Chapter 10 #2
“It depended on what came to me first. But I used code names instead of actual names. And I changed details about who did what. Sometimes better than others. Like, I implied I’m related to an Olympic curling champion whose parents are swingers.
And that there was once a huge war in town between the ice cream shop owner and the local spa owner over the spa owner’s duck regularly pooping in the ice cream shop owner’s yard. That sort of thing.”
“ Nani Parvati and Mr. Monroe had an argument over a taxidermy donkey, which is the closest thing I can even begin to think of to match that second one,” Devi says with a glance at Grey and Kayla.
“And Kayla’s an Olympic medalist, but her mom is single.
And you’re not related. Or have any relatives who would be— oh my god .
” She slams her hands on the table, making both Laney’s plate of food and Jitter jump.
But she lowers her voice and leans in as she whispers, “ Are Chandler’s parents swingers? ”
“No, but they have an open marriage,” I whisper back when I’m sure no one else is listening.
“ Does Emma know ?”
I jerk straight, scaring Jitter, who dives under the table, bumps his head, and almost makes Laney’s drink spill for shaking the surface.
“ Is she talking to Chandler? ” I demand.
“Abso-fucking-lutely fucking not,” Laney replies firmly while she straightens her meal back in front of her.
Devi and I both stare at her. Laney’s not one to drop multiple fuck-bombs in a single two-word sentence.
She goes a little pink in the cheeks. “Theo’s exact answer when I asked him the same question.”
“Because he doesn’t want her to, or because he knows for himself that she’s not?” Devi asks.
“Both,” Laney answers.
“She’s home?” Devi presses. “I didn’t think anyone had heard from her.”
“She was scheduled to get home this weekend,” is Laney’s cagey response. “Theo’s been demanding proof-of-life updates. He’s also spent some time at her house this week, clearing out all of Chandler’s stuff to take to Fiona Bell’s house.”
That takes a second to register, and when it does, I get my first real laugh in a week.
Fiona runs an online recycled art store with a specialty in jewelry made from reclaimed junk. She’s also Snaggletooth Creek’s most prominent Wiccan practitioner.
It’s a good combination.
She cleanses the auras of anything she recycles before she sells it. Everything on her site is guaranteed curse-free.
Ah, fuck.
I told Grey about Fiona and her war with her neighbor.
To the best of his knowledge, I was talking about a water rights war between Ms. Sharpie and Mr. Leprechaun.
It’s actually about a greenhouse straddling a property line and whether or not she was growing poison ivy for use in spells on him.
And him is one of the triplets who gets super mad when I talk about it, so I never say which triplet.
I love the triplets too much to divulge any more than that.
“So they’re definitely over- over?” Devi asks.
Laney nods while she pushes Jitter out from under the table. “That is the one thing that’s crystal clear in the whole situation.” She looks at me. “Will your new boss figure out who you were talking about, or do we need to do damage control?”
“I think he’s writing me off as a liar, and I changed a lot of details, so we’re probably good. But it might not be a bad idea for a few more people to tell him some incorrect gossip so he quits worrying about what I might’ve told him.”
Devi squints at me. “There’s something you’re not saying.”
“It’s—”
“Addison Hunter at three o’clock,” Laney says quickly.
Devi and I both whip our heads around.
Shit .
She’s right.
Addison’s here.
Addison’s here, and she’s angling up to Grey like she has every intention of asking him to head back to her place.
Over my cold, dead, gossip-loving body.
“Jitter, you win,” I tell him. “Let’s go see your new BFF.”
“Aww, Jitter likes him?” Devi says.
“Jitter likes everyone.”
Except Addison.
I have forbidden him from liking Addison.
And I tell myself Addison is the only reason I’m rising from my seat to cross the room with my dog and rescue Grey.
Again .
If he wanted to talk to Devi, or Laney, or Kayla, or whoever , I don’t care.
But Addison?
No.
No .
The minute I lift my head to plot my path across the restaurant, he makes eye contact with me as if I’m the only person in the room.
Once again, my breath catches in my throat.
Exactly the way it did when he flew to my side to keep me from falling after he startled me in the kitchen earlier, which I am actively not thinking about.
Not thinking about the fear in his eyes.
Not thinking about the way his breath was coming too fast.
