Page 93 of Love, Luck & Clusterf*ck

“Yes, Mike, I did. Dammit.”

I stood up. This was perfect. “No problem. I’ll run to the store. It’ll only take a few minutes.” I looked at Perry. “Go with me?”

“Sure.”

“Don’t you want me to come along too?” Alex said as we were walking away, and I flipped him off behind my back.

“Having a good time?” I asked when we got in the truck.

“Yeah, I am. Thanks for dragging me out.”

“Anytime.”

“Just curious. How old is Jillian? She looks too young to have a teenager.”

“Thirty-two.”

“Wow. I would’ve thought her closer to your age, maybe evenyounger.”

“I’ll be sure to tell her that. She’ll like you even more.”

“Do you get along with her husband?”

I glanced at her. “Mike, yeah. I don’t see him much, but he’s all right. Why do you ask?”

“He’s not someone I’d picture her with, that’s all. I don’t get that feeling that they’re meant to be together.”

“Oh that’s right. You have a knack.”

“Hey, how’d you know?”

I chuckled. “I heard you say that to Kate at the Brewhouse. So tell me, Miss Relationship Fortune Teller, why doesn’t your special talent extend to yourself?”

She was quiet.Shit. “I shouldn’t have said that, Perry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“It’s okay. I know you were never a fan of Dre’s, even though you didn’t know him.”

“Who said I had to know him? You don’t know Mike either. I think you’re just jealous because you’re not the only one with ‘special’ feelings. In fact, I was thinking about hanging up a shingle over my office door next week: ‘Stephen Davidson—Love Guru.’”

She smacked my arm. “Shut up.” But she said it laughing, so all was good.

We picked up the pretzels and minutes later we were back at Jillian’s. It was much too soon. I didn’t want to go back to sharing her again.

When she didn’t get out of the truck right away, I asked if she was ready for me to take her home.

“No, just give me a minute. I’m enjoying the solitude. I guess I’m just a little peopled out.” She faced the window. “It’s so pretty out here.”

Not nearly as pretty as what’s inside. I couldn’t stop staring at her as she looked out the window. Her hair was the color of the rich coffeeI brewed every morning. I wanted to bury myself in it. Get high as I drank her in. It was fucking torture not touching her.

“We don’t have to go back up to the bonfire. If you’re not ready to go home, we can stay here and talk a while. Or you can just daze out if you’d prefer.”

She turned to me and smiled. “Yeah, okay. I think I’d like that.”

“Great.” I was so happy she’d said that. “I’ll just drop off these pretzels and be right back.”

I went up and spoke with Jillian, warned Alex to keep his distance, and came back with several blankets. I popped the hatch and arranged them.

Perry was out and leaning against the frame. “What’s this?”

---