Page 49 of There's Pumpkin About You
“It’s a big deal to me, August.”
Why do I enjoy the sound of her calling me August?
One final shrug has her dropping the question, for which I’m grateful because, to be honest, I’m not entirely sure what the answer would have been.
“Are you hungry?” she asks.
“Is there something below my neck that you like the look of, Southwick? You seem to be looking down a lot. I don’t have something on my chest, do I?” I pretend to look for a stain on my bare chest.
Her face falls and she sends me a look of feigned annoyance. “You’re shirtless.”
“So?”
“It’s distracting.”
“You sound like every male teacher the moment a girl decides to wear a top that shows her shoulders.”
“I do not!” she shouts.
“Yes the fuck you do.”
She groans loudly, her eyes searching the ceiling of my bedroom for some patience. “You’re impossible.”
“Impossibly attractive according to the way you stare at my torso.”
“I am not staring!”
“Uh-huh.”
She jumps up from the bed. “Bash can get you food. I don’t like you anymore.”
I laugh, she storms off, and I enjoy the view of her walking away.
ChapterTwenty-Two
WREN
“The planning is going great,” I lie as I stare into the brown eyes of my best friend. “Everything’s peachy. Just perfect. P-e-r-f-e-c-t. Perfect.”
Oakleigh gives me a look of disbelief. “How have we been friends for this long and still not become any better at lying?”
I sigh and let my head fall into my hands. “Honestly, it’s embarrassing how bad I am.”
Oakleigh sips her coffee whilst she watches me. After finally having a day off after almost a week and a half, my best friend is now visiting me and the farm here in Eaglewood. It’s reached the point where I’m considering renting an apartment whilst I’m here because I’ve barely seen my house in over a week. After bringing the morning coffee to the gang on the farm, I’ve started sticking around for even longer so that there’s someone around to make sure that Gus doesn’t try and run around harvesting pumpkins when he should be resting.
Spending this amount of alone time with Gus has been… different. Gone are the days in which we argue with malicious intent and unkempt rage. Instead, they’ve been replaced by disagreements which are underlined with a subtle smirk or a quiet chuckle on his part.
It’s awkward, that’s for sure. Partly because it’s new, but mostly because the change came out of nowhere. A watershed moment that presented itself without any warning and therefore refused to allow for us to adapt accordingly.
Gus will usually remain in his bedroom, and I will make myself scarce in the living room, only stopping in to give him food or make sure he hasn’t snuck out of the window.
Now that the week is over, Gus is back to being up and about, but he’s only allowed to continue with his admin work. He managed to catch up quite quickly whilst on bed rest thanks to the laptop I let him use. But now he’s back in his office, grumbling away about how the fact that he can’t work is bullshit and sending glares to anyone who checks on him.
In other words, things are back to normal.
“So, what’s the problem?” Oakleigh asks.
My gaze strays to Jamie who is reluctantly taking Sandra’s order behind the counter. When he catches me watching him, he sends me a “help me” look to which I respond with a “hell no” look of my own.
