this Max Frost character, for that matter—would be a potential solution as well. Not that I’m recommending it, Nick, so stop glaring at me.” He pulled his hands off Bear’s ears once he’d finished talking.
“You know we’re with you,” Kira said. “I could never ask you to go work for your douchebag ex, even if somebody had a gun to our heads.”
“Well,” Iris said. “If somebody had a gun to my head, I might ask Miranda to suck it up. But yeah, ditto. Minus the gun part.”
“This wouldn’t be the first publicity hit Sion has suffered,” Rich said. “We’ve survived before, and we can do it again. Besides, I don’t want that asshole to think he can get what he wants by blackmailing you. Teach him a lesson and let the story run.”
Cade looked surprised when we all were looking at him. “Oh, my turn. The moment that assclown changed his name to Max Frost, he basically invited every human being on the planet to hate him. And guess what, Mr. Frost? Invitation accepted. Let him run the story. So, can we go look at watermelons now? I’ve been waiting all day for this.”
“Yeah!” Bear shouted.
Nick and I lagged behind while everyone filed out to head for the river, where the main event was taking place. He put a hand on my shoulder and gave a little squeeze. “Did that help you make a decision?”
“Mostly,” I said. “Now that I know you and your brothers are okay with your end of the fallout, I just need to decide if I can handle my own end.”
“You mean what everyone around here will think?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I clung to my image for so long that letting Max’s story destroy it feels . . . I don’t know. I guess that’s the problem. I don’t know how it’ll feel to lose that part of me, and I don’t think I will until it happens.”
“I think life is full of doors. Some are labeled so you know exactly where they’ll take you. You can have a pretty normal, just-fine life if you only ever go through those doors. But I think the best stuff is behind the blank doors. You just feel a pull toward them, but you have no way of knowing what’ll be on the other side until you go for it.”
“Couldn’t I just stick my head in and peek around?”
“Don’t try to deconstruct my little metaphor. You know what I mean.”
I smiled. “I do. And maybe you’re right. I just need to decide if I’m ready to open that door.”