They do that weird thing men do were they half shake hands half hug, and I realize I haven`t seen Max do that with any of his teammates.
„I thought you were supposed to stay in New York for another week.”
„I finished cleaning up the mess Hallen made earlier than I thought I would. I really am the best at my job.”
He says that while grinning, so it`s less obnoxious than it sounds. I wonder what he does for a living. Lawyer? Assassin? Both? I must be pretty obvious in my curiosity because he clarifies.
„I`m a PR expert.”
„Aa, you must be very good at bullshiting.”
He looks surprised for a second, but then he grins at me.
„Yes, I am. I have to say I like your assistant Max, not your usual style. Thank God.”
„What`s that supposed to mean? And you know damn well she`s more babysitter than an assistant.”
Simon shrugs, and I must say the bored look he manages is perfect. It must be a British thing.
„Your taste in women is quite frankly appalling. I mean, how you manage not to be bored to death is a mystery to me. ”
„One: the women I date are not boring. They are smart, classy, respectable women. Two: Sophie is my assistant; we`re not dating.”
Simon raises an eyebrow and smirks at Max, which he must know will only annoy his grumpiness even more. Before Max can say anything more, we hear the front door opening and Ema`s voice calling my name.
„We`re in the kitchen,” I answer.
„Oh my God, it smells like heaven in here. He better not have eaten everything again, or I swear I`m going to beat him over the head with my laptop.”
She walks into the kitchen, and when she sees Simon, she stops abruptly, and even though she grins, I think I can see her blushing a little. Hello, what do we have here?
„Buttercup, you`re home,” she sing-songs.
Buttercup? He rolls his eyes at her and then shakes his head.
„Are you ever going to stop calling me that?”
„Never,” she says like the thought is too appalling even to consider. He sighs like he`s resigned himself to his fate.
„You know, one of these days, I`m going to think of a very embarrassing nickname for you, and then you`ll be sorry and beg for mercy, but I shan`t give you any.”
Ema turns to me and fans herself.
„He just said shan`t. I love a man with a big vocabulary.”
I burst out laughing, Simon blushes, and Max makes a gagging noise.
„It`s going to be a horrendous nickname, absolutely ghastly.”
I laugh even harder as Ema gives him a dreamy look like he`s reciting poetry instead of making threats.
„Such a big vocabulary,” she taunts while twirling a loose lock of hair.
Max seems to have finally had enough because he clears his throat to get his sister`s attention.
„That`s enough Ema, you know he`s sensitive.”
„Fuck you,” Simon says and flips him off.
I finally manage to stop laughing, and I turn to Ema, who`s now sitting on the kitchen island.
„Why do you call him buttercup?”
„Can`t we just pass over the whole bloody nickname thing?” Simon whines, and I give him an incredulous look because he`s crazy if he thinks I`m just going to gloss over that. Ema, being the smart, sensible girl that she is, ignores him.
„I gave him the nickname when he and Max got drunk celebrating Max being drafted by the Wolves. Fun fact, Simon is a lightweight. Anything beyond two glasses of wine or two beers goes straight to his head, and he becomes a very funny guy. So, they were drunk, and I came over to bring Max a celebratory cake, and they were in the middle of discussing The Powerpuff Girls.”
„What?” I ask because I was not expecting that. They were discussing cartoon characters? Girly cartoon characters?
„I know, right? Well, they were discussing which Powerpuff girl was the best. Max said the best one was Blossom because she was the smartest, and Simon was insisting Buttercup was better. Max`s choice didn`t surprise me because of his smart girl fetish, but I did not expect Simon to pick Buttercup. I asked him why he chose her, and he said he likes that she`s a bit of a bad girl and can kick some ass. I mean, who knew? Mister fancy pants likes bad girls.”
Simon looks like he wants to throttle her, and I must admit I`m quite amused even though it`s a bit of a mood killer to be reminded that Max has a particular type he`s attracted to.
„I,for one, like Bubbles. She`s a pacifist,” I say, trying to make poor Simon feel better.
„Of course you do, she`s a hippie,” Max says, rolling his eyes at me.
„Bubbles is not a hippie, and neither am I.”
He shakes his head with a look of mock pity.
„Denial is a powerful thing. You have to embrace your inner hippie if you`re to become the best version of yourself.”
Hahaha, funny guy.
„Keep it up, sunshine, and you`ll find yourself on a raw food diet to rival any anorexic model out there.”
The smirk quickly leaves his face, and he gives me puppy dog eyes.
„Sunshine?” Simon asks while studying us.
„That`s what she calls him,” Ema tells him while smiling. „And he calls her hobo.”
„Why the bloody hell would you call her that?”
„It`s an inside joke,” Max answers a bit defensively.
„He can`t grasp the difference between boho-chic and hobo-chic, even though I`ve explained numerous times.”
„So she calls you sunshine –sweet while definitely sarcastic- and you in turn call her...hobo. Am I getting this right?”
Hold up right there, mister judgy pants.
„I happen to find it funny actually, and since I`m the one he`s calling hobo, my opinion is the only one that matters.”
Simon looks over at Ema, and they share a look before they both smile at me.
„I stand corrected. Hobo is a perfectly acceptable pet name.”
„Yes, it is. Now, I think the lasagna is finally ready, so go wash your hands and be ready to have your world rocked.”
„That good, huh?” Simon asks Max.
„Yep. She`s
