Page 67 of Green Flag
“He’s on his way here, so if there’s anything you need to get off your chest—”
Her iPad lit up in front of her, and she sighed before unlocking it and scrolling.
“Faster than usual,” she muttered to herself before turning it around.
@HotCiclatiNews: Seems Nix isn’t the only one falling for his grid girl this year. Luca Mendes and his grid girl, Everly Bacque, are in behind-the-scenes footage of StormSprint’s upcoming documentary.
Beneath the tweet was a picture someone had snapped of us in the moment.
“At least it’s a good photo,” she said and then she paused, her mind turning, her eyes dancing across the room, deep in thought and then landing on mine with a smile. “Are you together?”
“No,” I said quickly. “There’s not a relationship. We’ve just hooked up a couple of times.” Kind of.
There was a knock at the door that didn’t make Livie move in the slightest. She must have been messaging people for what she deemed a crisis. Luca walked in, looking a little frazzled. His golden hair was tousled in the way I liked. He was the exact image I pictured whenever I thought about him a little too much.
Like in the shower that morning.
“I just walked into your dad,” he said to me before sitting at my side.
Great.
“He… er, wouldn’t look at me. Said he would keep my contract going but that I would be benchedforeverand that he needed a gin.” He breathed out deeply. “He more screamed itrather than said it. His face went all red like Clifford the Big Red Dog. Like poppy red. I think I should have called a medic.”
Livie tried to hide her smile, then became all business. “Is Velazco out? Did anyone see him? Take any pictures?”
He shook his head. “Dropped him off with security. He went willingly.”
“You could have laughed a little quieter when Livie came to my door,” I chided as Livie sighed with relief.
Luca frowned, casting his mind back and then laughed. “Oh, yeah. You don’t have the best spatial awareness, Everly. You practically held the door open for her to see me. I gave her a little wave.”
Livie nodded and really couldn’t hold back her laugh, which she then tried to turn into a cough, but I was glaring at the two of them.
“Ex-fucking-scooze me?”
He shrugged. “We can contain this, right? Just tell Cris it was a wind-up.”
Livie tapped her screen and showed him the tweet.
That now had fifty likes and over twenty comments.
“Maybe not then,” he sighed and sat back in his seat.
“And there’s the little fact the documentary crew filmed it,” she grumbled. “Could you two have been a little more subtle? I don’t know, held hands at first? Warmed your dad up a little?”
“Hey, she kissed me!”
My brows were low as I lightly slapped him on the arm. Livie’s comment about sexual harassment stuck with me. “Hey, you enjoyed it!”
“You did say you ‘weren’t done’, Luca,” Livie sighed. “So, you have both made your bed. Now that we don’t have Clara and Nix, I guess we have you two.”
“We’re not anything—” Luca started, a little too eagerly.
“You are now,” Livie said firmly and waved her hand over the iPad.
She had a point. We definitely looked like something.
“It’s a good thing I’ve had a minute to think this through,” she said with a few nods, pausing to articulate her idea. “We need something for the media to focus on other than Pedro somehow getting into our pit box.”
