Page 24 of Merry Mischief List
“You good, Pop Tart?” Knox asks with a knowing grin, and I roll my eyes at him.
Porter heads to the snowball stand and hands over a wad of cash with a big smile. “Keep ‘em coming.”
He grabs our buckets, and as he hands them to Knox and me, there are a few things I’m absolutely certain of.
Porter is not the Mr. Buzzkill I thought he was.
He and Knox are a tempting blend of sugar and spice.
Throw in my zest, and we’ve got the perfect recipe for some gumdrop mischief.
* * *
“Now you can marktwomore items off your list,” Porter says as we get into his SUV.
I think about Stella’s text earlier. One swipe of my finger, and we’d be tied.
“Hold on,” I say, pulling out my phone to find Olivia’s contact. She’s clearly moved on, and there’s no reason to keep receiving her hate texts. My knee bounces anxiously, and I do what should’ve been done days ago. “Make that three. I blocked Olivia.”
“Really?” he asks, his tone more pleased than expected.
“Yeah.” I glance up, eyes connecting with his. “Really.”
“Attagirl.” He reaches out, placing a hand on my bare knee, and I still on contact. “I’m proud of you.”
“For what?” I ask, surprised by how his touch warms me. “I’d think someone your age would think blocking is childish.”
“Why?” He pulls his hand back. “It’s never childish to remove yourself from someone, or something, that doesn’t serve you.”
“I guess.” The air conditioning blasts on us, and in the wet T-shirt, I’m bordering on hypothermia. I tug it off, and as the air hits my damp skin, I realize it would take being naked to not have sopping wet clothing on. A shiver shakes through me, and Porter reaches behind his seat, then tosses something in my lap. I hold up the black T-shirt with a white Batman logo on it.
“In case you wanna change into something dry,” he suggests, clearing his throat and turning away to give me privacy. I peel off the wet elf top—the girls are frozen; I’m ditching the bra too—and slip on the dry T-shirt.
“Much better,” I moan, sinking into the seat. “Thank you.”
“Welcome,” he says, returning his gaze to mine. His eyes drop slowly to my mouth, and I fight away the illusion he could be thinking about kissing me.
He’ll never see you as more than Jess’s kid sister.
The drive home is quiet, and we say a quick goodbye after he drops me off at my building.
A smile is plastered on my face as I make my way upstairs. It never leaves even as I strip off my clothes to shower before bed. Especially not when I take an extra whiff of Porter’s T-shirt before tossing it on the counter. I twist the knob of the shower, and it sputters before shutting off. “What the hell?”
Please be a “me” problem.Rushing to the sink, I twist the handles and… nothing. “Are you kidding me?”
A quick call to building maintenance confirms my fears: the water’s out on my floor, and they can’t fix it untilafterChristmas.
Happy fucking holidays.
10
PORTER
“Listen,” Andi says, readjusting the strap of a beach bag over her shoulder. “This is one of those ‘trust the process’ things.”
“Easier said than done, isn’t it, ice princess?” I reply, lugging the shovels and buckets towards the beach.
“Could you just…” She raises her brows at me. “Okay?”
