“I’ll send someone in,” he yells, heading down the stairs.
I sit and put my legs in front of me as I decide to start moving down the steps on my ass. There’s no way I’m standing on this ankle right now. I scoot down to the next landing before one of my colleagues is in front of me, grabbing under my arms and hoisting me up. We make our way down, and I’m given over to the medics.
“Can you tell me what happened to the man who just came out?” I ask the first medic I see.
“He’s already on his way to the hospital; that’s all I know.”
I sigh, and my mind races.
What was Mark doing in a bathroom, injured, with a dresser in front of the door? Who was that other man? What the fuck happened?
24 Pepper
“Wait, he just ran out of there?” Andi’s shocked voice comes across the speaker, and I wince.
“Yeah, but he had to go in. I don’t think he wanted to. And he’d gotten a weird call from his brother. I’m not really sure what all is going on.”
“How about I come over and help you eat that delicious pasta he made?”
“It’s bucatini with marinara and ricotta.”
“It’s about to be in my mouth,” Andi says, and I can hear her car door open through the phone. “Be there soon. Put your clothes back on.”
“I have—” I start to say before I realize she already hung up.
I climb off of Ben’s bed, where I was burrowed back against his pillows, sniffing them before I realized what I was doing. Danger trots behind me into my room, where he sits at my feet while I change into my comfiest pair of pajamas. It’s almost like he senses that I’m sad and he wants to comfort me. I just settle onto the couch and flip the TV on when there’s a knock at the door.
Did she use turbo boost power to get here?
“That was fast,” I say, swinging the door open.
Andi just grins at me before stepping inside. “My friend is hurting. Also … pasta,” she says, sniffing the air.
“It’s in the kitchen,” I say, walking back to the kitchen while she shuts the door.
I fix us each a plate, and we sit on the couch, her stuffing her face and me pushing noodles around on my plate.
“Okay, let’s recap,” she says around a mouthful of food.
“Let’s not.” I sigh and sit back, food forgotten on my lap as I think back over the last two hours of my day.
“You come home to him cooking,” she starts, ignoring me. “You seduce him, and he picks you up—super hot, by the way,” she says, pointing her fork at me. “Y’all continue the hanky-panky in the bedroom. You stop him and say, Oh, B-T-dubs—that’s by the way for those watching at home—”
“I know what B-T-dubs is,” I interject, but she doesn’t stop.
“I still have my V-card. He acts like it’s NBD—that’s no big deal. Y’all do the dang thing, and then he gets mysterious calls and leaves. Did I leave anything out?”
“Nope, that’s pretty much it,” I say and roll my eyes. “Nothing to analyze really. The calls weren’t mysterious. Well, maybe his brother’s call was.”
“I came here for the pasta, but my expert analyzing skills are just a bonus,” she says, a piece of cheese stuck to her lip.
“You’ve got a little something …” I point to my face.
She sticks her tongue out, licking it from her top lip. “I was saving it for later. This food is damn good.”
“I’ll be sure to let Ben know,” I say sarcastically.
“Okay, here’s my opinion,” she says.
“Thank goodness. I’ve been waiting on pins and needles.”
I place the plate of food I’m holding on the table in front of us and sit back, hugging a pillow to my chest. Part of me knows that he didn’t want to leave, but the other part—the one wallowing—wants to feel sorry for myself and drown my sorrows in ice cream and cold Coca-Cola. Maybe together, like a float.
“I think that he really just had to go to work. He’s a first responder, and that means, he has to respond. I think he’ll want to talk about everything once he gets home. I mean, what was it he whispered to you right before he left?”
“ ‘This isn’t over,’ ” I supply, feeling the goose bumps roll across my skin again.
“Exactly. ‘This isn’t over.’ Which I think means—if I’m reading him right, and I am—that it isn’t over.” She sits back with a smile.
“Don’t quit your day job to become a therapist. You aren’t very good.”
“Look, you are way overthinking this. I’m sure the sexy time was wonderful, and … wait, did you enjoy it?”
“One hundred percent, yes,” I say, nodding.
Andi stuffs the last forkful of bucatini in her mouth and chews while squinting at me. “Safe to say he did too. The guy is obviously into you. Don’t sweat that he left quickly.”
“Of all the nights for him to be called into work.”
“Yeah, that was really sucky timing for y’all,” Andi agrees. “Come here.” She reaches for me, pulling my head into her lap and running her fingers through my hair. “I’m spending the night. Let’s stay up, watching scary movies.” She grabs the remote from where I set it on the coffee table earlier and flips on the TV.
“I hate scary movies,” I mumble.
“Too bad. I’m controlling the remote, and you need something to take your mind off Hottie McLovin’.” She giggles at her horrible joke.
“You really aren’t funny.”
“I have a specific brand of humor,” she says, and I laugh.
“Thanks for being my friend.” I reach up to pat her head.
“Anythang for you suga’,” she drawls.
I smile before throwing my hand over my eyes and grimacing at the hideous face that just flashed across the television screen. “Really? It’s not even Halloween yet.”
“Halloween is every day for me,” Andi says, leaning forward.
I wrestle the remote away from her and finally find a nice
