“How was your first shift?”
“Um, great,” I tell him. “I met a lot of the monsters in town. They were all very friendly and patient with me. Nothing like the day I went out job hunting. I’m guessing now that I have a job in town, I won’t be seen as a sketchy outsider.”
Winston turns the page of his book, as if I’m not even here. I could take this as a hint to leave, but I’m eager to fix things between us, so I keep blabbing about my night. “I met the mayor.She’s Martha Crane’s great-granddaughter, Emma Crane. Did you know that?”
He doesn’t answer.
“She seemed nice, told me all about the secret portals that connect the monster towns across the country. Can you believe that shit? Actual portals. Like, you step inside and poof! You’ve arrived.”
Still nothing as he turns another page.
“She invited me to the town meeting in a few days. I guess they have one every month at the Pebblebrook Inn.”
He scratches his chin as he continues to ignore me, and my patience evaporates. I decide to fuck with him a bit, to see if he’s listening. “And apparently after the town meeting ends, they put on some Sugar Ray, and it turns into a wild orgy.”
His gaze doesn’t meet mine, but instead of on the page, now it’s on the floor. I see his jaw tic and his knuckles are turning white as he clutches the book in his hands.
Finally, a reaction. He’s still not talking, but I can see it affecting him.
“I wonder what I should wear. What does one wear to an orgy? Should I just walk in naked?”
His knee begins to bounce up and down. Time to land this plane.
“I’m in charge of bringing the chili mac and cheese, since it’s an orgy slash potluck.”
Winston scoffs. “Since when do you cook?”
I toss the broom at his feet. “That’s the part you question? Seriously?”
He grabs the broom off the floor, examining the blue handle and matching bow I tied around the top, and the handwritten label that says, “Winston’s Special Outdoor Broom.”
Letting out a heavy sigh, he leans the broom against the side of the chair as he gets to his feet. “Natalie, I want to tell yousomething.” He looks down at the book in his hand, then at the chair behind him before patting his pockets with confusion twisting his features. “I just need to find my bookmark. Hold on.” The more he searches, the more visibly upset he becomes. “Where did I put it?”
“It’s not a big deal, Winston. Just fold the corner of the page down.”
He stops, leveling me with a venomous glare. “What? Why on earth would I do that?”
I shrug. “You can just unfold it when you’re done using it to mark the page.”
Winston jerks back as if I slapped him. “What kind of miscreant would defile a book by damaging the delicate pages instead of using a bookmark?”
I can’t help but chuckle at his theatrics. “Okay, this is an absurd overreaction. You know that, right?”
“Is it, though?” he asks, sarcasm dripping from his tone. His gaze drifts over my shoulder, out into the hall and toward my room. “Do you… Have you done this to any of the books from this room?”
Ugh, I hate that I actually feel ashamed to say yes. Folding down pages instead of using a bookmark is a preference. Just like pizza toppings. The fact that I’d rather fold doesn’t make me as inherently evil as Winston is making me seem. Yet, I can feel the blood rushing to my cheeks as he glares at me. I’m so busted.
“Unbelievable!” he shouts as he turns into mist and whips around me toward my bedroom.
“Hey!” I call out after him, trying not to slip on the smooth hardwood floors in my sock feet as I follow. “What the hell?” Winston is back in his corporeal form as he scans every surface in my room.
“A-ha!” He grabs the two paperbacks off my nightstand and holds them above his head, well out of my reach. “You’ll get these back once you’ve learned how to properly respect a book.”
“Are you fucking twelve years old?” I jump and scramble to grab them out of his hand, but he’s too damn tall.
He wags a finger in my face. “Nuh-uh-uh. This is for your own good. And for the good of all literature.”
I sink down into a squat before leaping as high as I can, and while it does get me a little higher, it’s still not close enough to reach the books, and I stumble into Winston as I land on my feet. I’m not sure what’s happening as we struggle to regain our footing. The books thump on the floor somewhere behind me as Winston wraps his arms around me and whirls us around until my back slams against the wall, his hand cradling the back of my head to protect me from the impact.