Not thinking about the strong grip of his long fingers wrapped around my forearm.
Not thinking about the conflicted emotions that danced across his face when he realized he was giving himself away.
He cares.
But the fact that he clearly doesn’t want to and keeps bringing up how I left him in Hawaii is a major red flag, waving in the wind, broadcasting I have trust issues and I’m ridiculously attracted to you still and pissed about it .
And what do I do with red flags?
I have one-night stands with them.
That’s my dirty little secret. It’s in my DNA to go for the guys that I know aren’t relationship material.
Until Hawaii, but that was safe because I was never supposed to see him again.
He stares at me a beat too long before turning back to Addison and whatever she’s saying as she crowds him too close for my comfort. I say a quiet thanks to the cappuccino gods that it takes me about ten seconds to reach his side.
“Hey, you made it,” I say as I let Jitter stick his nose in Grey’s crotch and stand too close to him, craning my neck as I look up. “I didn’t see you come in. Have you gotten a plate yet?”
Those blue eyes focus in on me with a mixture of distrust and intrigue. “I made it,” he repeats slowly.
I smile.
And wink.
His guard goes up so fast, it’s a wonder everyone on the whole block can’t feel the aftershocks.
“I see you’ve met Addison,” I say. “She posted Emma’s wedding video online.”
“ Oh my god , Sabrina,” Addison yelps.
“She did,” someone behind me mutters. “I saw it on her TikTok first.”
“Have you ever made a mistake, Grey?” the slimy little backstabbing asshole says to him.
I touch his elbow and lean into him. “Oh, you can bet he has.”
She looks down at my hand.
He looks down at my hand.
At least three people around us suck in a collective breath.
Why, yes. Yes, I have just used body language to communicate that he is mine , and they can all back the fuck up .
It’s mostly for Addison’s benefit.
On a scale of one to ten, she can suck mud out of a straw every time she’s thirsty for the rest of her life for all I care.
“I have definitely made mistakes in my life,” Grey says slowly, “but I don’t think I’ve ever stabbed a friend in the back for a few minutes of fame.”
“Isn’t he sweet?” I say to Devi’s brother, who’s leaning in with his new fiancée, listening closely to all of us.
“I’d go with smart,” Isabella murmurs behind us.
“That too,” I toss over my shoulder with a smile.
Grey leans just out of my reach to bend and simultaneously scratch Jitter behind his big, floppy brown ears while pushing him out of his crotch.
Addison looks at me, then at Grey, then back to me. You can see the wheels turning.
The extrapolations.
The calculations.
The excitement at what she’s sniffing out as news. Can I be the first one to tell the entire town that Sabrina’s dating her boss?
“You do not want to do that,” I say softly, still smiling. “Not to me .”
Jitter pushes against Grey’s legs while the man himself watches me have a stare-down with the woman who became my mortal enemy when she uploaded Emma’s wedding video all over social media.
She shouldn’t even be here.
She works in Denver.
And—as off gossip as I am—I would’ve heard if she’d lost her job or had decided to move home.
Also, being off gossip doesn’t mean I wouldn’t drop every secret I know about Addison to get her to back the fuck off and mind her own damn business.
She goes a teensy bit pale. “I heard Emma’s home.”
“Have you also heard Theo has about a dozen get-out-of-jail-free cards from the sheriff?” I ask.
She fully blanches now.
I still don’t blink. “Grey, you haven’t eaten yet. Come on. Let’s get you some dinner.”
“Nice to meet you,” he says to Addison, and I feel like we’re back in Hawaii.
Playing off each other. Not hating each other. Not trying to sniff out an angle.
The suspicion is still there, but that could be my imagination.
Or my conscience.
“Off gossip, hmm?” he murmurs to me as I tug Jitter along to make a path for us through the crowd and up to the counter.
“Don’t test me when it comes to the people and things I love.”
“I didn’t need a save.”
“You would’ve preferred to not know who she was and what she did?”
He doesn’t answer.
We reach the counter, and Nani Parvati eyeballs me. “You don’t date.”
“Correct.”
“You look very cozy.”
“Whatever he wants, put it on my bill, please.”
Grey makes a noise. “I’m paying for my own dinner.”
“And whatever he orders,” I add, ignoring him, “can you double the naan and add in dessert?”
“Anything you want, Sabrina.”
