14.
C OREY
I was stuck at home since I couldn’t drive, and although I had plenty of people who would be willing to cart me around to wherever I wanted to go, I didn’t have any pressing errands and couldn’t think of a valid reason to leave my house. Since that was the case, I was in the middle of yet another scroll through Netflix to find something that might catch my interest when I wondered why I even bothered to try.
In the three days that I’d been home alone, I’d been through every movie that seemed remotely funny and usually found that it wasn’t, tried to watch some dramas and realized I couldn’t care less, and suffered through too many over-hyped action flicks with endless unrealistic explosions.
The most exciting thing I’d found to do yesterday was watch cop shows and yell at the television when they got something wrong, which was more often than not, and probably why most people thought that real cops were lazy idiots.
After a while, I finally found a show that interested me and didn’t even want to admit why. I settled in for the long haul since there were multiple seasons. After three hours of critiquing the skills of people who had probably forgotten more about baking than I’d ever known, I was bored again and ready to climb the walls.
I had just picked up my phone to send a group text with an SOS for my sanity when someone rang the doorbell.
I got up from the couch, eager to greet my visitor, no matter who they happened to be, and was shocked to my core to find Janis on my porch holding a box from her bakery.
“Hi, Donut.”
“Janis. What’s up? Hey. Um . . . hi.”
Janis smiled before she asked, “How are you doing?”
I reached out and grabbed her hand before I dragged her into my house and said, “I’m going nuts here by myself.”
“You must be if you just yanked me into your lair.”
“I was just about to send a text to see if anyone wanted to come hang out and . . .”
“I was probably not part of that target audience, but here I am.” Janis lifted the box and said, “And I brought snacks!”
“Did you poison them?”
“No.”
“Did you spit on them?”
“Also no, but you’ll never know for sure because I’m leaving and taking them all back with me,” Janis snapped as she tried to wrest her hand out of mine.
I held on and said, “Shit. Sorry about the inquisition. Habit.”
Janis hummed before she said, “So, how’s your ass?”
“I’ve been told it’s fantastic. What do you think?”
Janis gave me a bored look and said, “I have never looked at your ass for any other reason than to imagine myself kicking it, so I wouldn’t know.”
“How’s that nice bullshit going for you?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
I smiled when I admitted, “I’m glad you are, Grissom. You’re a sight for sore eyes.”
“Did you know that phrase was coined by an author named Johnathan Swift in the mid-1700s?”
“I did not.”
“Well, now you do.”
“Thanks, Little Hank.”
“Enjoy your snacks, Donut. Get well soon.”
“You’re not getting out of here that easily, Grissom. I need you.” I realized how that sounded, and when her eyes widened and she swallowed hard, I realized she did too. Finally, I croaked out, “I need your help.”
“You’ve needed help since . . .” Janis cleared her throat and asked, “What can I do for you, Donut?”
“Entertain me.”
“Dance, monkey!” Janis scoffed.
“Please. Just sit and talk to me for five minutes. I’m going stir-crazy. You wouldn’t believe what I’ve been watching.”
Janis leaned to the side so she could look around me, and her eyes lit up before she said, “You’re watching the Great British Bake Off? No way!”
I didn’t have to hold her hand to keep her in my house anymore. Suddenly, she was dragging me toward the living room.
“My viewing selection meets your approval?”
“I have to admit that I get a little worked up when I watch this show.”
“What do you mean?”
“I start to think that they might be able to hear me screaming instructions or explaining all the things they’re doing wrong.”
“I realized yesterday that I do the same thing with cop shows.”
“What season are you watching? Oh, I’ve seen this one before. I can’t believe that moron tried to make buttercream icing in a tent with no air conditioning.”
“I know, right?” Honestly, I had no idea, but I assumed buttercream icing and heat didn’t mix, not because I knew what it had in it other than the obvious ingredients in the title. To keep her talking, I asked, “What would you have done?”
“Italian meringue buttercream. Everyone knows it’s got more stability because the meringue base is cooked. My second choice would have been Swiss meringue buttercream.”
“Of course.”
“Have you watched the Blue Ribbon Baking Championship?”
“No, but . . .”
