Page 22 of Feverburn

“Listen, I know it was bad because it was war and all, but oh man, those fellas were handsome,”she said wistfully.“You know what I always say? If you consider the worst, you must consider thebest. What if it does work out?”

I braced myself with one arm, leaning on her counter. “I can’t fathom that shit.”

“Well, you better start fathomingthat shit.You have every right to a little lady like your brother.”She squeezed one of my pecs with a tiny arthritic hand, jiggling it.“Any woman would beluckyto have this hunk of man meat beside her, warming her bed all night.”

I groaned, hating my situation.“I’m trying to wrap my head around it. I think maybe if we startprivate?”

Her eyes twinkled.“Sneaking around is fun.”

“What book did you recommend years ago about redheads in Hawaii?”

She took a long sip of tea from her mug with a chip alongside the rim of it. She thought the chip made the heat disperse evenly. Therefore, it was ideal for tea. I thought she was nuttier than squirrel shit.

“Ah!Still Life With Woodpeckerby Tom Robbins.”

“That life coach always yelling at people with that fucking vein bulging in his neck?”I asked in disgust.

“No, that’s Tony Robbins. Tom is the cool, weird one.”

While heading back to my store, I caught Rosie gawking at me as she fiddled with some plants in her café window. She blushed and looked away, which made mehappy. I liked seeing her flustered. I beelined back to my office to save her number in my phone as Roisin, her real name. It felt weirdly intimate. I liked that, too.

Unable to waste more time away from my business, I set to work. I had a handful of employees at the store and some over at the lumber and garden center on the outskirts of town, where my dad still worked part-time because he was bored ashellnewly retired. He loved talking to people about plants all day, so it worked out.

Among the employees, Hank was my favorite, and Skyler my least favorite. Hank was a blessing because he was a carpenter who knew his shit and was super friendly, which I needed. He worked at the store so his wife wouldn’tmurderhim at home. They both retired early but clearly couldn’t stand each other full-time.

Skyler was 16 and couldn’t find his ass from a hole in the ground. His mom knew my mom, so I got roped into giving him shifts after school and on Saturdays. I’ll never forget when I caught him giving a girl a hickey in the paint aisle. Hank and I threw a plunger at him to get them to stop.

“Skyler, it’s a quarter after 3 o’clock. I need you here at 3:00 sharp.”

Skyler looked at me, confused.“Quarter after would be 3:25.”

“No, it would be 3:15.”I pointed to the round old clock above the front desk. He stared blankly at it.“Jesus Christ, do you not know how to tell time?”

Hank let out a chuckle next to me. It soundedwet, like a cat hacking up something.

“I’m used to digital, bro.”Skyler lifted his ball cap and smoothed out his floppy, bleached ramen noodle hair to put it back on.

“Okay, bro, I should write all my passwords down in cursive, then it would be insecretcode.”I shook my head.

“They don’t teach us cursive either, man. That’s for writing checks or whatever.”

“Yeah, I know.”I stared at Hank, who howled more, causing Kiszka to join him.

Later that night, I texted Rosie. I’m sure there’s some lame datingrulethat you should wait three whole days, but I didn’t give a shit. I was already in too deep with this little firecracker. I was in bed thinking of her, wishing her sexy thighs were spread while straddling me.

Me: Hey Rosie, how’s my favorite bog witch doing?

Roisin: Heyyy, just washing off paint some guy marked on my hip bone while I was at work—the audacity.

Me: I needed my mark on you.

I stared in horror at my bold statement after already hitting send. Her text came halfway through myshock.

Roisin: Good, because I like your mark on me.

My eyes bulged reading it. She was serving it back. Who the fuck serves it back like this?

Me: Get used to it.

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