Muffin Top

“Instead?” She chuckled, guffawed, threw back her head and laughed, playing it up to really let the defenseman know how annoyed she was with his antics. “You’re funny. Zach, you’re paying my full fee and getting me season tickets, too. Be warned, I have a large group of friends, so you’re gonna need to set me up with at least eight tickets.”

“And people say I’m the shark,” he said, shaking his head.

“Only on the ice, my friend.” Her phone buzzed with an incoming message from one of the reporters at the Harbor City Post, who’d agreed to do a humanizing profile now as long as he got an exclusive at a later date that was more than a sit-down, but really gave new insights into the most hated man in town. “I own the rest of the ocean.”

It wasn’t until two in the morning that she put Zach’s latest mess to bed and slid between the sheets so exhausted that she was asleep before her head hit the pillow. It had been easier in Antioch where their schedules had always meshed. Now they were back to her nine-to-five—in the morning or evening, depending on the size of that day’s shitstorm—and he was back at the firehouse. He’d be on a twenty-four-hour shift starting at seven Sunday morning, but at least they’d have all day Saturday leading up to the engagement party BBQ.

The whole situation and its echo of her opposites-attract parents’ marriage was giving her that itchy sense of feeling like the other shoe was about to drop any minute.

Saturday morning, she woke up to the sound of her phone vibrating on her bedside table. She couldn’t help but grin. Someone was excited to see her again.

But the message on the screen wasn’t from Frankie.

Tess: Calling in a 911. Anderson just quit without notice and walked out. I have a bazillion deliveries scheduled today and can’t be doing those and working the register at the same time. Help!!!

Oh, that was beyond an emergency. Just the idea of super-introverted Tess having to deal with the public by doing deliveries from her florist shop had Lucy out of her bed in half a heartbeat. God bless her bestie, the woman hated dealing with people she didn’t know well, and the result was a mix of cringeworthy embarrassing factoids, like the fact that an elephant’s penis is six and a half feet long, or compulsions, like her need to count the number of tiles in someone’s kitchen.

Lucy and Gina found Tess’s quirks to be pretty fucking awesome and lovable, but people receiving bouquets for funerals or graduations rarely wanted to know the average diameter of the human eye (one inch). Tess didn’t have family to fall back on or a big-ass inheritance, she needed her flower shop to be successful if she wanted to, you know, pay her rent.

Lucy: On my way. Will take deliveries.

Tess: I love you so hard.

Lucy: You’ll owe me.

Tess: Add it to my tab.

While she was brushing her teeth ten minutes later, she grabbed her phone to see if Frankie had messaged. He should be off shift by now. No luck. Good thing she wasn’t the kind of woman who felt the need to wait for a man to take action.

Lucy: Bestie emergency (Tess not Gina). Acting as flower delivery goddess until BBQ. See you tonight!

She waited, staring at her phone. No text bubble with the three little dots appeared. He was probably asleep. It might have been a busy night. She hadn’t seen any news this morning about any big fires, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything.

She’d see him tonight. Everything would be just like it had been a week ago in Antioch. No reason for her heart to be doing that speed-up-and-dive-straight-down-to-her-toes thing. Everything was fine, perfectly fine. And if she kept repeating that to herself, maybe that other shoe would stay lodged wherever it was.

Chapter Twenty

Frankie sat behind Scarlett’s wheel while parked in his driveway and honked the horn for a third time. He had no fucking clue what was up with Finian, but he needed to get his ass in gear already.

The passenger door flew open, and Finn slid into the passenger seat. “Asshole, relax.”

Frankie was reversing down the drive before his brother had even finished fastening his seatbelt. “We were supposed to be there ten minutes ago.”

“And when did you get all antsy about being on time for anything but your shift at the firehouse?” Finn asked, then smacked the heel of his hand hard against his forehead. “Oh wait. I know the answer to that, and it’s as soon as you got home from your”—he held up his hand and made air quotes—“‘just friends’ trip to the middle of nowhere Missouri.”

“Shut it, Finn.”

“No fucking way, this is too much fun. So how is your”—more air quotes—“just friend, Lucy?”