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“Thank you. Agent Death-Stare, are you ready?”
“I’m ready to murder whoever came up with these code names,” Nicole shot back, her voice crackling slightly over the walkie-talkie.
“Perfect. Meet in the Lions’ Den in T-minus five minutes. Copy that, roger that, whatever the hell you say, over.”
Jesse tossed his walkie-talkie on the bed and grabbed his duffel bag from where it was lying on the floor, right where Theo had put it after helping him pack the night before.
“Agent Super-Ugly,” Nicole’s voice crackled over the walkie talkie. “Your cousin told me to tell you that Zara said Gracie want you to bring Dean’s sweatshirt when you come downstairs.”
“That’s not my code name!” Jesse complained, but he grabbed the sweatshirt anyway, swinging it over his shoulder. Then, he bounded down the steps and into the common room, grinning at Raina and Nicole, who were sitting on one of the couches with Zara and Dean. Gracie sat on the floor, a book open in her lap, but she happily stood to accept the sweatshirt.
“Ready to go?” Dean asked, rising and dusting his hands off on his pants.
Jesse raised an eyebrow at him. “You’re coming with us?”
“Nope, excited for you to leave so I can enjoy my weekend for once,” Dean replied without missing a beat.
Zara laughed, standing and resting her arm on Dean’s shoulder. “He wants you to go since your bed is more comfortable than his, and he wants to sleep in it all weekend.”
“Why Dean, if you wanted to sleep with me, you could’ve just asked!” Jesse joked, then paused. Horror zipped through his body when he realized what he had implied. “Actually, never mind, forget I said anything.”
“Let’s go,” Raina suggested, a bag of brightly wrapped gifts on her arm.
Jesse grabbed Raina’s duffel in his free hand but ignored Nicole’s, knowing his friend would be too proud to accept help.
“Let’s get you out of here,” Zara suggested, picking up one of Nicole’s bags and ignoring the other girl’s glare. “Nic, loving the black.”
“I always wear black,” Nicole pointed out.
“I was referring to your duffel.” Zara nodded to the bag Nicole had slung over her shoulder. “Where did you buy it?”
“Paris,” Nicole answered stiffly.
Jesse shot Nicole a worried look when he picked up on her change of tone. If Theo were there, he would have noticed it as well, but Dean didn’t know Nicole very well and Zara was, as always, oblivious. Jesse loved Zara, he really did, but sometimes he was shocked by how oblivious she could be when it came to people’s moods and feelings.
“That’s so cool.” A slow grin spread across Zara’s face. “You know, I’m trying to convince Aunt Eliza to take me to Paris this summer. Well, that or I was trying to get Aunt Lisabeth to take me with her when she goes to Italy.”
Jesse’s head shot up. “Hold on. My parents are going to Italy?”
“No, just your mom,” Zara said easily. “She’s shooting a TV series this summer, so she’s spending August there. She’s flying back like, three days before school starts, so I could go with her and not miss any school.”
“August? The entire month?”
Zara looked over at him, her frown matching his. “She hasn’t spoken to you?”
Jesse swallowed. “No. I talked to my dad last week, but she’s been pretty busy with her latest movie.”
“My mom’s friend is here,” Raina cut in, holding up her phone. “She texted me. She’s outside, but security isn’t letting her in.”
“Let’s head out, then,” Jesse said. “The car’s not going to drive itself.”
“Shotgun!” Nicole crowed, shooting a fist in the air.
“Hey!” Jesse cried. “I wanted shotgun.”
“I called it first.”
“I wasn’t ready!”
