Page 17 of On the Double

“Well, more like burning down your building. Which, by the way, I totally didn’t mean to do. That was all IRIS.”

A faint smile tilted his lips. It was the first time I’d seen him smile since this whole business with Rafe started. “Edu, I want you to do something for me.”

“Anything, boss.”

“I think it’s time we celebrated Rafe’s life. Maybe you could run to the store and grab some food and drinks.”

Now, that I could get on board with. “Sure thing, boss.”

I grabbedthe Funyuns out of Fox’s hand and put them back on the shelf. “We don’t need Funyuns.”

“Uh, I beg to differ. Any good party has a bowl of Funyuns,” he said, snatching them back.

“Not this party,” I said, grabbing them from him and replacing them on the shelf. “Besides, if you really want them, you have like forty bags in the silo.”

His eyes widened in horror. “That’s my emergency stash.”

“And they’ll go bad if you don’t eat them,” I argued.

“Nu-uh. Those things last forever.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose as I tried to reason with him. “Fox, how the hell do you go from eating clean to not caring that the crap you’re putting in your body has so many preservatives that you could eat Funyuns four years past the expiration date and be totally fine?”

“Easy. They’re a delicious treat. And I’m not raiding my stash.” This time, he grabbed five bags and plopped them in the cart.

“You are!” I took them back and stuffed them on the shelf. “We are not getting any more!”

“It’s a vital necessity!” he snapped.

“It’s a health hazard!”

“It’s a delicious treat, and you can’t make me stop getting them!” He grabbed the cart out of my hands and wheeled it back to the shelf. Using his arm, he swiped the entire shelf into the cart and stuck out his tongue at me. Bags were overflowing in the cart, making it impossible to fit anything other than the yellow bags of fake snacks that made his breath smell like onions.

Rolling my eyes, I stomped to the front of the store and grabbed another cart. With any luck, Fox would go to the checkout line and leave me in peace. I didn’t know why I was the one stuck with Fox when it was IRIS who set off the explosives.

I wandered through the produce section, grabbing a few things I wanted. I was just about to head to the meat department when Fox caught up with me again, peering into my cart.

“What are you getting?”

Sighing heavily, I waited as he reached in and checked out every single piece of fruit. “You worry about your Funyuns.”

“Ooh, that’s not a possibility. See, while Funyuns may last forever, this fruit will not,” he said, holding up a plum. “I’m not even sure why you chose this one.”

“Because it’s soft.”

“Right. Maybe a little too soft. If you don’t eat this in the next four hours, it’ll go bad.”

“Four hours. You have that timed?” He nodded. “Are you a plum farmer?”

“No, but I do my research on fruit, and this is not one you want to get. Neither are those unless you plan on eating all four plums by tomorrow.” He slapped me on the back and started putting them back, grabbing the ones he thought were better for me. “Aren’t you glad I’m with you?”

“Thrilled,” I deadpanned.

“And you shouldn’t load up your cart with only fruit. You should focus on other things, too,” he said, wandering over to another table.

“Like Funyuns?”

He tossed his head back and laughed. “That too, but I was thinking about vegetables. You should really work more of those into your diet.”

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