Page 81 of Here for a Good Time
Right as he opens his mouth to beg once more, an alarm screeches over the sound of flames and wind and rain. It’s so sharp and loud that it feels like it’s drilling itself into my skull.
Wetness. Rainwater being splashed at me from all directions.
But it’s not rainwater. And it’s not coming from all directions.
It’s only coming fromonedirection: up.
I look to the ceiling, where the sprinkler system is pumping water down onto us.
A drenched Andrea comes over, looking as weary as the rest of us. “You all are so dramatic,” she says with a reprimanding shake of her head when the alarm dies out. “I told you all I needed was some peace and quiet. Not that any of you delivered on the ‘quiet’ part. And this goes without saying, but you guys need to chip in to buy me a new laptop.”
We stare at her, mouths agape, water still showering down on us. It’s cold, but I don’t even care.
“You little nerd!” Nita is the first to snap out of the trance, leaping over and throwing her arms around Andrea. Leila pounces from the other side.
Garima and Faith go to join them, but upon realizing they’re still propping me up, stop themselves right before accidentally letting go.
“It’s okay.” I laugh. “Can you help me sit down?” With a lot of care, they help me down to the floor. Then, in a distinctly unromantic manner, I crawl over to Zwe. “Hi, fancy meeting you here,” I say, looking up at him from the floor.
“Do you mind freeing me before you jump straight into flirting with me?” He motions at the garden shears on the floor, which hadn’t actually made it into the flames and are still intact.
“I can try,” I say, picking up where Nita left off. To be fair to her, shehadgone through most of the rope. A couple more minutes, and Zwe would’ve been free.
“Do you want me to—” Zwe reaches down for the shears, and I whack his hand away.
“You’re the damsel in distress here,” I say as I saw through the last strand of rope. “So sit back up, shut up, and look pretty.”
“Aye aye, ma’am.” After a few seconds of intense sawing, the brown jute snaps in half, and the coil of rope falls to his bare feet. “My hero!” Zwe exclaims.
“I expect a hefty monetary reward,” I say. I try to drop the shears, but it’s more like they fall out of my limp, noodle-esque hands.
“How about a hug?” Before I can ask what he means, he’s bending over, scooping me up, and putting me back down on his lap. Iwrap my arms around his neck, although on account of their frail and shaky state, they’re not doing much to keep me upright. “Don’t worry, I got you,” he says, and lifts his shoulder to indicate that he’s not letting go of the arm behind my back.
I wrinkle my nose. “You smell.”
“Yeah, becauseyousmell like freshly washed laundry right now.”
“But you—” I lean in, my nose grazing the stubble on his jaw as I take a deep inhale. “—you really smell.” I move back, and I can see him prepping to return whatever insult I’m about to hit over to his side of the court. Instead, I cup his chin in one hand, letting my thumb trace every millimeter of his jaw. A thrill whisks through me at the fact that I get to do this now. Finally. “You smell like home.”
His jaw works under my touch, and his Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows. “Do you still mean everything you said back there?”
This takesmeby surprise. “What? About…”
“Yeah.” He whispers it, like he’s bracing himself for what comes next.
“Why wouldn’t I?” I ask.
He shrugs. “Maybe it was just adrenaline. Maybe you thought we were dying and you didn’t want to hurt my feelings—”
I snort a laugh. “You think I told you I loved you because I didn’t know how to let you down gently?”
“Maybe,” he says. Then, cautiously, discreetly, “Do you?”
And in an instant, he looks so soft and vulnerable and just like a kid again, the same one who let me use his library book allowance to borrowBetty and Veronica DigestNo. 135.
I run my fingers up and down the nape of his neck. “I meant every word. I am so grateful for everything thatGive Me a Reasonhas given me, but none of it would’ve meant anything if I’d lostyou in the process, and I can’t believe I came so close to doing just that with this second book. They’re just books.You—” I move forward, resting my forehead against his, inhaling once again the same scent that I would smell when he leaned over to remove my laptop and put a blanket on me whenever I fell asleep on the couch. “You mean everything to me. None of it would be worth it if I didn’t have you in my life. But I’ve wanted this life and this career ever since I was a kid, and it just felt scary, you know? Like suddenly I had everything I’d ever wanted, andyouwere so proud of me and I was scared that I was going to let you down and also that I was going to let myself down. I’m terrified that I’ve only ever had one good book in me.”
Zwe shakes his head. “That’s not—”
