"I love it," I tell her, taking the treat. "Even if it is disturbing." Sunlight beams through as I hold it up by the stick, revealing tiny striations in the candy.
It's only a piece of weird candy, but the gesture brings a tightness to my chest, my throat. It's so sweet, so unexpected. "Thank you," I tell her, forcing the emotion from my voice.
"You're welcome," she says. "Thanks for saving me from having to remember my old Krav Maga lessons."
She heads for the attention-getting ride that nearly prompted my first murder, and I follow, holding on to that little martial arts tidbit she offered. I disconnect the nozzle from the car and secure the gas cap, then slide into the car where Cecily waits. I point at the top, wordlessly asking if she wants it retracted.
"No," she answers. "It'll be harder to eat our snacks." She pulls a bag of Bugles from the thin plastic gas station bag, passing me the ranch-flavored Corn Nuts I snagged in haste.
"Are you well-trained?" I ask, ripping open the bag like a caveman and tossing back a handful. I'd never eat these if Cecily and I were really together. Too much garlic.
"In Krav Maga?" she asks, opening her bag of snacks. "I was. I'm not anymore."
I nod, watching her pluck out a single crunchy corn snack and, instead of eating it like a normal person, places the cone-shape on the pinky finger of her opposite hand.
"It's probably something that comes back to you when you need it," I say, mesmerized by her process. Cone-shaped corn snacks now adorn every finger on her right hand.
She nods sagely. "Very true. And you'd do well to remember that for the next three weeks." She leans closer. Taps the end ofmy nose with the tip of a Bugle. "It's a bad day to be a Bugle," she says, biting one snack off a finger.
"It appears so," I answer, throwing in another handful of Corn Nuts so I don't say something I regret. Namely,Can I be a Bugle?
I shift into Drive and make my way back to the freeway.
Cecily proceeds to demolish the other four. She washes them down with her fire drill Icee.
Wordlessly she offers me the drink. "I already drank from it, so you know I didn't poison it."
I take it from her, grimacing at the injection of sugar when I take a sip. She smirks, and I pretend I'm not thinking about the way my lips were on something that was in her mouth only a moment ago.
CHAPTER 26
Cecily
I openedthe binder with one hour remaining in the drive. I wish I hadn't. I am officially freaking out.
Page one. Stop one. I didn't make it past the first page. The first reservation, even.
Cecily and Dominic - King bed.
"You ok over there?" Dom asks, sending me a worried gaze before returning his eyes to the road. "If you're going to be sick, let me know. I'll pull over."
Do I look green? Maybe I am an unflattering shade of putrid, but it has nothing to do with the Bugles I powered through.
"Dom," I begin, tone serious. "Please stay calm when I tell you this." Deep breath. "My grandma has booked us a room that only has one bed."
How in the world did I not see this coming? I look at Dom, ready to see my alarm mirrored in his expression. But, no.
He's making a face that can only be described asYeah, well, what did you think was going to happen?
"Hello?" I ask. "Feel free to join me in the tsunami of dismay I'm experiencing over here."
Dom rubs his cheeks with a palm. "I admit I hadn't thought about it, but now that I am, it makes sense. From her perspective, why wouldn't we sleep in a bed together? We're married."
"We're married," I parrot. "Dom, how are we going to share a bed?"
"We've already shared a bed once," he points out. "In Vegas."
"Yes, but I didn't know I was sharing a bed with you. I was drunk, remember? This is vastly different." My breath comes faster. I cannot share a bed with Dom. It'll be too much. Too difficult. This is really asking a lot of my self-control. My brain hates him, but my body is being very stubborn about receiving that message. "When we go to get an annulment, what if they ask us if we've been sleeping together?"
