Page 9 of Harvest of Love
River: What kind of noises? Was there an animal in the house?
Manny: No, no. Noises… you know. The kind of noises you make when you’re excited…
Miles: No fucking way! The plot gets even better. She was banging someone at your place?
Manny: What? No! She was touching herself while thinking about me.
I take a long pull of my wine as I type out the message. There’s no way in hell I’m making it through the night without lying in my bed, jerking off to the thought of Daisy doing the exact same thingin it earlier.
Miles: That’s hot as hell. Please tell me you joined her and lended her a hand. Or your dick.
River: Miles… too far, bro. Shut up and let him tell us everything.
Gio: What did you do? It couldn’t be that bad, right?
*Manny is typing*
Miles: *eyes emoji*
River: I’m all for being supportive and shit, but couldn’t you type faster? I don’t want to get behind on my schedule.
Xander: For fuck’s sake, Riv. Hire a hand or two. Isn’t the orchard making enough profit? You need to work less and live more, brother.
Miles: Hear, hear.
Gio: I’d be happy to invest in the orchard if that’d help you out. I agree you need to live more.
River: Stop ganging up on me. I’m fine. Just peachy, really. I simply enjoy having a schedule, a routine. And following through.
Miles: Ha! Peachy my ass. But whatever, don’t say we didn’t try to help ya.
Manny: Guys, I’m old. Remember? I haven’t dated since I met my ex, and that was over twenty years ago. Anyway, I stayed by my bedroom door, listening like a creep and waiting until she finished. Then I went in like I didn’t hear anything. But when I saw her, she looked so gorgeous with her hair a wreck—her face flushed and glowing. All I wanted to do was kiss her. And I got really close… but then I got a call from the hospital, and the moment was gone. Before I left, I implied I knew what she did and she blushed so much, I thought she was going to have palpitations but I had to leave.
Gio: We’ll be here whenever your stubborn ass realizes you need to act on a certain vet doctor before she gets tired of waiting and moves on. That’s why we’re offering the help, Riv. We want youto be happy.
Gio: Oops, sorry. I was still typing when we got Manny’s bombshell. What? You left? How on earth? Damn, you have to fix this, Manny!!!
Xander: Thanks, Gio for being the voice of reason and telling it how it is to Riv! But also, WHAT THE FUCK, MANNY! What do you mean you left? Why? Why didn’t you kiss her? *face palm emoji*
Miles: Bro, no. I mean, come on!!! Not even a measly kiss?
Manny: Well, I didn’t want our first kiss to be forgettable. If I’m going to break the rules and start something with Daisy (my son’s nanny), I wanted to start off with a memorable kiss.
River: Not even I would have fucked up so bad.
River: And by the way, thank you Gio for your candid commentary. It’s good to know I have you all in my corner. But kindly I’m going to ask you all to stop commenting about Carly (Dr. Martinez) and me. I don’t like the woman and thank god she doesn’t like me either. The relationship I have with her is strictly professional. And let’s be honest, the only reason I have a relationship with her at all is because she’s the only vet in town.
Xander: Damn. Talk about dumb and dumber… It’s okay, Riv. We won’t bring it up anymore. *eye roll emoji*
Miles: Speak for yourself, Xander. I’m convinced I came to this earth to annoy the fuck out of my siblings, and River is my favorite one to mess with. *grinning emoji*
River: *middle finger emoji*
Gio: I, for one, think it’s commendable you wanted to start off your relationship with Daisy with a memorable kiss but sadly, sometimes we don’t get to choose how things go and you, my dear friend, missed a golden opportunity to sweep Daisy off her feet.
Xander: True that. So, do you have a plan? Because I hope you know… there’s no going back.
Manny: Yeah, I know. She left me a note today. She said she’s excited about what transpired between us today.
