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“Okay, an experiment.” She’s not wrong—I am a man of science. I like experiments. “How can I help?”
Annie clears her throat and plops down on the couch between Coco and me. “I need someone who will let me watch while they actively put my advice to work.”
“O—kay,” I say, long and slow, as I dive into the pool of denial. Maybe I don’t want to know how she plans to involve me in all this.
“So.” She takes my hand. “Will you, Owen Bailey, be my romance guinea pig?”
Alice giggles—though not at Ariel or Flounder. Nope, her seven-year-old eyes are on us.
My sister sits on the other side of her. She pokes her head around Annie to see me. “It’s a good idea, Owen. It’ll be fun.You’ll get to date a bunch of different girls, try out your bestie’s fabulous advice, and maybe find—”
“The one,” Annie says, repeating the words of the one question that’s caused all this trouble.
“You want me to date?”
Annie gives a silly grin and nods her head like she’s one of those custom-made bobbleheads.
“And you want to come on those dates with me?” I inch closer to the edge of this couch.
“No, silly,” Coco says. “You’ll just report to her, she’ll ask you to apply advice that she’s given, and we’ll see how it plays out.”
“We’ll?”
“Well, mostly you and Annie. But I’m invested now.”
“Invested?” I only have one-word responses at this point.
“Please, O.Please. It’s a win-win! You validate that I’m not some dumb fake fraud, and I help you find the right girl.”
Theright girl? She’s kidding, right?
6
Annie
Ipull out my phone, my notes app ready to go. “All right. First, tell me about your ideal woman.”
“My what? I—Annie—” Owen shakes his head like I’ve asked him to dive into a pool of sharks.
“We can’t conduct this experiment unless I have some facts.”
“Attractive,” Coco says, attempting to help Owen get going.
“I’m not shallow,” Owen says, swinging his gaze around to Coco. Owen never looks angry exactly, but this wouldn’t qualify as a happy stare, that’s for sure.
“Of course not,” she says.
But at least Coco is thinking in the right direction. “You should be attracted to the person that’s meant for you.”
“Exactly.” Coco nods.
“My turn!” Alice bellows, smacking her hands to her little thighs and completely forgetting about her movie. “She should be a princess. And wear pink! And love puppies.”
My brows are in a frozen lift. I swing my gaze from Owen to Alice.
“You’re not typing,” Alice says, her little fingers wiggling in the air.
Owen clears his throat and nods at me, telling me to write it down. Then he repeats, “Pink, puppies, and princess.”
