Chapter Seventeen
Knock, knock!
Oh, thank God . Sloane rushed to her apartment door and threw it open. “Finally. You’re here!”
Her best friend Felicia lifted a brow. “Well, when your BFF sends an SOS, I believe I’m contractually obligated to come running.”
Since Sloane had indeed sent that message the moment she returned home from the town hall, she could only be grateful. “And that’s why I love you.” She waved Felicia inside. “Come in, come in.”
“And because I am the best friend ever, I brought reinforcements.” Felicia held out a small, flat box.
Sloane gasped. How had she missed that and the familiar, heavenly smells emanating from inside? “Have I told you that I love you?”
“Not today.”
Sloane eagerly took the box and yanked it open. Ooey, gooey cheesiness food porn greeted her. She looked up. “Cheese fries for the win!” But these weren’t just any cheese fries. They were loaded with bacon, chives, and jalapenos. Also known as heaven on earth. “Thank you!”
She beelined to the kitchen for a fork and knife and met up with Felicia in the living room. She settled on the couch. “Do you want some?”
Felicia looked at her like she smelled a trap. “Do I want to come in between you and your favorite food? No, I value my fingers too much.”
“Hey, I’m not that bad. Okay, yes I am,” she continued when Felicia side-eyed her. “But I mean it. You are more than welcome to a fry.”
“Such a generous offer, but I’m good.”
“Okay.” Sloane barely got the word out before she stuffed the first—okay two—delicious fries into her mouth. When her stomach had been sated a few minutes later, she leaned back against the sofa cushions and patted her abdomen. “Now, that was the good stuff. Thank you again.”
Felicia angled her body toward her on the couch. “You’re welcome. Now tell me what’s up. I miss you.”
“I miss seeing your face every day too, but I had to leave.” She made a face, remembering why she’d quit.
“Girl, I get it. So spill. Tell me why I got the emergency ‘help’ text? I’m assuming this has something to do with your new job.”
Sloane had already spilled the details about her interview with San Diego Today, her old foe Preston, and how she’d come to work for Sugar Blitz.
“Is this about working for your brother?” Felicia added. “I know you never wanted to do that.”
Sloane wrinkled her nose. “I still don’t, but I do want his business to succeed. Besides, it’s temporary. A means to an end.”
Felicia’s head tilted to the side. “Okay. So, maybe the text was about working with your forever crush? I mean, I am your best friend. I’ve listened to and remember all your ramblings over the years.”
Sloane held up a finger. “Hold up. First of all, he’s not my forever crush.” He couldn’t be. She couldn’t be that ridiculous. Could she? No. Absolutely not. “That was back in high school, and it’s fine. I’m working to get him out of his shell and capitalize on his social media fame, so their new location is a success. Even though he kinda doesn’t want to do that anymore, so I’m trying to respect his wishes, but still have a successful campaign. It’s fine.” Sloane popped two more fries into her mouth. See. Totally fine.
Felicia crossed her arms and lifted her eyebrows.
Sloane swallowed. “What? It is!”
“Ma’am. I know you. I remember how you talked about how he barely speaks to you, and you get back at him by teasing him whenever you can. I also have social media, and have seen SugarBae become all the rage.”
Sloane lifted her chin. “Yeah, well, a man who recognizes the importance of women is rare.”
“And it didn’t affect you at all?”
Sloane shrugged as nonchalantly as possible. “I mean it was nice to hear, but whatever. Anyway, we had a town hall tonight because some residents aren’t happy about Sugar Blitz coming into their neighborhood. They’ve been protesting.” She stuffed another fry in her mouth and swallowed. “Anyway, you should’ve seen some of the women. And their mothers! Offering their daughters up to him like he was Prince Charming.”
“Does that make you Cinderella?” Felicia snatched a fry off Sloane’s plate and popped it into her mouth.
“You’re my bestie and you bought these, so I won’t cut off your fingers—this time.”
Felicia swallowed. “I know. Love you too.”
Sloane narrowed her eyes. “Hmm, mmm.”
“Now, answer my question.”
Sloane threw her hands up. “What? About being Cinderella? No, I’m not! For one, I’m not looking for love right now. Men are nothing but trouble. You and I have talked about that on multiple occasions. Two, he’s not my Prince Charming.”
“Then why are you stuffing fries in your mouth faster than you can chew?”
Sloane swallowed. “Because they’re amazing. Anyway, you should have seen August. He was acting weird, and I don’t get it.”
Felicia settled her arm on the top of a cushion and rested her cheek on her fist. “Weird how?”
“He smiled at them!”
“He smiled at them,” Felicia repeated slowly.
“Yes!” Why didn’t her friend understand the urgency of the situation?
“That’s a problem because…”
“Because he doesn’t smile.” And when he did, the action lit up the whole room. He saved them for rare occasions, and just because she felt like a million bucks when she got one out of him meant nothing.
Felicia shrugged. “Maybe you’re rubbing off on him. You did task yourself with bringing him out of his shell.”
“That didn’t mean he should be smiling at people who want nothing more than to lick him like a lollipop!”
“Riiiiight,” Felicia said.
“You won’t believe this. The one who was doing the heaviest flirting is the daughter of the protesting group’s ringleader. He can’t be interested in her, right?”
“Right.”
“And that’s all there is to it. Let’s move on.” Sloane chewed and swallowed another fry.
“Sure. Sounds like you have other issues besides August smiling at people?” Felicia continued, moving on like the good friend she was. “Something about protestors.”
Sloane dropped her head back and groaned. “I thought this would be a fun, easy assignment with the whole SugarBae thing. They already have a strong brand that just needed some social media help. I figured I could work with August on his concerns and hesitations. But then the protesters showed up. We hoped the town hall would allay their fears, but I’m not so sure. The residents are worried about gentrification, which isn’t helped by the fact that August, my brother, and Nicholas, their other partner, basically bought the whole block. I know their intentions are good, but…”
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
“Exactly.” Sloane blew out a breath. “I’m just trying to keep it all together. We’re going to talk about this whole buy-the-block thing tomorrow and what exactly that means, because I am not about driving residents out of their neighborhood.”
“Except you don’t own the buildings, and you need to make them look good if you want this job.”
Sloane shook her head. “Thanks for the reminder.”
Her phone chimed with a text. Sloane grabbed the device from the coffee table and groaned. “Why me?”
Felicia scooted closer. “What now?”
Sloane showed her the screen.
Her bestie made the Chrissy Teigen “yikes” face. “Sucks to be you, my friend.”