“Language!” she says in a singsong.
I grind my teeth.
Thirty minutes later, we pull up in front of a bright-pink building. Sarge gets the door.
I don’t move.
“We have a schedule, McCarthy.” Jenna huffs as she grabs hold of my sleeve and struggles to physically push me from the car.
“Good fucking luck.”
“I have an influencer waiting. She’s going to pretend to see you while you’re buying cookies for your little sisters that are coming to visit.”
“The fuck?” I jerk back, sending her sprawling half on my lap.
“Lang—”
I grab her face before she can scold me again. “My little sisters are not coming to visit me.”
Behind her, Sarge is laughing silently.
“Yes, they are,” she says, insistent. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for a photo op.”
“I don’t want them in my house.”
“You referred to a woman as a C-word yesterday.”
“She is a C-word. She’s covering up for a despicable man.”
“We need to show that you support women.”
“I don’t support women like her. Or my sisters.”
Jenna looks like she’s about to slap me.
I hold up my hands. “Not because they’re girls. Because they’re animals. They’re worse than Isaac. They stole my car and set fire to my kitchen the last time they were here.”
“I’m going to tell your brother you’re not cooperating.”
“And I’ll tell your boss you touched my junk.”
She yelps. “That’s not—”
“Stranger danger.”
Sarge is blinking back tears of laughter. “I can’t double-park here, guys. I’m gonna get a ticket.”
“I need a drink,or I’m not going to make it the rest of the day.” I pull at my shirt collar.
With the annoying hair flip of a woman who is getting everything she wants, Jenna hums as she taps on her phone. “This is such a cute picture of you. I’m sending it to your brother.”
“Don’t—”
But it’s ten forty-five, and Jenna has sucked down an ungodly two gallons of sugar-and-syrup-laden coffee while I had to get my picture taken over and over again as she mimed exaggeratedly and shouted, “Smile! Just smile! You look cute when you just smile!”
My phone buzzes.
Fitz:For someone surrounded by corgis and cupcakes, he sure doesn’t look happy.
