My chest twists so hard it hurts. I cup her cheek, thumb sweeping across her skin. “You kill me, Tallulah Parnell. Every damn day, you kill me.”
Her breath shudders out, eyes shining, and I press one last fierce kiss to her mouth before stepping back.
“Go inside and lock up, baby. I wanna see you’re safe.”
Her lips curve, shaky but sure. “Judging by my pulse, safe’s not really what I feel around you, Miller.” Her hand lingers against my chest, pressing over my heart. “But I like it better this way.”
She unlocks the door, steps inside, and gives me a small wave before clicking the lock. Only then do I turn toward my place,my body screaming at me as though I’m leaving something vital behind.
“Kissing on the porch, huh?”
I swivel so fast I nearly fall. Betty’s voice booms through the quiet as she stands on her porch, robe flapping, mug in hand. God only knows what’s in it.
“Finally! Took you long enough.” She waves her mug. “Next time, use more tongue, Hockey Boy. I’m not paying for cable.”
From behind Lulu’s door comes muffled laughter, bright and uncontainable.
I groan, flip Betty off half-heartedly, and hurry across the street. Her cackle follows me home, but so does Lulu’s laughter, and I’d take both every damn night if it meant ending the day with that sound.
Chapter twenty-five
COWABUNGA
Lulu
By the time Halloween finally rolls around, my house looks like the holiday threw up on it. Pumpkins on the porch steps, cobwebs trailing from the gutters, skeletons swaying lazily from the trees lining the street.
They’re accompanied by Betty’s fog machine, currently belching smoke across the yard, thick enough to qualify as a fire hazard. She insisted it was“atmosphere,”but personally, I think she enjoys watching the mailman choke on dry ice.
I’ve been collecting decorations for weeks, sneaking bags into the trunk like contraband. Logan would glance at them sometimes and mutter something about me running an underground pumpkin cartel, but honestly, this is my thing. Ilove occasions. Any excuse to celebrate, to make things brighter, louder, a little ridiculous.
And this year, I’ve had something extra to glow about.
The last few weeks have been a blur of long road trips for the Storm, filled with me stuck counting down to the next video call or stolen hour. But the team arrived back yesterday, and Logan was in the mood to make up for lost time. One more fantasy crossed off my list, one more reason I’ve been walking around with a blush I can’t shake.
I can still feel it if I close my eyes: the cold press of his kitchen counter against my hips, his hand splayed heavy across the back of my neck as he thrust into me from behind, breath hot in my ear.“Lesson whatever. Gonna fuck you like this every time I come home, so you can feel exactly how much I missed you.”
My thighs clench at the memory, heat rushing up my chest so fast I almost drop the tray of spider cupcakes in my hands.
“Uh-huh.”
Betty’s voice cuts through the fog machine haze, sharp with amusement. I blink back into the present to find her watching me from the porch, a broom brandished in one hand, a neon green drink in the other that’s definitely not cider.
I raise both eyebrows as I place the cupcakes down. “What?”
“Don’t give me that innocent look, Sugarplum,” she says, eyes glittering as she taps the fog machine with her broom. It hisses, belching out another plume. “I’ve seen that daydreaming face before.”
I clamp down on my lips and shake my head once, fussing with the orange gluten-free macarons I ordered to look like little pumpkins. “Don’t know what you mean.”
She sips her drink and hums knowingly. “Mmm… Nothing saysneighborhood spiritlike terrifying small children with animatronic ghouls,” she declares. Then, with a sly smile, “Andnothing saysI got railed last nightlike the way you’re blushing into those macarons.”
“Betty!” My face flames hot, which of course only makes her grin wider.
“Don’t worry, Sugarplum,” she adds, giving me a wink. “If Hockey Boy sneaks over after midnight, I won’t mention to Eli that his teammate’s lighting you up like a pumpkin.”
I make a strangled noise, because she’s not wrong.
The schedule gods have finally blessed us with a week of home games, with Halloween falling perfectly across two full days off for the team. Which means tonight is going to be chaos.