“Oh! I’ve been dying to watch that one!” Janis said as she set her box of goodies on the table and reached for the remote. She kicked her shoes off and sat down on the couch before curling her legs underneath her. I had never seen Janis so excited about something, but I was definitely here for the show, so I gingerly sat at the other end of the couch and watched her as she searched for the show. When she finally found it, she got it started and said, “I love fair food, don’t you?”
“I do, but I’m kind of surprised you do, since everything you bake is so much more sophisticated than fried food on a stick.”
“There’s a time and place for everything. It wouldn’t be feasible to eat something I’d baked while you’re walking around the fairgrounds. Way too messy.”
“I guess you’re right.”
“Are you hungry? I brought an assortment of new recipes I’m working on for the shop.”
“I guess I get to be your guinea pig in all sorts of ways, huh?”
“Maybe.”
“You’re doing great on the nice thing, and I’ve never eaten anything from your bakery that I didn’t love, so I think you’re knocking it out of the park.”
“Good. I like to win.”
Janis looked back at the television and was soon immersed in the challenge they announced. I watched her get excited and start on her critique, wondering the entire time if maybe I was the real winner in this situation. Janis Grissom was quickly becoming someone I wanted to know more about - not the grumpy side that I’d always known before, but the nicer side of her.
And from what I was quickly learning, the nicer side of Janis was just as sweet and even more fantastic than the treats she made every day.
◆◆◆
I picked up a slice of pizza and held it out toward Janis and then smiled when I saw her considering it before she finally took it from me.
“You’re really bad for my health, Donut. I’m going to go home and pass out in a few minutes with a belly full of carbs.”
“A few minutes? What time do you usually go to bed?”
“I wake up around three in the morning so I can be at the bakery by four, so I try to get to bed by eight if possible. Nine at the latest.”
I glanced at the clock and said, “It’s only six thirty now, so we’ve got some time.”
“True.”
“I’ve liked hanging out with you.”
“You sound surprised.”
“A month ago, I would have laughed if anyone suggested we could sit alone in a room together without bloodshed for any length of time. The thought of enjoying your company was beyond comprehension.”
“Same, buddy.”
“This is kind of like a date.”
Janis had just been about to take another bite but held it there in front of her face as she stared at me in shock. She kept eye contact as she said, “This is not date worthy, Donut, but the fact that you think it is explains why you’re single.”
“If this isn’t a date, then what is?”
“This is ‘been together for a long time and comfortably hanging out at home time’, not something you’d do if you just start dating a woman.”
“Hmm. I guess I’m going at this from the wrong angle then. What are you doing Saturday evening?”
“We open later on Sunday mornings, so I’ll probably hang out with the girls or something until about ten.”
“No,” I blurted. Janis looked at me with one brow raised, highly offended that I might even consider dictating her schedule, so I was quick to add, “Let me take you out Saturday night.”
“Out where?”
“On a date.”
“Why?”
“I’m asking you to go out with me, Grissom.”
“And I’m asking you why.”
“Because the second you stopped making me want to kill you, I started wanting to do other things like kiss you breathless and then eat your pussy until your soul leaves your body and then fuck you so hard you start speaking in tongues.” I couldn’t believe I’d just allowed my innermost thoughts to become actual words in the air between us. Apparently, neither could Janis because she just sat there, staring at me and blinking, for what seemed like an eternity.
She quietly said, “Make it an early date so we have plenty of time in case I decide that’s what I want to happen.”
Without another word, she went back to her pizza and then pressed a button on the remote to start the next episode of the baking show.
I was stunned. For the first time in years, Janis Grissom didn’t put up a fight just because it was me who made a suggestion. Instead, she rolled with it and seemed almost interested in the idea.
◆◆◆
JANIS
“I think I fucked up,” I said as I walked into Zoey’s. When Zoey lifted her head and glared at me, I shrugged and said, “Your freakin’ door was wide open. Did you really expect me to knock?”
“You almost saw things you shouldn’t have,” Zoey chided.
“I’m having a crisis! Put your fucking shirt on so I can talk without your boobs distracting me. Nice bra, by the way.”
“Sorry, babe,” Zoey murmured before she gave Garvey a kiss. “Hold that thought, okay?”
“Have you ever considered moving away?”
“Not really.”
