Page 50 of Merry Mayhem
I can see that she’s a little sorry that I can’t carry her down the hall to her bedroom right now.
“No worries,” I tell her. I dip my head and take her mouth and a long, hot, slow kiss. Then I lift my head and let her slide down my body. Once her feet are on the floor, I step back and brush her hair away from her face. “Remember, I also like waiting till Christmas morning.”
CHAPTER 11
THEA
I’mon my second cup of coffee by six the next morning.
Which sucks.
Not the coffee. Ilovemy espresso machine, as I mentioned to Josh last night. But I’ve been awake since five. I’m not sure exactly when I fell asleep or when I woke up. I tossed and turned all night.
Because of Josh.
I’d been doing okay, telling myself he was off limits and that I was going to have to ignore my feelings. At least, I thought I was doing okay with that. I wasgoing todo okay with that. Yesterday had been day one. I needed some time to practice ignoring my feelings.
Then he blew all of that up.
He and Violet aren’t together.
He doesn’t have feelings for her.
He has feelings for me.
Tingles race down my spine, and I gulp my coffee.
As if further revving my nervous system with caffeine is the answer.
But I definitely can’t deal with all of this on five hours of restless sleep and no stimulants. Because today at MerryMayhem, working right alongside him in front of the entire town—a town full of people who’ve known me all my life and know me very, very well—I’m going to have to act like I feel nothing for the big, hot, charming, sweet firefighter.
Who I feel a whole bunch of things for.
So you believe him?
The text is from Andi. I texted her and Nora about Josh. Because I can fully trust them to keep our secret, because I need to tellsomeone, and because there was a chance one or both of them was also already awake. Nora is for sure up. But she’s, no doubt, running around getting ready for Merry Mayhem today.
Andi, on the other hand, keeps odd hours. She might have been up at three a.m. There was just as good a chance that she’d still be in bed at noon. But I took a chance.
Anderson Fleury is my best friend, besides Nora. Mostly because we’re the same age—ie, older than the other women who hang out in our circle. I’m thirty-one, Andi is thirty-two. She ended up in Rebel because of her ex-husband. Before he was her ex. He left, and she stayed, thank God.
Andi and I don’t have a lot in common besides our age and both living here, but we get along like long-lost cousins.
She’s an artist. Literally. She mostly paints, but she also sculpts, does pottery, and even does some metal work, depending on her mood. She also teaches art classes for the Parks and Recreation department, and Nora hires her to create murals, signage, and other designs the department needs. It’s sweet. Nora does it to give Andi jobs and, even more, to keep her from becoming a hermit in her little cottage outside of town. Because Andi has often expressed interest in becoming a swamp witch, and the idea of such isolation gives Nora hives. Andi knows this, which is why she agrees to the jobs even though she took her asshole ex's half of his very large bank account and investment portfolio, and she doesn’t need the paycheck.
I’ve pulled Andi in on a few patient projects where I needed a brace or assistive device modified, but not to give her money. It’s because she’s so freaking creative. With all of her tools and her ability to think outside the box, Andi was able to finagle things into workable adaptations, and the patients were delighted.
She has also painted a wheelchair and a walker for a pediatric patient, as well as two different wheelchair ramps. One went from a plain wooden contraption to a red-carpet entrance worthy of the little princess and her sparkly purple carriage, which Andi also helped create. The other became a colorful depiction of the older man’s favorite sports teams. Both bring smiles to the people who use them every day. She even helped me redesign a patient’s bathroom into something not only functional but much prettier when we were finished.
I’ve tried to talk her into going back to school for an Occupational Therapy degree, but she’s very happy with things just as they are.
Now I think about her question. Do I believe Josh when he says that he and Violet are not dating? That they are actually nothing more than acquaintances, and just barely that?
Thea:I do. It makes sense. If they’d been dating since that wedding, she definitely would have been talking aboutJosh. He’s great.
Andi:That does make sense. Just be careful. Maybe he’s just not into women in comas.
I read her words and snort.
