Page 25 of Meet Cute Reboot

“Fix it,” I say before they’ve had a chance to sit.

Drew tucks his chin, hiding his eyes behind his flop of hair.

“She knows,” Luke says.

“Knows what? I didn’t—” Drew crosses his legs and leans against the back wall in an awkward Joe Cool pose. “I didn’t do anything.”

Luke grabs the back of a chair and leans over the table. “She knows you added me to the app.”

Drew flips his hair. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He looks at me for a moment and then looks at the ceiling.

“I guess I can stop that thousand-dollar bonus, then,” Luke says. “Give me a minute. I’ll call up Loraine and tell her we need to adjust your next paycheck.” Luke grabs his phone out of his back pocket.

“No!” Drew throws out his hand to halt Luke’s phone call.

“You paid him a thousand dollars?” I say, not bothering to tame the shrillness of my voice.

“Not yet,” Luke says. “Should I not?”

“No, you should not.” I stomp over to Luke and grab the phone out of his hand. “Call Loraine and tell her to cancel Drew’s bonus.”

“I was about to and then you ripped my phone out of my hand.”

I toss it back to him and hear a growl erupt from my throat. I’m growling now?

“I did what you asked, Luke,” Drew says. “I added you to the database and made sure Cupid picked you. You owe me one thousand dollars.”

“I never told you to make sure Cupid picked me,” I say.

“You told me you wanted a date with Cassie.”

“I didn’t tell you to cheat the system.”

“My bad. Where’s my money?”

“It was unethical,” I say. “You don’t deserve to be paid.”

“But it’s paying for my trip to the Atlanta My Little Pony Expo.”

Luke and I both squint at Drew. “What?” we say in unison.

Drew tugs on a chair and plops down into it. He slaps his elbows onto the table. “The Atlanta My Little Pony Expo,” he over-enunciates.

“I thought IT guys liked Star Wars, Star Trek, Thor,” Luke says.

“Don’t knock it. My collection is worth seven thousand dollars.”

Luke and I lock eyes for a moment. I feel a tickle in my chest. He sees it in my expression, which makes the sensation worse. It escapes as a laugh, with Luke joining in, the both of us slapping the glass tabletop, crouching to catch our breath, nearly rolling on the floor.

“Not. Cool,” Drew says after we finally quiet down.

I pull out a chair and collapse. I have no idea where that came from. Stress probably. I’m under too much stress. I’m starting to unravel.

Luke always made me laugh. We spent many evenings rolling on the floor, clutching our stomachs over the silliest things.

But this isn’t jokes and laughter time. This is CEO Cassie in charge of everything time.

I catch my breath, straighten my back, and drill my eyes into Drew’s. Back to business. “You stabbed me in the back for some little plastic ponies.”