Page 43 of She Likes It, Hey Micah
Pulling his hand free, he folds his arms and gives me way too good a view of the way his biceps strain against the fabric when he’s tense like this. “There is such a thing as toxic positivity, you know.”
“And negativity in any form is toxic on its own,” I argue. “Have a little faith, Fischer.”
“In what?”
The fact that he doesn’t immediately know what I meant stings, but it’s not his fault. He’s stressed, and I can’t blame him for focusing on the problem in front of us instead of seeing the solution.
“In me, Fischer,” I say, not as confidently as I would like. “In yourself. We’ve gotten this far, and I’m not going to give up on this.”
As he swallows, I can see him fighting his own thoughts. He’s probably anticipating everything that can go wrong—granted, there are a lot of things—and picturing the event failing. It makes sense given the situation, but he clearly doesn’t know me well enough to know that I am not someone who backs down easily.
It took me eight years to get my stepsister Skyler to even talk to me, and now I’ve got her driving two hours with her husband to hang out with me and my siblings.
“Trust me,” I tell Fischer, and then I walk over to the couch and crouch in front of Lila. “Hey, Lila, how are you feeling?”
She sits up so quickly that she has to grab onto Grant’s arm to keep from falling over again. That sets them both off again, laughing loud enough that I’m tempted to cover my ears. Once she’s relatively calm again, she smiles at me and takes my hand. “Micah! Oh, your curls are darling today. I wish I had curls like yours.”
Okay, this camaraderie is new. Maybe I should get her drunk more often. “Thank you. Do you need some water or something to eat?”
When I glance at Fischer, he sighs and looks down the hallway to the right. “There could be some stuff in the kitchen, but most of the stocking orders for the restaurant are being delivered early next week. I’ll go see what we have.”
“Grant, darling.” Lila reaches over and pulls him close enough to plant a sloppy kiss on his cheek, though she’s still gripping me tight. “Have I told you how much Micah takes care of me? You should get a Micah. Everyone should have one.”
Grant has stars in his eyes as he looks at her with the kind of expression I wish any of my dates would look at me with. He may be fresh off a divorce, but it seems like he really likes Lila. Whatever happened during the drive, they seem to have bonded.
“I would get you a hundred Micahs,” he says before tugging her close and locking his mouth on hers.
Oh. Yeah, they definitely bonded during the drive because this doesn’t look like an unpracticed first kiss. There’s experience in it, and I would leave them to it if Lila would let go of my hand so I’m not a foot away from their tongues going to battle with each other.
Grant grabs Lila’s hips and pulls her toward him, which tugs me off my feet until I faceplant into the couch. Before I can struggle back up, arms wrap around my waist and lift me into the air. My hand pulls free, and I’m on my feet a second later.
“Grant,” Fischer growls, and he pulls the same move on Lila that he did with me, grabbing her around the middle and lifting her off of Grant. Though Lila protests and tries to move back in, Fischer gets in her way and grabs Grant underneath the arms, lifting him up with impressive ease. I knew he was strong, butdang. Fischer isstrong. “That’s enough.”
“Getoffme,” Grant slurs, but he’s obviously too drunk to fight. That doesn’t stop him from trying. As soon as Fischer has him on his feet, he tries throwing a punch that Fischer dodges.
Fischer ducks down, throwing Grant over his shoulder, and disappears down the hall without a word.
Next thing I know, Lila’s arms are around me as she breaks into sobs. “Where’d he go?”
Though I don’t see anything wrong with Grant and Lila becoming a couple, I can see why Fischer thinks they should be separated, at least until they’ve sobered up a bit. We don’t exactly need them going at it in the lobby while we’re trying to work. As I situate Lila so I can walk her to a room, I wonder where the driver ended up and if he witnessed anything he would have rather not witnessed. I’m not sure I’m brave enough to ask, but I’ll make sure he gets a good tip.
“How about a nap?” I ask Lila, though I’m not going to give her the option. Knowing her, she’ll fall asleep as soon as her head hits a pillow and then be out for a few hours at least.
“Oo, it’s snowing!” Lila shouts as soon as we enter the nearest suite, pointing to the window. Sure enough, fat flakes have started to fall, though when I checked the weather report, the storm was supposed to stay farther north. “It’s so pretty!”
“Very pretty,” I agree. I hope it doesn’t get any worse. Sun City never gets snow, and I didn’t think to prepare for colder weather. I’m in a sundress, for goodness’ sake! At least the lodge is warm.
Once I get Lila snuggled and snoring under the covers, I lock her door before closing it, in case Grant escapes and tries sneaking into her room. Would he actually do that? I have no idea. But I wouldn’t put it past Lila to welcome him in if he did. They can do whatever they want once we’re back in Sun City, but we don’t need that right now.
I get back to the lobby at the same time as Fischer, and we both stand there a bit in shock, as if neither can believe what just happened. “How’s Grant?” I ask, a little breathless.
Fischer glances behind him. “He’s crying. He’ll be asleep in ten minutes flat. Lila?”
“Out cold.”
“Ah.”
That’s when the laughter hits, rising from my chest like an active volcano until it erupts out of me with no chance of stopping it. I’m not a cute laugher. It comes out sharp and staccato and always makes me cry, but I’ve never been one to hold it back so I don’t. I let it fill the lobby because everything about today has been so far from what I expected that it’s hilarious.
