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He grinned at me. “Teasing you has always been fun. I’m just glad you’re starting to realize it’s teasing.”
“I used to think you were kind of a jerk,” I admitted.
“But now you realize I’m hilarious instead.”
I inclined my head as Heidi looked at him, doe-eyed. “Maybe I was shortsighted,” I told him.
Patrick suddenly gasped. “You’re Frodo,” he said, turning to me.
“What?” I yelped. “Am not.”
“Well, you’re sure as hell not Gandolf. Frodo is kind of the leader of the little guys, and you’re so—”
“You better not be about to compare my size to a hobbit. My parents had me tested.”
“Frodo is an adorable nickname for you,” Joseph said kindly, smiling at me. “Plus, you’re the last hope. It fits.”
I slumped my forehead onto the coffee table. “I hate you all,” I mumbled.
“We would all hate to see you leave Apollo, Frodo,” Patrick said. “But I get why you feel this way. Plus, someone as tart as you probably only has about two years at any given job before you burn all your bridges anyway.”
I sighed. “Once again, you speak truth I don’t wish to hear, Patrick. Did you watch reruns of90210growing up?” I asked the group. Joseph and Heidi nodded enthusiastically, while Patrick looked at me with distaste.
“What’s that?” Jason asked.
“Just when I started to think you were cool.” I sighed. “An iconic ’90s TV show. Anyway, when Dylan was on drugs, Brandon told him he was going to burn all his bridges. Dylan said, ‘May the bridges I burn light the way.’”
“Ooooh, I remember that one!” Joseph said. “I really wanted those two to get together.”
“Yeah, well, that’s kind of been my life’s motto ever since,” I confessed.
Patrick dropped his head in his hands. “That’s literally the worst life motto I’ve ever heard. How’re you even serious right now?”
I sat up straight, defensive. “I’ll have you know that I have an actual, physical plastic trophy acknowledging my ability to say what everyone else is thinking. There are worse role models than Luke Perry.”
“RIP,” Joseph whispered and crossed himself.
Patrick groaned. “Yeah, but your role model isnotLuke Perry—it’s Dylan McKay, a drugged-out high schooler who was practically in his forties even as a teenager and couldn’t even decide between Kelly and Brenda.”
Unexpected joy bubbled up in my chest. “You watched it. You were a fan.”
Patrick’s cheeks turned a shade I’d never seen them before. “Did not. I readThe Lord of the Ringsand other great literature. I didn’t watch crappy teen shows.”
“He knows about the love triangle,” Heidi said happily. “He’s definitely a fan. We should all meet back here this weekend for a marathon!” She turned to Jason. “You’re in for such a treat. You’re going to love it.”
“Nope,” I said. No way was I getting roped into hosting a ten-season marathon ofBeverly Hills, 90210, of all things. “The Fellowship and I have work to do.”
Chapter 16
As the new project manager, I wanted to play to the strength of my team. I went back through all the old spreadsheets Artemis had kept since the beginning to see where everyone’s talents lay. When I had a good understanding of which part of the S.J. Sporting project I should give to which person, I sent out detailed instructions and set up a new meeting time.
A few hours later, I got a video chat request from Mike. I froze for a moment, then reminded myself that my secret was out, at least with Diana. I clickedaccept, and Mike’s red beard filled my screen.
“Ana! Yo,” he said. “I got your email, and I got an idea I wanna run past you, cool?”
“Sure,” I said. “What’ve you got?”
“So you have me doing this web piece, right? Nice choice, by the way, because I kick ass at this stuff.”
