Page 20 of Doing It for Love

“Theresa…” Male Voice groans. He says something else, and I start singing “Itsy Bitsy Spider” under my breath, hoping to drown out the sloppy kissing sounds.

Slurp.

Went up the waterspout.

Thump.

Down came the rain.

Mmmmm.

And washed the spider out.

“Take them off.”

“Theresa…,” Male Voice says again.

“Stay,” she mumbles. I hear a zipper, and I reach for a hanger.

“You need…you need to sleep,” he argues back. I shoot upright, peeking out the crack because it’s clicked. I know who that voice belongs to.

He tucks another towel around her, and by the light snoring I know she’s passed out. I drop the hanger, knowing she won’t be fondled in her sleep with present company. I notice him tucking her pink stained hair behind her ear, looking at her like I’ve only seen Landon look at me. A small tug at the corner of his lips looks like both a smile and a frown. Like he’s gaining and losing something. It seems such a private moment I duck back into the closet. I’ll just wait till he leaves, but who knows how long that’ll be. So I take my phone out, make sure it’s on complete silent mode, and tap a text to Landon before my battery dies.

Theresa’s drunk. Might be a bit before I get back to you.

Landon responds so fast it’s like he had the joke saved on his phone.

Don’t get too friendly with the showerhead.

I am NOT a cheater,I tap back. Besides, I don’t need it ;)

Liar. I was sexy as hell tonight.

Not as sexy as me.

You are tough competition. But I look better in pink.

He sends me a picture of the two of us in the middle of our paint fight. I grin at the fact that he’s more covered than I am.

Who took that?

You were tagged on Facebook.

I raise my eyebrow and turn on my Wi-Fi. But before I can jump over to Facebook, my screen goes blank as my battery quits. Damn it. I just hope people had the sense not to announce my engagement yet.

Letting out a very bored sigh, I wiggle around the closet, shaking my head at the disorganization in here. Theresa needs to start putting her autumn clothes up front. It’s almost September, so I move the sundresses to the back of the walk-in and hang the cardigans up by color near the front. After that I slouch to the floor and rearrange her shoes. None of the pairs are together, just sort of tossed in. No wonder she’s always late.

After I’ve straightened every inch of her closet—she’ll pitch a fit about it, but I know she’ll secretly be grateful—I peer through the crack and let out a relieved sigh. Just Theresa, sound asleep with her mouth open and her painted hair stuck to the pillow.

I tiptoe across the carpet, startle at the shape on Theresa’s towel-covered couch, but he too is asleep, mouth wide open and painted hair mashed into a rolled towel. I allow myself a silent laugh, because I never ever considered these two together. Now it’s all I can think about.

Holding my breath, I slowly twist the doorknob and sneak into the hallway. Once it’s clicked shut I allow myself to breathe and race to my own door twenty feet down.

Landon’s leaning against our card table, laptop open, glasses sliding down his nose as he taps away. He’s got several windows open—movie footage, an Excel spreadsheet, iTunes, and an editing program. I smell his body wash and shampoo, and I absolutely love that fresh manly smell. Setting down my phone, I sneak up behind him and put my head on his shoulder.

“Bedtime,” I say. If I don’t, he’ll be up all night editing.

“Five more minutes.”

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