Chapter 13 A Hyper-Emotional State
A HYPER-EMOTIONAL STATE
Addie
A cool breeze lifted Addie’s hair from her shoulders, left bare from her sleeveless tee, and her pores soaked it in in a valiant attempt to bring down her body temperature.
Present Addie needed to give Past Addie—who’d erroneously thought the fresh, open air of Central Park would help spark event planning ideas—a stern talking-to.
Heat and Addie didn’t mix well. The shade that the nearby tree had provided an hour ago disappeared as the sun shifted in the sky.
She grabbed an iced lemonade from the cooler and flipped through Naiomi Cross’s wedding book, occasionally jotting an idea on the tablet sitting on the blanket next to her.
She had a few … but she needed more. And then there was figuring out the logistics. A good idea wasn’t good unless you figured out how to execute it. A lot of great ideas failed due to poor implementation.
Familiar overexcited dog barks yanked Addie’s head from her work and directly to Do-Re-Mi.
They stood beneath a tall tree, all three sets of eyes locked on a humongous squirrel holding an acorn.
The gray creature twittered and shifted.
Each move sent her pooches into a tizzy …
and then it dropped an acorn right onto Do’s head.
Do’s big eyes blinked in confusion, and both Re and Mi whimpered pathetically.
“Will the cute squirrel not play with you three brutes? Gee, I wonder why.” Addie snorted.
Re’s and Mi’s heads swiveled her way, and the squirrel took that moment to launch itself onto their back, riding them like a furry surfboard.
All three pooches jumped and ran in a circle, but the squirrel held on tighter, having the time of its life before vaulting onto Umpire Rock and skittering away.
Do-Re-Mi looked forlornly at the spot it disappeared from.
“If you really just wanted to play, you should’ve been nicer,” Addie tutted.
“Let’s turn those frowns upside down, boys. Look what I got,” Phoenix’s deep, sultry voice announced. If Addie wasn’t overheated before, she was now.
Black T-shirt pulled tight across his chest and showing off his colorful tattoos, Phoenix walked toward her, muscles rippling as he held to-go boxes in each hand.
Well-worn, faded jeans hugged his legs. He didn’t have on his signature leather jacket, but his wicked smirk traveled everywhere, broadening when she caught sight of what he’d brought.
“Iced caramel mocha something for my demigoddess Muse.” Phoenix grinned knowingly before shooting a glance at Do-Re-Mi. “And chilled pup cups for the good boy hellhounds.”
Addie chuckled but eagerly accepted the supercharged beverage. “Hellhounds are actually Underworld-born shifters. Think bigger, grumpier, and with more fang than a mortal-born wolf shifter. They don’t leave the Underworld too often. Something about the poor air quality here.”
“Really?” Phoenix dropped down next to her, instantly reclining onto the blanket while Do-Re-Mi devoured not only the whipped cream from their treats, but the cups, too.
“I learn something new every time we hang out.” He nudged his chin toward his sister’s book.
“How’s it coming? Any genius ideas sparked? ”
“I don’t know about genius, but I’ve definitely gotten a few.” She handed him her tablet and nervously watched as he read through the list.
She didn’t realize until that moment how much his opinion mattered to her.
Of the ideas she’d written down, at least 50 percent of them were pretty good—or at least she hoped.
And she hoped Naiomi loved them. They were all a million miles away from the Globe, and the more she got to know Nai and East, she realized that was actually a good thing.
Finished with their treats, Do-Re-Mi circled the blanket twice before commandeering a back corner and closing their eyes. Their soft snores came a few seconds later.
Waiting for Phoenix to glance through her ideas, Addie scanned the park. They weren’t the only people taking advantage of the gorgeous day. People pushed strollers and walked their pets, and an outdoor yoga class stretched into downward dog on the grassy patch a hundred feet away.
An excited laugh drew Addie’s attention to the bike path and the older couple wobbling on Rollerblades.
