Page 21 of One More Chapter
“Excuse me, I was gone forfifteen minutes. How did you…”
“Clean so fast?” he asks, then scratches beneath his chin. “I can either finish a laundry list of tasks, to military grade standard, in record time, or I play the ‘If You Give A Mouse a Cookie’ game and have to follow the trail afterwards. It’s also the reason I have a billion alarms set. Sorry.”
I hate that I keep finding myself in these miserable situations. Making him apologize for things he doesn’t have to be sorry for. I’m not being fair to him, and I think somewhere deep inside, I know it. I need to be better.
I clear my throat, then say, “No need for the sorry. The house looks nice. Thanks for picking up.”
He nods tensely, and the fixer in me wants to put things back to…
What, normal?
We haven’t been “normal” since Florida. “Livable” might be a better word.
“What’s with the theme?” I ask, plucking his soap dispenser from the countertop.
He flushes scarlet, then looks to the ceiling.
“WantedtobeanAvenger.”
“What was that?”
“I wanted to be an Avenger as a kid, okay?! Jeez, woman, lay off the third degree! And leave Soap-Tony alone!”
He says it all in jest, stealing the soap dispenser from me as he places it precariously back into its spot on the counter. I can’t help but laugh. For real this time.
For a snap second, I’m back in time to right after Florida, texting him late into the night about everything and nothing. He’d told me about his Marvel obsession. I may have marathoned a bunch of the movies to impress him.
“Well, I’m gonna head out to get some work done on the house. Good luck with your writing.”
“Yeah, good luck on the house.”
He shoves his hands in his pockets and nods, and I have to get out of here. Because my heart is softening at the edges. Where I had once been gutted, these stupid little moments are healing over the scars. I can’t let that happen.
I’m not allowed to have soft spots for Anthony Ellis. Not anymore.
after florida
4:37 AM
Anthony
I still don’t see how you could prefer Regina’s Pizza to Bill’s
Do you have no taste?
Should we go there for our date???
Penelope
Anthony. LMAO. What the hell? It’s 4:30 on a Saturday?? What are you doing awake?
Anthony
I could ask you the same thing!
Couldn’t sleep
Getting ready to head to the gym