Page 60 of Just for the Plot

It has to be her. She needs to be rescued.

And here I was, about to freeze my head into an ice cube.

Foolish behavior!

I slam the freezer door shut, grab my phone, and see that it’s a text from Gretchen.

Ugh. That was fucking cruel.

Gretchen:In the neighborhood, want to talk now?

It’s past ten, what the hell is she doing?

What do I care, though? That will keep me busy.

Bennett:Sure, meet you at Brewers? In five?

Gretchen:See you there.

I slip on a hat and a shirt that isn’t drenched in nervous sweat and then book it down to the twenty-four-hour coffee shop that is right around the corner from me.

When I arrive, she’s already sitting at a table with a cup of coffee in front of her. I offer her a nod and then fill a complimentary cup of water before sitting down across from her.

Gretchen is…tough.

She keeps us in line when it comes to this PR nightmare and doesn’t let us get away with anything. We even tried to overthrow her at the beginning, tell her that we weren’t into this whole zoo thing, but that did us no good. She put us in our place pretty quickly.

“So…you’re unhappy.”

About a lot of things, but she doesn’t need to know that.

“Yeah, I just, I fail to see how working at the zoo is helping me. I know there will be video released of everything we’ve done, but it’s quite time-consuming for me, and I don’t see much return. Maybe there’s something else I can participate in that would be a better fit, kind of like how Graydon is doing the social media thing with Maple.”

She nods. “Yeah, I’ve heard from the Bombers front office that they haven’t seen much pickup from what you’ve been doing, and I’ve been thinking about how I could remedy that.”

“Really?” I ask, feeling hope. “Maybe you can go with someone else on the team? The whole grumpy thing seems to work, so maybe you can ask about Asher Peppers, take the Graydon route.”

She shakes her head. “No, he was on the team during the scandal. We’re trying to uplift a new line of faces and they’re set on you. You have the most appeal to the fans right now, especially the women.” She brings her drink to her mouth. “How do you feel about a PR relationship?”

“Not happening,” I say, knowing for a fact that’s not something I could pull off.

“Shame, oh…what about a dating show?”

“No,” I deadpan.

“You don’t have to actually date the person.”

“No, nothing to do with my love life.”

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

“No,” I say wistfully as my mind goes to Bower.

“What’s that?” she asks, motioning to my face.

“What’s what?” I ask.

“That look. When I asked if you have a girlfriend, you said no, but there was this starry-eyed glaze in your expression.”