Page 28 of Merry Mayhem
He doesn’t even really know what Merry Mayhem is or what it entails.
Dammit. I like Josh.
Violet definitely upgraded.
So I like him. So what? That’s good. And I’ll just?—
“Hey, what time should I be here tomorrow?”
I gasp and whirl, still gripping the sprayer and showering Josh with water.
The stream hits him directly in the chest.
The plates he’s holding don’t even wobble.
He just looks down at the water, then back up at me, one eyebrow quirked.
I drop the sprayer and grab a towel, stepping forward and starting to blot at his shirt.
Standing this close, I can smell him again—still really like it—and I am very aware of his size. Also, how hard the chest muscles are behind the wet shirt I’m stupidly trying to dry with my mother’s dish towel that has Christmas lights embroidered around the edge and saysChristmas Calories Don’t Countin the center.
He clears his throat and grabs my wrist, encircling it with those long fingers I noticed at dinner. I freeze with my hand and the towel against his chest.
“Don’t worry about that,” he says, his voice a little gruff.
He leans closer, and I suck in a little breath.
But he’s not leaning closer. He is leaningaroundme to set the plates that he’s holding on the counter behind me. Then he takes the towel from my fingers and blots at his shirt himself.
“I don’t think this is going to work,” he says.
“My brothers have some stuff upstairs. I’ll get you something.”
“Thanks.”
Neither of us makes a move to put more distance between us.
One part of my brain is screaming at me to step back. But another part, the part that was just running through all of the reasons he seems like such a great guy, which is also the part right next to that part that was very annoyingly asking why he had to stop into Perks and Rec on a night Violet was helping outrather than one of the nights I was filling in (i.e., the part I have been stubbornly refusing to acknowledge) is yelling louder. And that part is sayingstay right here.
I swallow. “Um, you asked me a question when you came into the kitchen?”
I’mveryproud I was able to remember that.
He nods. “Yeah, what time should I be here tomorrow?”
That part of my brain that I’ve been trying to ignore notes that he doesn’t move back even now.
Which another part of my brain notes is maybe a red flag since he is supposed to be into my sister. I want her to be with a guy who isall about her.
But we’re going to ignore that part too.
I’m also ignoring the part of my brain that tells me I actually know neuroanatomy, and there are not this many parts of my brain.
“Oh, well…we’ll get a schedule when we go downtown tonight.”
“We’re going downtown tonight?”
“We have to go down and sign up to compete. It’s a whole thing. A kick-off event. Everyone has to sign up, and they introduce the competitors to the town.”
