[✓] 𝐶𝐼𝑁𝐷𝐸𝑅 | 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐑 𝐑𝐄𝐈𝐃

𝟓 | 𝐒𝐄𝐗, 𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐇, 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇 | 𝟏/𝟐

— 𝒞 —

"𝐆𝐋𝐀𝐃 𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 finally pull you away from all that paperwork."

"Me too," Charlie agreed, poking the lettuce in her salad with her fork. "It's not all that fun."

"Trust me, I know. Paperwork is half my job," JJ chuckled, glancing back as a couple of people entered the already busy café. "So, Charlie . . . do you have a boyfriend?"

"Oh, so that's where we're starting?" she replied humorously, raising her eyebrows as she let her fork rest against the edge of the bowl. "No, I don't. Last one I had was about four months ago."

"Hm. Interesting. What's—"

"Hey, hey, I get to ask the question, too!" Charlie laughed, lifting a finger. "Do you—"

"I don't." JJ grinned as she picked up her mug of coffee. "What's your type?"

"My type?"

"Yeah. Your type." She shrugged. "What kind of guy do you like?"

"Oh, uh . . ." Charlie furrowed her eyebrows. She didn't have too much of a preference, and all of her boyfriends had been quite different. "I don't know."

"Come on, you're twenty-eight!" JJ pointed out with a laugh. "You've gotta have that figured out by now."

"Like" —she shrugged, still baffled— "smart? Tall? Nice?"

"That's so basic," JJ remarked, leaning back in the booth they were in. "Like . . . what hair colour? Or eye colour? Or even a specific trait?"

"I'm fine with any hair or eye colour, JJ," Charlie sighed, shaking her head. "I'd want him to be into books, I guess. That's it."

JJ scoffed in amusement. "Your standards are low."

Charlie shrugged. "What about you? What's your type?"

"Unimportant. Do you have any . . ." JJ pressed her lips together, giving a coy shrug before innocently continuing, "I don't know, interest in anyone, currently?"

Charlie squinted her eyes. She had a feeling that there was a reason behind her questioning. "Are you hiding something from me?"

"What?" JJ scoffed and shook her head, picking up her sandwich. "I'm not hiding anything. I just want to know."

Charlie's eyes remained narrowed while JJ took a bite. She still wasn't all too sure about her answer to the question, in all honestly.

Yes, she thought Spencer was cute, and okay, she could admit that his personality was great, and all right, his love of books could rival hers, and sure, she found her heart skipping a beat whenever he glanced over at her—

Charlie pursed her lips. Maybe she liked Spencer a little more than she had thought.

"Even if I were interested in anyone," Charlie replied with a raised finger, "that remains top secret."

JJ gave her raised eyebrows. "So, basically, you are."

"I didn't say that."

"But you're not denying it, which means you are."

She scoffed. "Just because I didn't deny doesn't mean—"

"Yes. Yes, it does."

Charlie sighed and shook her head. "I have been in this unit for three weeks—"

"When did I say anything about the men in this unit?" JJ interrupted, her lips now spread into an amused smile.

"Just now," Charlie insisted, her eyebrows knitting together tightly, "when you—"