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Ralph’s eyes widened while the others exchanged surprised looks as if they’d expected her to deny the truth, as if there was something shameful to hide. Ralph’s mouth opened and closed like a goldfish trying to breathe out of water.
“Do you need a minute to clutch your pearls? Lunch is getting cold.” Sloane gestured to the bag with her eyes.
“If your personal relationship is causing you to only want to work together, Ms. Medina, that is definitely a problem,”
he snapped, unable to hide that she’d gotten under his skin.
Sloane smirked, hoping to push him a little further.
“Maybe I should talk to Chad about this since you’re obviously so uncomfortable with my personal life. Also, no o ense,” she added, her attention flashing to Dave and the others, “but I pick teammates regardless of who they are.
Ask around, I’m a little ruthless like that. If there was someone who worked as hard and prepared as much as she did, then I’d pick them.”
“It’s kind of unfair to have Superman and Batman on the same team,” Dave muttered, staring down at his phone.
Sloane waited for Ralph to say something else, but he was too busy looking butt hurt to speak. She should have left it there but couldn’t help throwing a little dagger over her shoulder as she walked away. The desire to bruise his ego more completely was too tempting. “You might be the team
captain, but you’re not the coach, Ralph. Sit on the bench unless you have something work-related to say to me.”
She heard nothing but hushed whispers in her wake as she sauntered away, resisting the urge to whistle. It wasn’t how she’d intended for half the o ce to find out about them, but the stunned expression on Ralph’s face was too satisfying to pass up.
“What are you smiling about?” Arwyn asked when Sloane walked into the o ce they once shared and dropped the bag on the empty side of the desk she used to occupy.
“Nothing,” Sloane responded, beginning to unpack the pho she’d picked up for them. Arwyn reached into the mini fridge for a couple of flavored seltzer waters and laughed.
“That cat-that-ate-the-canary grin says otherwise.”
“According to our colleagues, we’re crime-fighting mutants, and it’s not fair that we’re on the same team,” she explained without concealing her amusement.
“Mutants? You sure about that?”
Sloane shrugged. Superheroes weren’t her thing; she wasn’t going to get specific.
“I knew people would start to talk, but I didn’t think it would happen so soon,” Ari murmured while setting out napkins and make-shift placemats.
Sloane moved Arwyn’s chair so she could sit next to her.
“Well, we have had like twenty dates already, and that says nothing of all the other things that should definitely have counted as dates. Like working late together, sharing meals, exchanging personal stories.”
Arwyn laughed but didn’t dispute the facts. “That can work in our favor, you know.” She caught her soft-boiled
egg with her chopsticks. “If word that we’re the A-squad makes its way up, the chief of juvenile will request we move up first. That kind of thing can set the tone for your whole career here.”
Sloane slurped her broth and eyed Arwyn suspiciously.
Arwyn pointed at her with the tips of her chopsticks as she chewed. “Don’t underestimate the power of reputation.”
“Underestimate? Girl, I thrive on myth and legend,”
Sloane countered before taking a sip of her drink.
Arwyn chuckled. “Oh yeah? And where are you going to take all of that, Daughter of Zeus?”
“Thank you, internalized misogyny, for sponsoring today’s lunch.” Sloane dried the broth that had landed on her shirt. “Give me a queer woman running around in the forest in a ladies-only band of hunters,” she proclaimed dramatically. “Give me Artemis or give me death.”
Arwyn’s chuckle evolved to a full-on laugh, thawing Sloane’s heart and making her wish they weren’t at work and that she didn’t have a little piece of brisket stuck in a back tooth.
“You didn’t answer my question,” Arwyn said after they’d eaten half their food while chatting about other things. “We probably won’t be in juvenile a whole year. That leaves a year and a half until your commitment’s up.” Arwyn smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I know you’re not staying after that, but where do you want to go after juvenile?”
