Rose:
I choke on my laugh as I toss the phone to the floor.
“Are you trying to seduce me?” I take the spoon from Collin.
In the glow of the candlelight, his features are shadowed, and his skin looks golden orange. He dunks his spoon into the ice cream and takes his time savoring a long, drawn-out bite. Hegives the spoon the full attention of his mouth for a solid ten seconds, sticking out his tongue on the tip of the utensil and sucking off the last drop of ice cream.
“Is it working?” he says in a low, overly seductive voice.
I press my lips together, trying to hide a smile, and shake my head quickly. “Don’t ever try to make spoons sexy again.”
Collin flashes me a good-natured smile, his white teeth catching on some of the firelight. “Not doing it for ya?”
“Nah. But pizza and ice cream always will.”
“Good to know,” he mumbles around another mouthful, and when I flick up my eyes to his, he’s looking at me with a concentrated gaze, like he’s got a running list of things I like and don’t like, and he’s adding to it in his mind. He clears his throat. “So…” He fiddles with the seductive spoon. “I’m guessing you’re exhausted.”
“It’s been a long day,” I agree.
“The bed is all made up, and—” He cuts himself off when he sees my frown. “What?” he asks.
“I figured we’d both sleep down here, where it’s more comfortable,” I say.
Collin sits back on his heels. “Oh. Well. Yeah. Of course we can do that. I didn’t want to assume. Or make you uncomfortable if you felt like I was pressuring you into bed. But we absolutely can do that. If it’s what you want.”
My lips twitch. Collin is so cute when he’s a little off his game. I nod.
He shoots me a wolfish grin and rubs his hands together. “I’m going to build us the best wedding night fort anyone has ever seen.”
I laugh a full-blown laugh at that. This has been the strangest, most emotional, best day I’ve had in recent memory. It’s only fitting to end it in a pillow fort.
34
Straight Toward Unknown Danger
Noli ~ September
This is the longest shift of my life.
I tip my chin from side to side and roll my shoulders, trying to work out the kink in my neck. Is it a full moon or something? Because it’s been chaos in the call center.
A water main break on Main Street.
A kid choking in an apartment north of town—he’s okay, thank God.
A couple teenagers caught smashing pumpkins—in broad daylight.The idiots.And an angry neighbor who took out her frustration on me.
And now this—whatever this incoming call at my station happens to be.
Don’t get me wrong, I thrive in this sort of chaos. I can tunnel my vision and focus on the call I’m dealing with like the best of them. I talked a frantic mother through the infant Heimlich maneuver. I talked an angry septuagenarian down from the ledge after those teens wrecked her fall foliage. And through it all, I’m like a general, marshalling my resources, getting everyone taken care of in a timely and efficient manner. It’s what I love about my work.
But I’m tired. Collin and I have been married for a full month. The power was out for the first two nights after our nuptials. Cuddling on the floor in the basement in our fort—I can’t help but smile at that—while fun, wasn’t the most conducive to actual rest.
For one, I was on the floor. No number of blankets and lumpy pillows can change what that did to my spine’s alignment. I feel like I’ve been walking crooked ever since.
When the power came back on, we retreated to our separate bedrooms. But I’ve been tossing and turning at night, missing his presence and wrestling with my guilt over not telling him about Nelson. I need to tell Collin that he keeps pestering me, but I don’t want to ruin what we have going or taint it with the memory of my stupid past.
Truthfully, Collin and I have been having a blast together. We’re both still putting in crazy hours, but after work, we talk through our day and then play card games or read our books together. Somehow, we always end up cuddling.
