My heart goes pitter-patter in my chest, extremely happy to know just how good he is at spoiling me everywhere.CHAPTER 17Wren
“It’s all fun and games until someone loses their balls.”Mom: I see you got the D last night.
Wren: MOM!
Mom: Don’t be shy now, child! I didn’t realize Shepherd was such a… voracious and wild lover. Good for you!
Wren: It’s entirely too early for this.
Mom: It’s fine. You don’t have to confirm it verbally. I’m currently looking at the proof. While messy, I am very delighted for you. Chaotic lovers can be super exciting, but I am not cleaning this shit up by myself.
Wren: Are you drunk? It’s not even eight in the morning yet.
Mom: Were YOU drunk last night when you left the Dip and Twist like this after your boning?
Wren: Don’t say boning. No one says boning. And what are you talking about? Left the Dip and Twist like what? Shepherd and I left it exactly the way you did after you closed.
Mom: So you DO confirm there was boning! Sorry, fucking.
Wren: Yep, boning is fine. Just say boning.
Mom: Seriously, Wren, the place is a mess. No one is happier than I am that you finally got the cobwebs cleaned out from down under, but get your cute little tush up here and help me clean up the mess.“We did not do this,” I tell my mom for the second time as I stand next to her in the back room of the Dip and Twist and survey the damage.
“Pity,” she muses, and we both bend down to lift up one of the metal shelves that was knocked over to stand it back up against the wall, the Styrofoam cups and bowls that were stacked there now strewn all over the floor. “I’ve broken a few shelves and knocked things off walls during boning a couple of times. It’s always a rush.”
“Can we please focus on what the hell happened here last night after Shepherd and I locked up?” I ask her as I grab the broom and dustpan to start sweeping up all the containers of sprinkles that were dumped on the floor, while my mom starts restacking things on the shelves and throwing away stuff that’s damaged.
“You’re sure you locked up?”
“Positive.” I nod, thankful that whoever did this only dumped dry goods and we don’t have to mop up chocolate sauce or caramel. “Shepherd has this OCD thing where he’ll go back to a locked door three times to check it before he leaves. I know for sure he did it last night, because I teased him about…. You know what, I just know.”
No need to tell my mother that when Shepherd said, “I have to do it three times in a row.” I snorted and replied, “Too bad you don’t feel that way about orgasms.”
It was like finally having good sex flipped a switch in me and I could no longer control what came out of my mouth. Shepherd definitely didn’t mind, since he almost gave me another orgasm when he kissed me goodnight against the back wall of the Dip and Twist. After we locked up. And he only stopped, because Ed drove by one last time, circling his golf cart around the building and catching us there like a couple of teenagers before laughing and then zipping away.
“Laura! You in here?”
Speaking of the orgasm-blocking devil.
My mom and I both pause in our cleanup when Ed walks around the corner, his feet stuttering to stop with a muttered curse. “You said the place was a little messy,” Ed states, raising one bushy white eyebrow at her.
“I also told you when I called you five minutes ago to see if you saw anything last night that you didn’t need to come here,” she reminds him, grabbing a pile of crumpled napkins from the floor and tossing them in the large trash bag next to her.
“Give me that garbage bag and go sit down,” Ed orders her, making my mom huff as he snatches the bag out of her hand and starts picking up a pile of plastic lids that are all broken. “The wife will be here in fifteen minutes to help after she drops the grandson off at school, and Margot and Kathy will be here soon after to help out as well. You go out front and get ready to open, and let us handle the mess.”
My mom and I share a smile and a look. No matter how long I live here, I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to how much this island comes together whenever anyone here needs them.
“I’m sure it was just a tourist who got drunk and had nothing better to do.” My mom shrugs.
“That deadbolt was hit clean off the door. Probably with a hammer or something,” Ed informs her as my mom goes rushing around him and the corner, disappearing to check.