“I do not need extra anything, and I’m paying for my own dinner,” Grey repeats.
“Nonsense.” Nani Parvati snorts delicately. “Your money is no good here. You saved Bean & Nugget. You get dinner from me or from Sabrina, but you don’t pay for yourself.”
His beard moves like his jaw’s ticking beneath it.
Jitter wags his tail harder and keeps staring at Grey like the man hung the moon.
Traitor.
“I’m not another of your good deeds,” Grey mutters to me.
“Sorry, boss-man. Looks like you are. If you don’t pick what you want, Nani Parvati and I will surprise you.”
“We will surprise you anyway,” she agrees. “Go sit. I will get you dinner.”
“I don’t—” Grey starts, but that’s as far as he gets before someone knocks into him from behind.
Which would be fine, except it makes him stumble, and however he stumbles makes Jitter yelp, and when Jitter yelps, he shoves Grey sideways.
Right into Marley, my neighbor with the adorable little girl, Aspen.
Who’s carrying a plate loaded with butter chicken.
Which smushes all over Grey’s button-down and his coat.
I try to make a noise, but nothing will come out.
Jitter whimpers and huddles against my legs.
“Oh, I am so sorry ,” Marley starts, but she barely gets it out before a piece of naan goes whizzing past her ear.
“Hey!” someone yelps.
“ Who threw that? ” Nani Parvati yells.
No one answers.
But someone shrieks near where Laney and Devi are sitting, and when I look back, Laney is very poorly stifling the most impish grin I’ve ever seen on her face, and Devi’s staring slack-jawed.
“ Someone threw food on me! ” Addison cries.
“Food fight!” someone who sounds remarkably like Lucky calls.
And then it’s game over.
Nani Parvati’s eyes go wide. She opens her mouth, dodges left as a samosa sails straight at her, and retreats to the kitchen.
I’m alternating between gaping at Laney— she started a food fight —and shoving napkins at Grey. “I’m so sorry,” I babble along with Marley, both of us ducking and dodging flying food in a way that Grey can’t.
He’s massive.
Tallest guy in the room.
Widest guy in the room.
Even when he’s trying not to be a target, he’s getting creamed with tandoori chicken and biryani and chana masala. Vindaloo and korma.
“We usually just eat it,” Marley says while we both desperately try to wipe off the increasing number of food stains all over him.
Jitter lunges for an overturned bowl of kheer.
Grey’s blocking his head with his arms. “Is this because I’m changing the café?” he asks.
“Every once in a while, we get out of control,” Marley says. “Theo’s usually involved.”
“ Theo’s not here ,” someone snaps.
“But his girlfriend is,” I whisper.
Marley and I make eye contact.
We both slide a look at Laney.
She’s coated in something green, and she’s laughing her ever-loving ass off.
“ Cover your cast, ” Devi shrieks.
“Dammit,” I whisper.
“ Hey ,” a booming voice calls from the doorway. “Break it the fuck up.”
The food stops flying.
Theo strides in the door, glaring at everyone. “If my girlfriend’s cast has to be reset, I will pay every single fucking one of you back with cat shit in your mailboxes. And worse.”
Marley fans herself.
She’s not the only one.
“Is that the porn star?” Grey mutters to me while he wipes cucumber sauce out of his hair.
“ Naked motivational knitter ,” I reply. Jitter’s still trying to eat, and I’m still trying to separate him from his dessert.
“Zen’s coming themself next time they want curry.”
I try to repress a snort of laughter, and I fail.
Miserably.
“I am so sorry,” Marley says again, but she’s only half paying attention.
The rest of her is watching Theo lift Laney out of the booth where she’s mostly escaped the food fight unscathed.
If he hasn’t figured out she did this to herself, he will soon enough.
And they’ll probably both laugh their heads off all night long about it.
Which shouldn’t be what makes my eyes hot with tears again, but it is.
I want that .
I want someone to laugh with and wreak havoc with and someone to tell all of my secrets to.
I just don’t believe in it. No matter how much I started wishing I did after Hawaii.
“Is your car coated in dog fur?” Grey asks.
I clear my throat and blink quickly while I stare at Jitter. “Of course.”
“Good. It can get covered with food too. You’re giving me a ride home.”
That sounds like a threat.
And macchiatos help me, I am here for it.