“Dalton? Really?”
“Who’s Dalton?” Kevin asked.
“Only the sweetest baby-faced cinnamon roll ever to walk the halls at the U,” Candace gushed. “I can’t believe Dalton Wellesley is Isaac Ford’s son!”
Candace had been Andrew’s first college friend, and they’d been inseparable ever since. She was as bubbly and forceful of personality as she was tiny, with perfectly symmetrical features set in her light brown face, accentuated by her shaved head, which she'd had since sophomore year. She handled all things business related for the firm, having left an unsatisfying job in marketing to help Andrew change careers.
Kevin assisted with everything else, mostly equipment and tech. In contrast to Candace’s hairless look, his locks were free-flowing chestnut, his face covered in dark scruff. Andrew had only known him for about a year, but they’d become fast friends after bonding over being unapologetic geeks.
“You should have seen them the other day,” Andrew said. “It was actually kind of sweet. Dalton was clearly loving every minute of being around Ford, and I really think Ford just wants to be a good dad.”
“That is so cute.” Candace made a wounded noise like watching puppies play.
“This Dalton guy is enough to make you say something involving Isaac Ford is cute?” Kevin gawked at her. “You hate Ford.”
“And I still hate him. We all hate him.”
Andrew wisely kept his mouth shut.
“But that’s not Dalton’s fault. He was a serious sweetie. And those eyes—oh.” She turned to Andrew in recognition. “The eyes.”
“The eyes.”
“What about his eyes?” Kevin asked.
“Gorgeous, like drown in them blue against mocha skin.”
“Okay, we get it,” Andrew said. “You can stop now.”
“Oh, come on, you thought he was adorable too. If you’d been the same age and met him freshman year instead, you two would have been the ones dating over those awful boyfriends you both had.”
“Boyfriends?” Kevin perked up.
“No way. Dalton and I never…wouldnever. Please don’t ever say that in front of Ford,” he finished in a rush.
“Wait, when were you going to tell me… boyfriends?” Kevin gestured like he was seriously upset to have been left out of the loop. “Dude.”
“Dude,” Andrew shot back, “it’s not like I ever tried to hide it. I admitted to you that one of my first ever crushes was Vegeta fromDragon Ball Z.”
“Yeah, but… Vegeta.”
“The important thing,” Candace spoke over them, “is that you’re taking on a job for Avalon. This is huge.”
“I still technically need Vallancourt’s go-ahead. She’s meeting us too. But I think she liked me when I was a detective.”
“I can't believe Dalton called you over his dad.” Candace shook her head. “Does he not trust Ford either?”
“It's sort of… complicated.”
“Like they’re secretly in cahoots, and Dalton’s the next Artifice in training?” Kevin said.
“No, he’d never—”
“Wen!”
“There’s our order.” Kevin hopped down from his stool. “I’ll pass judgment on Artifice Junior after I meet him.”
Andrew just hoped that, if either of them noticed the fourth coffee he was picking up, they’d assume it was for Vallancourt. He’d have to come clean with Kevin, but with Candace, he planned to hold off for as long as possible. They both hated Ford, but she took the competition even more personally than Andrew had.
