Page 46 of On the Double

I tried to snatch the jar out of his hand, but he wouldn’t let go. “You can eat in ten minutes!”

“You don’t know that,” he said, struggling with me. “What if they don’t have food ready right away? Do you want me starving?”

“You won’t starve!” I grunted. “You eat like five meals a day!”

“Because I’m a growing boy!”

I screeched as I slipped and fell backward. I watched in horror as the jar flew into the air, swirling above me before falling right over my head. My eyes connected with Oliver’s for just a moment, and then I squeezed them closed as the jar’s contents upended all over me.

Brown liquid covered my clothes and dripped from my hair. The smell of something foul permeated the air—something a simple shower wouldn’t be able to remove. Holding my hands out, I grimaced as the liquid dripped from my body.

My eyes slowly met my brother’s, who had the courtesy to look sheepish. “Oops.”

“You!” I said scathingly.

He stumbled over his feet, moving behind the chair for protection. “Now, Harper?—”

I shoved to my feet, glaring at my brother. “Don’t you dareHarperme!”

“INow, Harper-ed you. That’s a totally different thing!”

“I’m covered in…” I took a large whiff and grimaced. “What is that?”

He shrugged. “Pickled pig’s feet.”

I nearly vomited. “Why on earth would you eat that?”

“It was at the gas station! I was hungry!”

That was just like my brother. He was hungry, so he stopped and got something from the gas station. Didn’t men know that gas station food wasn’t real food?

“I have to take another shower now. And Gram is going to give me that look for being late.”

He winced. “Well, try to hurry.”

I glared at him. This was all his fault. “You’d better be ready when I get out of the shower.” I marched off, but turned at the last second. “And no more eating!”

13

EDU

“It’s all good,”Fox said, rubbing my shoulders. “She’ll come. We’ll eat and be merry. You’ll see. It’ll all be fine.”

I held the garbage can between my knees as I dry-heaved again. This was most definitely not going to be fine. “I might throw up.”

“You’ve been saying that for the last hour. Everything will be fine. I promise.”

“You got me engaged.”

“Yeah, but it’s not real. You’re just helping out a friend,” he said congenially. “It’s like…if I were in trouble, you would be there for me, right?”

“I guess.”

“No guessing. I know you would.” He rubbed my shoulders harder, easing the ache growing in my muscles. “You’re a good guy, and all you’re doing is faking it for one day. We do that all the time. Think of this as a mission.”

“A mission?” I heaved again, but nothing came up.

“Yeah, it’s a mission. See, you’re like…James Bond, and you’re trying to save the girl from her not-so-evil grandma. So, for one night, you pretend that you’re engaged to her. You put on that classic Edu magnetism that we all know is buried somewhere in the depths of that blackened heart, and you impress the grandma with your wit and dashing good looks.”

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