“Start,” Garvey grumbled. As Zoey crawled off his lap, he reached for one of the decorative pillows on the couch beside him and put it over his lap. In a voice dripping with sarcasm, he said, “Always a pleasure to see you, Janis.”
“You look just like your brother when you’re grumpy.”
“Well, we’re twins, so . . .”
“What’s going on?” Zoey asked, interrupting Garvey’s rhetoric. She looked at her watch before she said, “It must be something big because it’s past your bedtime.”
“I just left Corey’s and . . .”
“Shit! Is he okay?”
Garvey twisted around on the couch and stared at me before he asked, “What did you do to him?”
“Well, I kissed him. Actually, he kissed me first, but I kissed him back, and then we made out by his front door for at least ten minutes before he walked me to my car and we made out some more.”
“My brother, Corey?” Garvey asked in shock.
“How many Coreys do you know, Forrester? Jeez, try to keep up here.”
“Hold on. Garvey’s not the only one who is confused. You kissed Corey? As in Donut?”
“Yes. Multiple times. And we have a date on Saturday.” I gave them a few seconds to let it sink in before I said, “Stop staring at me and say something!”
“I’m gonna need a minute,” Zoey mumbled.
“Maybe two,” Garvey agreed.
“Let me catch you up while you adjust,” I offered.
“Are you doing this so that you can get back at him for what happened all those years ago?” Zoey asked.
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“What happened years ago?” Garvey asked.
“Your brother was her first kiss, and then he said some shit that really hurt her feelings, and she’s never forgiven him.”
“Hmm,” Garvey hummed.
“You don’t even want to know what he said?” I asked.
“No, I was just confused because I was almost sure I was your first kiss.”
Now it was my turn to be stunned into silence. When I looked at Zoey, she seemed just as confused as she said, “You kissed Janis?”
“Well, yeah. It’s not like I was trying to keep it a secret, babe. It was ages ago.”
“When?” I asked.
“You don’t remember?” Garvey asked me.
“I’ve never kissed you, Garvey.”
“Yes, you did. At Mandy’s party. I kissed you in the closet. I was so worried that you thought I stunk because of the dog vomit.”
“Please explain,” I said, outwardly calm even though my heart was racing.
“So when we got there, I was walking across the grass and stepped in something gross. I used their hose to wash it off my foot and my shoe, but all evening, I was worried that I’d missed some and I smelled. Turns out the neighbor had poisoned Mandy’s dog, and it puked in the grass. Of course, my unlucky ass stepped in it.”
Zoey looked from Garvey to me and then back again before she asked, “You kissed Janis in the closet while y’all were playing Spin the Bottle?”
“So, you did know about that?”
“That was Corey.”
“Um, no, it wasn’t. He was grounded and didn’t get to go.”
“How did we . . . How did you . . . What the hell?” Zoey asked in confusion.
“ You stepped in dog vomit and then told Zane about it while you were walking down the hall at school?”
“Yeah. I realized that no one knew what had happened, but I told Zane how gross it was and, of course, that asshole laughed at me.”
“You kissed Janis. In the closet.”
“Are we playing Clue now or what?” Garvey asked Zoey.
“That was you ?” I yelled.
“You’ve thought it was Corey this whole time? Damn. I’m a little offended.”
“She’s had it out for Corey since the day she heard you and Zane laughing in the hallway at school. She thought you were telling him that kissing her was like stepping in dog vomit.”
“She’s actually a pretty good kisser,” Garvey said with a shrug.
“Seriously?” Zoey yelled.
“Are you fucking with me, Forrester?”
“Why would I lie?” Garvey asked. “What’s the big deal?”
“Have you ever wondered why she hates your brother more than anyone else on the planet?”
Garvey looked shocked when he asked, “Because I kissed you?”
“Because I heard you . . . I thought I heard you say . . . Oh, no.”
“This is really bad,” Zoey mumbled. She looked at me and asked, “Are you okay?”
“Oh my God.”
“She’s not okay,” Zoey told Garvey. “Be prepared for an invasion because I’m gonna have to call the girls in for this one.”
“Well, shit,” Garvey said sadly. “If that’s the case, then I think I’m gonna go for a ride. Maybe I’ll stop by and tell Corey why his ears are burning.”
“That might be a good idea.”