Page 133 of GAF Factor

His brows dipped in a frown. “We are friends. He’s my best friend.”

That took me by surprise. “Really?”

“Yes. He taught me to drive and that’s really hard for me. When I get frustrated with something, he helps me out.”

“Does he know that?”

“Am I supposed to tell him?”

I had an idea that Cotton wasn’t like everyone else, so I didn’t yell at him like I would anyone else. “You probably should. I think he’d appreciate knowing that you like him so much.”

“Okay.” He stepped around me and kept walking.

“It was nice meeting you, Cotton!” I called after him.

He raised his hand and kept walking. I chuckled and kicked at the snow, wondering what I was going to do now. There wasn’t much to do around here. I desperately wanted to escape and go somewhere, not that I had any place in particular to go, but the thought of being able to go somewhere was like an itch under my skin.

Sighing, I walked toward the OPS building. Maybe someone would take pity on me and give me a tour of the facilities. From what I remembered, there were some pretty cool things down there. By the time I got inside, my fingers were chilled to the bone and my nose felt like a popsicle, but at least I wasn’t cooped up in a house.

Eva was behind the reception desk, busy shuffling through a million things. And when she looked up, she barely acknowledged me. “I’ll be with you in just a minute.”

“No problem.”

I walked around the room, studying the pictures on the walls. They were all generic paintings, none of them particularly fascinating or pretty. It was the typical waiting room, but I knew there was so much more to the facility down below.

“Sorry about that. What can I help you with?”

“Hey, I’m sorry. I’m here with IKE…”

She frowned, then understanding lit in her eyes. “I’m so sorry. Things have just been crazy around here. Did you need him?”

“No. He’s busy. I was just bored and thought maybe someone could give me a tour or something.”

“Oh. Um…let me see if someone’s available.”

Crap, she had so much to do and I was adding to her load by asking her to keep me happy. “You know, it’s not a big deal. I’ll just hang out at the house.”

“No, it’s okay. I’m sure there are plenty of people hanging out. Just give me a minute.”

She picked up the phone and called someone. Ten minutes later, I was on the elevator, being escorted downstairs by none other than Fox, who hadn’t stopped talking since he stepped off the elevator and saw me.

“—and that’s when I lost it. Have you ever had something like that happen?”

“Huh?”

“You know, something that devastating?”

Have I lost Funyuns before and cried about it? Nope. But I could see he was really broken up over it. “Maybe I could take you for some Funyuns later.”

“That’s very kindhearted of you, but there’s just no replacing them.”

“Sure there is. You go to the store and get more.”

“That’s what everyone says,” he sighed.

Probably because they were a snack that was mass-produced and they were literally everywhere. But who was I to point out something so logical?

“What can I do to make you feel better?”

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