The taller of the two chuckled, his legs locked as his partner held on to his arms for dear life in an obvious attempt not to fall on his ass.
They shared a sweet kiss before laughing again, eyes twinkling as they stared adoringly into each other’s eyes.
A smile blossomed on Addie’s face as she watched the exchange … and her vision blurred.
She rubbed her eyes to wipe away the sweat she’d thought had dripped down, but surprisingly enough, found none thanks to the iced caramel mocha frap.
Another glance at the couple and Addie felt the color drain from her face.
The air shimmered around the couple as a gold glow slowly eased into existence. Wrapping around their bodies before fusing in the center, it pulsed gently and became more solidified the longer Addie concentrated.
A gold cord, this one more real and elaborate than the one from the coffee shop a few days ago. Hell, delicately threaded, it looked a lot like the one she used as a belt with her Olympus toga.
Except this one glowed.
“You okay?” Phoenix’s concerned gaze went from her to the Rollerbladers. “You look a little pale.”
“I’m fine.” She glanced toward the couple and the link was gone. “Just mentally reminded myself to make an eye doctor appointment. So what do you think?”
“These are some solid suggestions.” Phoenix circled more than half of them. “I especially love the idea of using the white fairy lights in the barn and hanging glowing orbs from the rafters. Nai actually keeps little lights lit in her apartment all year round. She’ll love it.”
“Then we’re a go on overhead lights … and what do you think about the tables?”
Phoenix chuckled. “Artificially lit lanterns? Yeah, great idea. Pretty sure Emilio wouldn’t like his soon-to-be cleaned-out barn to be burned to ash.”
Addie snorted on a laugh, adding the table lanterns to the Green to Go column. After they cleared out the barn tomorrow, she hoped more ideas would spark to life.
“I have a question for you.” Phoenix hijacked her attention.
“And I may or may not have an answer.”
He lay back, elbows propping his upper body off the blanket and his gaze locked on her. “Do you really believe love doesn’t exist, or do you tell yourself that to avoid any potential heartbreak?”
Addie groaned. “That’s your question?”
“That’s my question.” He smirked. “Are you answering?”
She considered not, but what the hell …
Legs folded comfortably, she turned toward Phoenix and waited for the shocked reaction that always came when she laid it all out there. “Love is nothing more than a hyper-emotional state of either selfish interest or attraction. Let me explain.”
“Please do.” Phoenix sat up and mimicked her pose, touching his knees against hers as he shifted closer.
“Before you can claim to love someone, that person sparks your interest, or maybe you’re attracted to them,” Addie pointed out. “Whatever the initial meet-cute is, you’re curious enough to want to spend more time around them.”
“Okay…” Phoenix studied her carefully.
“So you spend more time together. You … date.”
“Right.”
“And then that interest either fades away, or maybe it intensifies and turns into the hyper-emotional construct called love.”
Phoenix’s eyes narrowed in clear challenge. “What about love at first sight?”
“Doesn’t exist.”
His eyebrows lifted. “It doesn’t?”
“Nope.” She shook her head. “Attraction at first sight? Absolutely. Not love. In very simplified terms, what people call love is just intensified attraction—or interest.”
“Then how do you explain the people that sacrifice things for the people they love?”
“They do it for themselves, not love. Humans are innately selfish. That’s just the way it’s always been.
If they do something, or risk something for the other person, it’s because in doing so, that person will stick around.
If they stick around, their bond grows. And if the bond grows, they never feel the pain of not having them close by. Selfish hyper-emotional state.”
“That’s…” Phoenix’s brow furrowed as he struggled to form words. “Wow.”
“You asked. I answered.”
“You definitely did.” He studied her a few beats longer before lying back in his earlier position and flipping to the next page of Nai’s wedding journal.
The iced caramel mocha frap turned sour in Addie’s stomach. It wasn’t the first time she’d admitted her love theories, but the low-key unease she felt this time around was definitely new.
This time, she felt like the Anti-Aphrodite.
And she didn’t like it in the least.