“Is there a problem?” my father asked, seeing that Ty had stopped paying attention to him. “No, just making sure Nikki is okay. She’s looking a little jittery,” he answered, not taking his eyes off me. When my dad looked in my direction for clarification, a logical explanation wasn’t the first thing that came to mind. “I ate a toothpick earlier,” I blurted out. “You . . . what?” Alex asked, cocking an eyebrow and trying to suppress a laugh. Ty remained unchanged, and my dad looked at me incredulously.
