“Thank you, Jasper.” Searcy cuddled Dalton close. “It was very helpful.”
He smiled at her, then turned to me.
He studied my face for a long second before he said, “Stealer.”
With that, he left.
“Stealer?”
“I might, or might not have, taken his food delivery order the last two nights,” I admitted. “And he’s mad at me because I ‘switched’ the sign that delineates my house from his. But to be honest, when I did it, I wasn’t paying attention. I was cleaning the bird shit off of it because the delivery drivers couldn’t see our addresses. I was being a nice neighbor. I didn’t mean to switch the sign. But he thinks I did.”
“Jesus,” Searcy snorted. “You’ll have to replace it.”
I was already shaking my head. “I’m planning on it. I have an order already placed to be delivered tonight. Though, I didn’t order Mexican food again. The man needs to broaden his horizons.”
“I heard that his taste buds are different,” she said. “That his tongue was burned somehow. Or something was affected. He can’t taste the same things that most people can. It has to be super spicy or it just tastes bland.”
“Oh.” I paused. “I guess that makes sense why he’d order the spiciest thing on the menu there. And why he would continue to order from there.” I tapped my chin thoughtfully. “I’ll have to revise my order then. I want to apologize with the food, after all, not remind him of his downfalls.”
She snorted. “You’re awful.”
I winked at her and gathered my things. “Do you have it?”
“Yes.” She tilted her head. “You’re okay with going to get Anders?”
“We’re good,” I said. “I’ll drop her off at home when I take her to get Chick-fil-A.”
“Why are you taking her there?” she asked.
“Because she hates pot roast, and I do, too,” I pointed out. “Pay attention, Searcy.”
She groaned. “I can’t make this many people happy, Calli!”
I winked. “No, you can’t.”
Thirteen
I take super-hot showers to remind me of what burning in hell feels like.
—Jasper to Audric
JASPER
Dru:
Good news and bad news. Good news, I remembered to sort the Secret Santa participants. Bad news, you get Calliope.
Dru, Apollo’s wife, was in charge of our club Christmas party this year.
I wasn’t sure how I got added to the Secret Santa, but I knew that it likely had a lot to do with Dru, and her unwillingness to leave anyone out.
Me:
I didn’t realize I signed up.
Dru:
You didn’t. And neither did Calliope. So that’s why y’all get each other because I forgot to check to see if everyone added their names to the list. Sorry not sorry. One gift. Twenty bucks. It’s not that big of a deal.
