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“Sweet threads,” Burrito Jerry said, eyeing the men up and down. “I wore glitter once during Pride Week when I was driving people around. I got hit on by a guy who called himself Tank, and it made me question my sexuality. Figured out I’m a bit more fluid than I thought. Good guy, Tank.”
They all turned slowly to look at him.
He shrugged. “Haven’t really done much with it yet.” He glanced at Mateo. “You’re cute. What’s up? You got a boyfriend?”
“He does,” Chris said, sounding amused and horrified in equal measure. He dropped his hand on Mateo’s leg pointedly.
“Cool, cool,” Burrito Jerry said easily. “Congrats or whatever. Looks like Aaron and I are the only single people here. Whaddya say, my guy? Wanna see if there’s any magic between us? I know the past few weeks have been difficult with the weird lady pretending to be someone she wasn’t, so if you need time, I understand. I can wait.”
“Sure,” Dad said. “I bet Nick would like a new stepdad to—Nick.Nick.Would you stop screaming?”
Nick did not stop screaming until Seth clamped a hand over his mouth. Even then, he continued, though it was muffled, eyes bulging, horrible visions of a fall wedding between Dad and Burrito Jerry, both of them leaving in Matilda with cans on strings fixed to the back bumper. Suffice to say, Nick was not a fan.
Or was he? Nickdidlove burritos, and if Burrito Jerry got them for life, then wouldn’t that mean Nick could partake? Wouldn’t that be worth possibly considering the idea of Dad and Burrito Jerry… if they were, like…
Nope. Nope, nope, nope.
“You good?” Seth asked him, sounding like he was trying not to laugh. “Or do you need to scream some more?”
Nick nodded, showing he was good. As soon as Seth dropped his hand, Nick blurted, “If Burrito Jerryevercomes to our house, you guys have to keep the bedroom door open, you hear me? And I will count every plastic baggie in the damn house, so if any go missing, I’ll know what you’re doing and we’ll have words! So many words!”
“Where would the plastic baggies go?” Burrito Jerry asked Martha, brow furrowed.
“Oh,” she said. “I’m so glad you asked. It’s really rather clever. When you perform—”
“Enemas!” Nick bellowed. “You have to haveenemasto avoid fecal penis—”
“I might have made a mistake,” Dad said, blood draining from his face.
“Nah,” Miles said. “If we can’t have fun watching Nick melt down over the idea of you and Burrito Jerry getting down to bidness, we’re doing it wrong.”
“Daddy,” Jazz said with a pout, her bottom lick stuck out, princess eyes wide. “We talked about this. You can’t saybidnessbecause you’re old and it’s gross. You’re embarrassing me in front of my friends.”
Trey snorted. “Oh, please, Jasmine. As if we didn’t talk to you and Gibby about—”
“Nothing!” Gibby cried. “He didn’t talk to us aboutanything that needs to be brought up right this second.”
And not to be outdone, Nick exclaimed, “Don’t listen to them! I know for a fact dads are liars because I have incontrovertible proof that Seth doesn’t orgasm fire!”
Silence, only interrupted by Seth banging his head against the nearest wall over and over, each hit punctuated by the wordwhy.
“Uh,” Nick said hastily. “Ignore what I just said. Dad Squad! Hooray! I have notes.”
All was right in the world.
The plan was this:
Mary, Jo, and Martha would head to the secret lair in the Gray brownstone, running comms, Martha in charge since she knew the programs almost as well as Gibby.
Burrito Jerry, Gibby, and Jazz would handle Mobile Lighthouse, the van outfitted with all the tech Gibby thought they’d need to see their operation through. Aysha would be there, readyto assist as needed. Jazz told Nick and Seth that she had the night-vision goggles stored in Matilda, just to be safe. “I’m disappointed in all of you that we haven’t used them yet,” she told them. “I didn’t buy them to let them sit on a shelf.” Mateo—now Miss Conduct with her sparkly leotard, blue curly wig, and bangles that only a queen of her caliber could pull off—would act as the first line of defense. Burrito Jerry said that if push came to shove, Matilda could get up to atleastsixty miles an hour before she started shaking and groaning. This did not help as much as he seemed to think it did.
Chris was on duty that night, assigned with a contingent of cops to patrol the crowd in front of Burke Tower to help keep the peace. He showed them a memo that had come from the brass at the NCPD, stating that while they’d received no credible threats, they were all to be on guard.
Which left Seth, Nick, Cap, and the Dad Squad. They’d be in the Kensingtons’ black SUV, a tank of a vehicle with three rows of seating in the back. They’d follow Matilda into the city, parking in a garage a few blocks away from Burke Tower, since the streets would be blocked off by cops. No vehicles, aside from those belonging to the police, would be permitted to pass through. After parking the SUV, they’d be on foot along with thousands of others.
Nick stepped away from the others at the Kensington house as Gibby outfitted the Dad Squad with buttons that readDAD POWER, each with a high-definition camera hidden inside for video and audio that would feed back to Matilda. Nick pulled out burner phones Bob had bought for each of them. Though Gibby had wiped all their phones, they couldn’t be too careful in case Burke was still somehow tracking them. Their usual phones were all inside the house soifBurke had a bead on them, it would seem they were far away from Burke Tower. By the time he realized that wasn’t the case, it’d already be too late, or so Nick hoped.
He sent a text to an unsaved number. We’re ready. R u?
