Page 64 of Pin-up Girl

Brodie shrugged. “Sure.” He showed me how to pair the device with my phone and Dee’s, and how to monitor it. There had to be a phone nearby to pick up what the shirt was seeing, otherwise her vitals would sync next time she was near her phone. Keeping it on her was best, but it would pick up signals within fifty feet.

“So she can’t really dance in this.” I was disappointed, but this was still far better than relying on her telling someone she didn’t feel well, or forcing her to wear a bulkier system.

Brodie shook his head. “It depends on what kind of dancing she’s doing, but this isn’t going to work with something like a ballet leotard, no.”

I’d still take it. “I really appreciate this. Thank you. What about washing the shirts?”

“They’re made for soldiers and athletes, so we had to make them easy to take care of. Cold water wash, and low heat dry.”

The reality of what I was looking at was sinking in. This was the idea Brodie had in high school, but refined. Functional. Real rather than in his head. “This is incredible tech. When you tried to explain it to me when we were teenagers…”

“I told you it would work.” He smirked.

“You were right.”

Brodie stacked everything up and slid the stack across the coffee table to me. “Tell me about this synthetic spider silk you made?”

What else was I going to do? Rage around town? This would be a nice distraction. I nodded to the seat behind him and sank into the couch across from him.

With some people, I might worry about them stealing an idea like this, especially with the resources Brodie had. I had some issues with him, but none of our history together made me think he was trying to take this from me.

Speaking of his resources though… Apparently I couldn’t let this drop. “Really? You were fired from your own company? And you’re fine?”

“Yes. No.” Brodie sighed. “I’m more bothered by the fact that I’m not bothered, than I am actually bothered.”

I had to replay the words several times in my mind to make sense of them. “Do you know why you’re not bummed?” When he told me about this back in the day, he’d been so excited. So certain it would be something big.

And looking at the clothes on the table, he’d built something huge.

“I wanted to make and sell my idea,” Brodie said. “I wanted to make it better, and grow it into other ideas. That was all I ever wanted. I became the face for the company instead, and I didn’t want that.”

“That sounds to me like the perfect place to be.” I should’ve kept that thought to myself.

“For you, sure. You’ve always been an attention whore.”

I glanced at his face, and saw a hint of amusement.

Teasing. I could do that. “Sure, I prefer to get paid when the world is staring at me, but I’ll do it for free.”

Brodie frowned and twisted his mouth. I could almost see the gears turning in his head. “Does that make you an attention slut instead?”

“I guess it does.” I chuckled. I could also see that while the public eye was perfect for me, it wasn’t ever going to be Brodie’s thing. “So you’re okay.”

“I’m processing. I’ll be fine, I really will.” He sounded sincere. “Synthetic spider silk?”

He’d never been a good liar or had any knack for hiding things, so I had to believe him. “The thing about the formula is… you already know how it works. You’ve seen it,” I said.

Brodie furrowed his brow. “There has to be more to it.”

“That’s how it’s made. The problem is, it’s not useful unless it can be made into a fine enough thread, and the chemicals are picky about how they’re catalyzed. They have to be mixed at the right time, used within a certain amount of time, and sent through a delivery system that keeps the result fine, but doesn’t get clogged.”

“What if I solved those problems?”

If anyone could, it was Brodie.

I was still worried about Dee. About how Regina’s leaving would impact her. And I was still furious at Regina for even thinking about doing this, let alone going through with it.

The distraction with Brodie was nice for now, though.

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