Page 19 of Take Me
“I’m sure we will be.”Erika jabs me with her elbow.“Mason, me, and?—”
“Scrumpy.”I study the dog, who definitely looks like a Scrumpy.
Erika folds her arms.“That’s better than Tinker Nutbolt.”
Annabelle ushers my dog from her backseat and coaxes him into my truck.“There you go, buddy.Have fun!”
When she pivots to face me, the kindness in her eyes makes my chest ache.She stretches on tiptoe and kisses my cheek.“I’m happy for you, Mason.”
“Thanks for the dog.”Her Annabelle scent overwhelms me.Cedar and citrus and something tangy.It might be from nature, or maybe the disinfectant at her clinic.
I wait for my knees to go weak.For the familiar churn in my gut.
Nothing.
“Good seeing you.”Erika gives her a hug.“Thanks for the dog.”
“Thanks for giving him a home.”She looks between both of us and smiles.“This is all working out so perfectly, isn’t it?”
“Seems that way.”I watch as she walks back around her car and gets in the driver’s seat.
Her window’s still down, and she calls out to me as she fires up the engine.“Wanna grab coffee sometime next week?”
“Sure.”I most definitely do not want to grab coffee.“I’m kinda busy most days, but?—”
“We’ll figure it out.”She smiles and rolls up the window, easing out of the parking spot.
I stand waving with Erika, jumping when Annabelle beeps her horn twice before driving away.We wait for the pale-yellow beetle to turn the corner before dropping the act.
“Asshole.”Erika smacks me in the abs, then yanks her hand back and shakes it.“What the fuck?”
“What?”There are so many things that could be annoying her.Most should annoy me, too.
“Wrenchy?Tinker Nutbolt?And what’s up with the bulletproof abs?That hurt.”She shakes her wrist and glares at me.“When did you start stuffing your shirt with steel plates?”
“The same day you stuffed yours with warm water balloons.”
Erika sputters like I’ve just lost my mind.“Warm water balloons?Seriously, Mason?”
“What?”Dragging a hand through my hair, I take a step back to clear my head.“Look, I panicked.I wasn’t expecting you to kiss me, and I sure as hell wasn’t expecting to have you all melted up against me like that.”
“Well, excuse me.Whatever.It’s not a big deal.”
“Obviously.”In twenty-six years of close of friendship, it seems so bizarre that we’ve never once pawed one another.Dunked in the deep end of a swimming pool?Sure.Thumb-wrestled in a bar?Of course.But touching and kissing and— “Good thinking with the kiss.Very convincing.”
“Thanks.”She snorts.“Guess that’s another thing I never knew about you.”
“You mean that I’m a great kisser?”
She snorts even louder this time.“Whatever you say, buddy.”
Did it really not affect her?Because it rocked my damn world.
It’s just that you’re reeling from Annabelle ending things.That’s all it is.Hormonal rebound or something.
“Thanks again.”I hold out a palm for a slap.
“No prob.”She looks in my eyes as our hands clap together and we go through our normal routine.If she notices how clammy my palm feels, she doesn’t say so.
