Page 71 of A Little Bit Extra

Within seconds, she answers.

“Emmett, I’m not very happy with you right now.” I can feel her glare through the phone.

“Hello to you too, Marce. I’m great, thanks for asking. How are you?” I say, sarcasm laced in my tone.

“I warned you.”

“Can you just come over here? We want to talk,” I ask, just wanting her to give us a few minutes to explain.

A knock comes from the front door.

“Hey Marce, hold on. Someone’s at the door.” I drop my phone to my hip as I walk to answer it.

I barely get the door unlocked before it’s pushed open and someone comes barreling in.

“You two,” Marcy greets us, shaking her head, walking straight toward the kitchen. “You made pancakes?” She looks at me, holding the plain pancake in her hand to show me like I don’t know, then proceeds to take a bite.

“We did, um…” I walk to the kitchen, stopping to stand next to Cassie. “I-we would like to talk to you.”

“Mhm.” Marcy leans her backside against the counter, crossing one arm over the other. Even though she’s a few years younger, she likes to act like she’s an older sister bossing me around. “Continue.” She takes another bite of the pancake.

“You know we have syrup, right?” I ask, and immediately regret it because Marcy is shooting daggers at me. “Anyway, we want to tell you that we are dating.”

I pause before saying more or asking for help, waiting to hear or see how she’ll react.

“I know that, dipshit.” She takes one last bite, finishing the pancake, before sauntering closer to the island.

Cassie stiffens a little, which I can only assume means she’s uncomfortable about the situation and unsure what’s going to happen next. I’m sure she’s worried about her job, which we knew was a risk when we got together.

“I expected you two to be a bit more…Oh what’s the word? Oh yeah, secretive,” Marcy berates us.

“We were secretive,” Cassie says, finding her voice. “We didn’t expect his dad to come here today.”

“You should always expect him to show up when you least expect it,” Marcy fills Cassie in, raising her eyebrows in a “duh” expression.

“Can you help us, Marce?” I ask.

“I don’t know. How do I know this is for real?” Marcy asks.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” I pinch the bridge of my nose.

“Yes, I’m kidding. I already helped.”

I look at Cassie, who's already looking at me, both of our mouths open, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“I take the silence as a thank you, so you’re welcome.” Marcy leans forward on the counter, grinning to herself.

“How?” I ask.

“Easy, told Carla, filed some paperwork, then filled Ed in. Easy peasy.”

“When?”

“Oh, gosh, when was that? A month ago?”

“A month? Marcy, for fuck’s sake. What does that even mean?” I ask, trying to keep my tone neutral.

“It means you two can see each other without worrying about anything happening. Stop looking at me like you’re trying to decide whether you want to hug me or slap me.”

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