Page 74 of Zero Chance

Gates lurched a surprised step back, clearly not even realizing someone had been sitting there the entire time he’d trudged to my desk and flopped down his gross face.

“Who’re you?”he demanded.

Keene lifted his eyebrows right back and countered, “Who’reyou?”

Gates spun to me.“Who’s he?Do you have aboyfriend?”

“A boyfriend?”Keene grimaced and slapped a hand to his chest as if the question literally pained him.“Gah, that is such a typical, little brother kind of question.”But as soon as he spoke, he straightened as if surprised.“Hey.”Pointing at Gates, he sent me a betrayed glance.“You have a little brother?”

I sent him a dry stare.“Unfortunately.”

“Wow.Just when you think you know a person.”He shook his head as if trying to clear the surprise from it.

“My parents are out of town today,” I explained.“So I was forced to watch him.And when a coworker called, needing me to fill in for a two-hour shift, I had to bring Gates with me.”

“Gates, huh?”Shifting his gaze to my brother, he tipped his chin up in a head bob of greeting and said, “Hey, man.I’m Keene.But you can call me Your Supreme Greatness.”

Gates snorted, letting Keene know that was never going to happen.

“So how many siblings do y’all have?”he asked, motioning between the two of us.

“We’re it,” I answered, letting my gaze skim over Gates as I wondered what Keene must think when he looked at him.

“Hmm.”Keene nodded before giving a little shrug.“Still more siblings than I have.”Returning his attention to Gates, he jerked up his head one more time in recognition.“So you’re hungry, huh?”

“Yeah…” Gates crept closer to him, his eyes gleaming eagerly.“I’m starving.”Pressing a hand to his stomach, he laid it on thick, adding, “I don’t think I can make it until three.”

“Yeah, I know exactly what you mean.I’m starving too.”Nodding along with my brother as if he completely understood his misery, Keene added, “In fact…”

He paused to lift up one hip and dig into his back pocket to pull up a carbon fiber wallet.

Tugging his cash free from the money clip, he flipped up two, one-dollar bills.“Why don’t you run to the vending machine for me and get me a candy bar, huh?Something with nuts, caramel, and chocolate in it.Oh!Plus a bag of chips while you’re there.”He produced another dollar before nodding and coming up with two more.“And a cola.All that food’s going to make me thirsty.”

Extending the cash toward my brother, he bounced his brows once.“Don’t forget to bring back the change.”

Gates shot him a dry, unimpressed stare and refused to take the money.“That’s it?You just want me to fetch stuff for you?And you’re not going to give me anything for it?”

“Oh, did you want me to buy you something too?”Keene lifted his brows as if surprised before he made a slow, taunting production of holding his tongue between his teeth and peeling two more dollars from the pile.

He waved the cash at my brother, clearly heckling him, only to pull it back when Gates reached out greedily.

“Well, this could be all yours, my friend,” he encouraged softly.“All you gotta do is tell me one little embarrassing fact about your sister.”

17

WAVERLY

“What?”I screeched.

“Shh.”Keene held up a finger in my direction without taking his attention off Gates.“We’re making a deal here.”

“Gates,” I warned in a deadly voice.“Don’t you dare.”

But my snitch of a brother only grinned mischievously.“She keeps a stuffed cow on her bed,” he reported without even missing a beat.

Keene’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.“For real?”When his gaze skidded my way, I scowled back, silently daring him to mock Bessie.Grinning big, he returned his attention to Gates.“Well now, that’s just adorable.I saidembarrassing.Try again.”

“She named it Bessie,” Gates added.

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