“Ha!” I shout the moment I see him. I jump out of my seat, which is a terrible idea as my foot has fallen asleep. I stumble a little but manage to right myself and thrust a triumphant finger in Seth’s general direction.
Seth has frozen in the doorway, travel mug of coffee halfway to his lips.
“You!” Despite sitting and plotting for the past thirty minutes, working out every detail of my gotcha speech, I seem to have forgotten how to speak more than one word at a time.
“I just got here, what could I have possibly done?” Seth shuffle-sidesteps, moving in the general direction of away from me.
I grab my phone from my desk and wave it over my head. “You cheated is what you did.” I should probably lower my voice, but Corey and James are the only other writersin the office right now, and I know they’re probably already in the kitchen grabbing snacks and gearing up for a showdown.
“And what’s worse,” I continue, my voice growing louder as I remember the bulletproof takedown I have mentally prepared, “is you were stupid enough to put the evidence on Instagram.”
Seth drops his stuff at a workspace across the room from mine before slowly making his way over to me. “Parker, I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Corey exit the kitchen and start to creep closer to us, before she finally perches her tiny butt on the desk right behind mine. James is nowhere to be seen, but I’m sure he’s well within hearing distance.
I type in my passcode and bring up my photos. “Corey, please remind me of Seth’s task involving a pet.”
“He has to get one and care for it for the duration of the challenge.” Her voice is chipper and I know she’s loving every minute of this.
“And is he allowed to replace his original pet should something happen to it due to negligence on his part as caretaker?”
“Um, no?”
“That’s right!” I spin around, gesturing to the mostly empty room like I’m Elle Woods making my closing argument. “And yet, here I have the hard evidence that one Seth Carson has replaced his original pet—according to his own words, a blue delta guppy—with a brand-new specimen.” Ishove my phone under Corey’s nose. “What color is this fish, ma’am?”
“Ooh, is this like one of those social media what-color-do-you-think-the-dress-is things?” She grabs the phone from me, examining the screen from all angles.
“No. Just tell me what color the fish is.”
“It’s red.” She passes my phone back with a sweet smile.
I turn back around to find Seth watching me with his arms crossed over his chest, a bemused expression on his face. I falter a little because he doesn’t look nearly as scared or guilty as I thought he would, being caught red-handed and all. “The prosecution rests.”
Corey applauds my performance before turning to Seth. “Defense, you may present your case.”
Seth saunters over to her, his own phone already in his hand. He shows her the screen.
She giggles. “Oh. I rule in favor of the defense.”
“What?” My screech echoes around the open floor plan. “I object!”
Corey hands me Seth’s phone, which is open to a photo of Seth’s fish tank. Where there swims a red fish. And a blue fish. Not one fish, but two fish. I just got Seussed.
Corey hops off the desk and heads back to the office kitchen. “That wasn’t nearly as entertaining as I thought it was going to be.”
Sinking into my chair, I gently toss Seth’s phone onto my desk. “You got a second fish?”
He shrugs, hands in his pockets, casual AF. “I didn’t want Harry to get lonely.”
The declaration would’ve been adorable on its own, but knowing what I now know about Seth’s own loneliness, it’s downright heart-melting. “What’s its name?”
“Her name is Sally.”
Of course it is.
Seth reaches across me to grab his phone, planting himself in what seems to be his favorite position: butt leaning against my workspace, right in my line of vision. “So...?”
There are a billion different directions in which that question could go.So how about that kiss? So did we basically declare we still have feelings for each other? So what should I wear on my next date?
