Chapter Six #2
I roll my eyes, shoving the bulk of my body between them.
My hands land on Poem’s shoulders. “You’re going to pull yourself together,” I demand, staring intently into her pale, angry gray eyes.
“And you’re going to figure it out. I’ve turned off the water, so the situation isn’t going to get worse.
” I tip my chin toward the floor. “Your flooring is going to need work, and probably your walls, as well. Ceiling. I don’t know, but there are amazing contractors in this town who will be more than willing to have a look and figure it out for you.
Emerson and Warren aren’t going to let you suffer.
Some of your furniture won’t make it, but some—like your couch and your table—will only need new legs.
That’s not so bad. And the stuff up off the floor is perfectly fine.
Your clothes, your toiletries, your books.
All of it is fine. It’s not good, but it’s not as catastrophic as it feels right now.
” My fingers dig into her shoulders, and I welcome the glare it earns me.
“I know you like to be a drama queen, but now is not the time. Right now, we deal with the problem. Later, we can cry about it.”
Her hands fist as her breaths drag heavy and uneven through her lungs. “I’m not a drama queen for being upset that my house is flooded,” she seethes.
“You’re a drama queen for standing around helpless as if you aren’t the same woman who was trying to purposefully flood the bar just yesterday,” I retort.
“You’d never try to create a problem you couldn’t fix.
Which means you know exactly what needs to be done here, you just don’t want to face the bigness of it or what it means for your wallet or the next few weeks of your life, being uprooted from your home as extensive repairs need to be made.
Refusing to face reality is a fool’s behavior, and you’re no fool, kit, so don’t act like one. ”
“I’m not refusing to face reality,” she hisses. Her hands land on my waist, fisting in my shirt. “I’m distressed in a distressing situation. A situation, mind you, that I did not invite you to witness. What are you even doing here, anyway?”
I sniff. “Wolfe was worried about you.”
Wolfe chokes. “Me?”
Poem’s eyes shoot over my shoulder, widening in hurt that she quickly covers with snark. “You weren’t worried about me, Wolfy? I’m wounded!”
He winces. “That’s not what I meant.”
She drops her hands and takes a step back, water swishing as she pulls away from me. “You Blackwood boys sure do have a way with sticking your feet in your mouths.”
Wolfe apologizes. Immediately.
“I’d say sorry, too, but you’ve made it pretty clear you don’t want my remorse today, so I won’t waste my breath.”
She nods, cute little dimple popping out for just long enough to torment me before she hides it away. “Very good. Since you’re in such a mood to please, you want to go away? I’d rather deal with this mess without your whole… thing making it worse.”
My thoughts catch on the idea of me pleasing her, then stumble face-first into the insulting latter half of her request.
“My thing?”
She nods, and my traitor brother does, too.
“You’ve totally got a thing,” he agrees.
“I don’t actually need a brother,” I declare. “Mine could mysteriously disappear, and I think I’d be alright.”
They exchange a look, amusement sneaking past the seriousness of the predicament around us. “Yeah,” she says. “Like that. Perfect example.”
“I can turn your water back on,” I offer, baring my teeth. I take a step toward the door, boot squelching on the carpet. “It’ll only take a second.”
She lunges for me, and I’m forced to catch her when she slips, arms wheeling cartoonishly in her attempts to stay upright.
I grunt when she lands against me and nearly takes me down with her.
“What was that about me having a thing?” I ask, pulling her to her feet.
She sniffs, eyes averted while I steady her. “Anyway,” she says. “Emerson and Warren are on their way to check everything out. You guys don’t need to stay.”
Wolfe frowns. “Why am I being kicked out? I’m not the one with a thing about me.”
She levels narrowed eyes on him. “Because. Don’t you have a child to raise?”
“She’s at Almond’s for a girlie birthday sleepover,” he informs her. “Perfect timing, that. Means I can be here to help out my other little sister. If she’d stop trying to send me away with my evil twin, anyway.” And then, he pouts. Sticks his stupid bottom lip out and pouts.
“Are you kidding me?” I ask. “Is this a joke?”
“I never joke about being the good twin,” he replies before fluttering his lashes at Poem.
Her stupid, beautiful, entrancing lips twitch.
“I promise to be on my best water-repellant behavior,” he says.
She sighs. “Fine, you can stay, but he–” She turns to me, nose scrunched. “–cannot.”
I fold my arms across my chest and huff. “I’m not leaving. I will, however, get started on getting your furniture up off the ground and out of the water. Do you have anything plastic we can use to prop stuff up, or should I improvise?”
She glowers at me.
I realize quickly that she’s not going to answer.
I sigh. “Do you have to be so–”
The door opens behind me, cutting me off and freezing me where I stand.