Page 26 of Cider
We both ended up falling asleep about a third of the way through the movie. When we woke up in the morning to my phone's alarm, I growled.
“You have the most annoying alarm.” Billy pushed me off his lap, making me roll across the cushions. “Holy crud. Cider, I’m going to be late! I call shower first.” He was up and gone before I could even blink my eyes.
My fox whined at me. She wanted to run again. I glanced at the time. I didn’t have time to do that today but made plans to go for a run the next day, which seemed to settle her.
That’s when I remembered. I had a date tonight.
“BILLY! I get the shower first! I’ve got to get ready for work and my date tonight!” I scrambled over the couch, because going around it made no sense, and ran for the bathroom. “You take forever to groom your beard!”
The door was already locked. I banged on it as Billy started to sing The Goat Song from the shower.
“Goats are clever. Goats are wise. They've got four legs, they've got two eyes. Goats eat anything from fillet steak to oats….” Billy belted out the notes as if he were in front of an audience.
“Dang it, Billy!” I slapped the door as he laughed on the other side.
I’d just have to figure it out on the fly. I sniffed my armpit as I started going through my clean clothes in the closet.
Well, at least I didn’t reek. I could clean up a tiny bit in the back of the store later if I started to.
My phone dinged with a text from Titus.
Good morning, my heart. I hope you have fun tonight.
I couldn’t stop the joyous feeling that spread through me as I pulled on clean clothes.
Morning, fangboy. I’ll let you know how it goes. He might run since I don’t have time to take a shower because a certain goat is hogging the shower.
There was an instant reply. Dang, he typed fast.
You’ll smell just as divine as you usually do. I’ve got a meeting. I’ll talk to you later.
My phone went into my front pocket of the jeans I pulled on with a few hops to get over the stomach. They were a little fancy since they had black glitter in the fabric. I decided to leave my hair down after brushing through it. I even put on a little dab of clear lip gloss.
Oh man. I had it bad. I wanted Jack to like me. The matebond was there pushing us together, but I really did want to get to know him. He seemed like he could use a friend.
There were no signs of Samuel, at least, when I got to the rink. I was actually a few minutes early. I really needed to work on getting up earlier.
Igor was standing outside of the door, relaxing against the wood. She was watching a group of kids play tag a little down the way.
“Hey, Igor.” I unlocked the door, letting her through before closing it and locking it again. “What’s up?”
Igor seemed upset as she started to walk between the tables. She pulled down the chairs.
“Lawrence isn’t talking to me. He says that I’m selfish.” She put a chair down so hard, it almost cracked the tiled floor. “Would a selfish person come in and help you for free?”
I bit my lip to stop from laughing. I was pretty sure if I laughed at her right now, she’d eat me.
“What were you doing when he called you selfish?” I put my personal things under the counter.
“I was making a list of things I wanted done once I dominated this town. Specifically, the greenhouse. I wanted a larger place to spread out at night. I was thinking of taking over that orphanage's place.” She sat on the other side of the counter.
I could feel my face pale. “Uh, you do know the mafia protects that area, right?”
She waved her hand. “Like I’m afraid of a few furballs. It’s the perfect location for optimal sunbathing.”
Oh boy. “Have you talked to Iris about this?”
“No. That harlot and her slaves are off on some adventure in the desert. Left me in charge for the next week.” Igor thumped her hands on the counter. “That’s selfish!”
