34. Chapter 33
Siobhan
T he coffee pot sputtered out the last few drops as there was a knock on my trailer door. I got up and opened it to see my friends Colleen and Demi. “Come on in. I just made some coffee.”
I went over to the pot and filled up my waiting cup, which already contained some cream.
Colleen walked over with me and grabbed a flowered cup. I poured some coffee into it. I would have offered cream and sugar, but she loved it black. If it weren’t so cool out, she might have asked for some ice.
When Demi didn’t come over, I held the pot up. “Are you sure you don’t want any?”
“Not at this hour. I would be awake all night,” Demi said. “Although I would take a seltzer if you got one.”
I went to the mini fridge and looked at the seltzers. “I have orange and lemon.”
“Lemon.”
I grabbed the yellow La Croix can and handed it off to her. “What can I do for you since I know you’re not here to discuss today’s scenes?”
None of us had much to do in the way of acting, which was nice after some heavy work this week.
Demi probably had the most lines, with three, since she played the sassy barmaid at the gang’s local hangout, but not much had happened in the bar this week.
Colleen had two while she proved she cared about my character and was tracking down why my twin wanted to poison me, but most of our scenes were done yesterday.
Today, there were a couple of retakes, so the three of us decided to do a proper catch-up as Demi waited to be called to set and before Colleen and I headed home for the day.
“Is it just me, or are you glowing with new love?” Demi said as she cracked open the La Croix can.
I looked away. Being told that always felt awkward, since the last time she said it, I was pregnant with Stephanie.
Colleen wouldn’t let me get away with playing coy. Out of the three of us, she was the one who always called out people’s bullshit, which was funny. Demi’s character was more like Colleen’s in real life, and Colleen was more like Demi’s.
Colleen said, “You need to stop pretending it’s not happening. We all see it. Now it’s time to give us some of the dirt. Is it true that hockey players know how to do it better?”
As I thought about how Carter ate me out the other night and then fed me chocolate-covered fruit, a flush crawled up my neck. His mouth really knew how to tease me in all the right places, which only gave me some of the best orgasms in my life.
Colleen poked me and said, “That’s a yes.”
Which got all of us giggling.
Demi said, “I’m glad. You’ve been a nun for far too long, and it’s good to see you finally dating again. You’ve needed someone to treat you like a queen after that asshat.”
Demi never liked Russell, especially after he attempted to hit on Colleen shortly after our breakup while trying to woo me back.
“I am. Carter’s amazing. He’s always surprising me with our date nights in.
He’s done up the house a couple of times with these amazing pillow forts.
After finding out I loved chocolate-covered fruit, he’s done that fondue kit a few times.
He’s just been amazing, and he never complained about the stalker situation.
If anything, it has brought us closer together than regular dating. ”
Colleen looked like she was about to say something when my phone screeched.
My heart sank since that meant something was wrong at the house. I immediately pulled up the camera to see a masked man leaving a box on my doorstep. I immediately saved the video because I knew I would have to send it over to the security and the police.
Colleen and Demi both looked at my phone. Demi said, “Speak of the devil. What do you think he’s leaving you?"
“Nothing good.” I sighed. I should go back home to find out what was going on.
There was a knock on the door. “Demi, get ready. You shoot in ten.”
Demi gave me a hug. “Go get that figured out. I’m sorry you’re dealing with this shit.”
I could only close my eyes and agree. I hated it so much. I’d given up so much of my freedom and barely spent time at the house alone.
Lou knocked on my door with his heavy knock. “Come on. We need to take care of the package. Police are on the way, but we don’t know how long it will take them to arrive. It’s best if you’re there when they do.”
Colleen looked at me. “I’ll go with you and Lou. Can you spend the night with your man?”
I nodded but marveled at how Colleen could think about a guy right now. Maybe she was just trying to distract me.
“He’s back from Vegas, so yes, we’re going to his place tonight.”
We weren’t even halfway home when my alarm went off a second time.
I looked over at Colleen. “Please silence the alarm and tell me what’s going on.”
Colleen grabbed my phone from the console and, with a few taps, was able to silence the awful alarm.
I tried to focus on the road ahead, but everything in me wanted to reach over and find out why my security system was freaking out. Did the mask guy return?
It felt like one of the slowest lights ever, and Colleen was taking forever to give me the information about what was going on. Finally, Colleen said, “The package is on fire, and the flames are growing.”
“Fuck. You need to hit the emergency button and call the fire department to the house.”
Hearing my house was on fire was freaking me out.
Despite what Russell tried to claim in court, I always worked hard, and I put only my earnings into the house.
His child support went strictly to Stephanie’s school and activity fees.
I didn’t have the money to buy another home, especially with housing values these days.
“Oh shit. There’s a half-naked guy with a hose putting out the fire!” Colleen exclaimed. “He’s hot too.”
Suddenly, I didn’t give a damn about traffic. I needed to see what’s going on for myself. I swerved hard to the shoulder and looked over.
To my disbelief, Hallsy was indeed half-naked and spraying the package down with a hose. Sure, Stephen was my next-door neighbor, but we’d barely interacted since he moved in a couple of years ago. I’d only really gotten to know him thanks to Carter, since they were teammates.
Thankfully, the fire was declining, and I heard sirens in the background.
Knowing things were in hand between Hallsy and the firefighters, it was time to get back on the road, especially since I knew Lou was ahead of me, and he wouldn’t be pleased by my delay. We drove the short distance.
As we pulled into the driveway, I got a message from Russell, which said.
Heard there was a fire. If you need a place to live, you can move in with me.
I groaned audibly. That was the worst idea ever.
If Stephanie and I were moving out of the house on a full-time basis, it would be to Carter’s place. Not to my cheating ex, who couldn’t even stomach spending three weeks with his daughter. Plus, I didn’t need to see all his misdeeds on a daily basis.
Colleen stole the words out of my mouth when she said, “What in the world? Did you tell him anything?”
I shook my head. “No! I don’t talk to him unless I absolutely have to. When I get weird texts like this, I think he’s the one trying to ruin my life.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised. He’s never liked that you left his cheating ass. I’m glad you’ve always held strong and have never gone back to him. Just don’t let him screw up your dating life. You’ve been so much like your old self since you started dating Carter.”