Page 33 of Pixie Problems
Nick grinned. “Hand your keys over. You’re in no state to drive.”
I handed them over with zero protests. He was right, I wasn’t.
“Are you excited?”
I strapped on a helmet, straddled my bike behind Nick, and then held on for dear life because I was sure he was a speedster.
“I’ll let you know when I can think clearly again,” I said as he started the bike and it purred like a big cat that had just been fed treats.
He laughed and gunned it, making the tires squeal. I started swearing creatively and closed my eyes against the sickening lurch my stomach gave when we went from a standstill to bat-out-of-the-underworld fast in less than five seconds.
Called it.
Chapter10
Dice
“You’re leaving?”
It was ten p.m. on a Thursday night, and the place was packed. It would be several hours yet before the crowds thinned out some. The bar closed at four a.m., but I usually left closer to five a.m. because there was always a lot of after-hours stuff to handle once everyone had been booted out. Rhys, who’d worked every shift with me since the day that I’d started, was currently moping.
I sighed, trying to be patient. He was reacting like I was unfriending him or something. Not true, by the way. I couldn’t seem to rid myself of the star elf no matterwhatI did.
I ignored the very squirmy feeling that I liked having him around. He and I had become friends as I’d worked here with him. And it seemed like he was there forevery single oneof my shifts, so we’d gotten plenty of time to talk about everything and nothing. I was going to be sad when we saw less of each other.
I saw Gina come in the front doors, dressed in her Laughing Elf uniform. I grabbed Rhys’ arm and dragged him with me, ignoring his protests. “Gina, can you cover the bar for a few minutes?” I called out to her.
“Sure thing, hun.” Gina was a serial smoker, so her voice sounded low and sultry no matter what she did. She could be reading the finance pages and it would sound like that. She had a bouffant hairdo, high in the front, and teased in the back, and it was bleached blonde. But the really wonderful thing about her were her eyes. They were warm brown, and full of kindness. She had a street-wisdom that few had, and she still chose to be kind. It said a lot about her.
“Thanks!” I yelled back as I dragged my unsuspecting victim into his office.
I took his office chair just to be contrary, and he gave me a look that said he knew very well what I was doing. I wanted to laugh. Rhys had perfected that look on me since I’d met him. And he’d had plenty of new opportunities to use it, because everything I did seemed to drive him crazy.
I grinned. Life was such a joy sometimes.
“What are you grinning like a jack-o-lantern about?” Rhys grumbled as he slouched onto the comfy couch.
I shrugged. “No reason.”
“Mmm-hmm.” He changed the subject. “And why did I get dragged to my office and ousted out of my own chair?” He sprawled out on the sofa as only a male of any species could, legs akimbo, arms thrown out at his sides. He looked like he was well on his way to becoming one with his couch.
I spun the chair so I faced him directly. “Why are you taking my leaving The Laughing Elf so hard?” I tried to ask it delicately, but heaven knew I was not a delicate person, so it came out more blunt-sounding than I’d wanted it to.
He frowned and avoided my eyes for a second, and just when I thought he was going to ignore the pointed question, he surprised me by saying, “I’m going to miss you.” And then he glared at me. “And don’t you dare say you won’t miss me. I refuse to believe it!”
My heart lurched. An apothecary was all I’d ever wanted, but it really sucked that I was leaving The Laughing Elf. I would miss Rhys, more than he knew. In a subdued voice, I said, “Yeah, I’ll miss you too. It’s too bad you can’t help me set up my apothecary.” You know, for help purposes, not because I would miss him so much.
But Rhys sat up. “Who says I can’t?”
“Umm, you have a whole nightclub to run and manage. That takes a ton of time and effort. Not to mention, you have a best friend that would miss you terribly, you have the PNW council, and you have a social life.”
“Mia and Draven are my only social life, and they can do without me for a little while so I can help you.” He flicked his fingers and started playing with a little lasso of starlight. I could tell it was a nervous gesture, and my stupid gooey heart melted a little. Aww, he would totally miss me.
“Okay, you can help me on two conditions.” I held up one finger. “One, you tell me if I’m commandeering too much of your time, and you better be honest! And, two, you don’t let your health, friendships, or work suffer just to help.”
He glowered at me. “It shouldn’t be this difficult for you to accept help.”
I smiled serenely. “Do we have a deal?”
