Page 88 of Homecoming

She threw open the door and shrieked when she saw Myles standing there with a big dopey grin on his face that faded when he got a good look at her.

Then she remembered the mask and screamed again.

“What’re you doing here?”

At the same time, he said, “What’s on your face?”

“Never mind that!”

“I… uh… brought you one of those mocha milkshakes you like, because you’re injured.”

Renata was stunned speechless, which didn’t happen very often. She did love her a mocha milkshake, but not when she had a mask on her face and no bra on! “Um, thank you.” She opened the screen door to take it from him.

“How’s your finger?”

“It’s fine.”

“No sign of festering or sepsis?”

He was totally making fun of her, but to his credit, he kept a straight face. “Not yet, but it’s early days.”

“Well, keep me posted.”

“I’ll do that. I might need a sick day tomorrow to keep it from getting infected.”

“That might be wise. Do you need me to put a new bandage on it? You don’t want to take any chances.”

Renata didn’t want to encourage his obvious interest in her, but he’d been nice enough to bring her the shake, so she went along with his foolish pretense to get inside her house. “I could use some help with that.” She stepped back to let him in. “I’ll, ah, just be right back. Make yourself comfortable.”

She went into the bathroom and washed off the mask, which left her face looking red and puffy from the aggressive scrubbing required to remove it. Then she slathered on some moisturizer, brushed her hair and put her bra back on before gathering the bandages and antibacterial ointment needed to treat her “wound.”

Tomorrow, she’d probably find it funny that he’d used her paper cut as an excuse to bring her a treat and was now seated onher sofa, seemingly engrossed in the Housewives’ never-ending drama.

“Who are these women, and how can I never see them again?”

Renata laughed at the face he made. “They’re an acquired taste.”

“You like them?”

She poked the straw through the lid on the shake and took a deep drink, nearly moaning from the taste that exploded in her mouth. The mocha shake was her all-time-favorite treat, but she limited herself to one a month when she wanted one daily. “‘Like’ is a strong word. I watch them to feel better about my own life.”

He frowned. “What’s wrong with your life?”

“Nothing. Really. But when you watch them, you realize that whatever’s bugging you is nothing compared to the crap they’re dealing with, most of it probably fake to juice the ratings.”

“That’s bizarre logic. You realize that, don’t you?”

“I never said it was logical, but it helps me de-stress to wallow in other people’s chaos for an hour.”

He reached for the bandages and ointment and got to work on her finger. “Why are you stressed?”

“Everyone is stressed.”

“I’m not.”

“Sure you are.”

“No, I’m really not.”

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