“You know him?” I whisper to Fletcher.
He lifts a shoulder in answer, then shakes Luca’s hand. “I passedout on her at a blood drive, so I’m paying my penance by being her date to things like this.”
Henri’s eyes go wide, and if you’ve known Henri for any longer than five minutes, you know she’s equal parts horrified and intrigued.
“What’s the vampire equivalent of giving blood?” I murmur to her while I hug her in greeting. It’s been several months since I’ve seen her, but Henri is nothing if not a hugger.
She laughs. “Give me five minutes, and I’ll have my next book planned. That’s an epic meet-cute.”
“Not the first time we met. He’s on the Pounders with my brother.”
“Oh!” She smiles at Luca. “Thisis the guy you were telling me about last week.”
Last week?
I eye Fletcher again while Luca hugs me too.
Fletcher stares at—actually, he could be staring at anything in the tropical rainforest inside this greenhouse. What he’snotdoing is making eye contact with me.
And I realize this could’ve been my worst idea ever.
Is he playing me? Is this vengeance for the mustache? Is he the worst person I could’ve asked to be my date on the night I face not only Miller again, but also all of the friends he got in our breakup?
“How’s packing?” Luca asks me.
I catch myself before I start gnawing on a fingernail, which is something I haven’t done in years. “Nearly done except for the part where all that’s left are the things that I should get rid of butcan’t.”
“Like what?” Henri asks.
“Mostly my books, but also, I have this shark blanket that’s completely impractical but it basically swallows me whole. Your arms go into his lower jaw and his upper jaw is over your head, so when someone annoys you, you can pretend to chomp them.”
I demonstrate.
Henri’s eyes go wide with excitement. “No.”
“Yep.”
My favorite thing about all of the people I sometimes hang out with in Copper Valley?
Theyalsothink shark blankets are cool.
“I can hold on to it for you,” Henri says. “And I’ll write your name in it and wash it and give it back the next time you’re here. Promise.”
Luca’s sneaking a look at his phone.
Probably looking to see if he can order Henri one of her own, along with matching ones for their cat and baby.
“It’s likely going into my storage unit, but thank you,” I say.
“Quit blocking the path, assholes,” a male voice says behind us, followed quickly by a woman’s “Nicholas Murphy, you said you’d be nice.”
We all turn, and before I can sayFletcher, meet Nick Murphy, retired goaltender for the Thrusters, the two men are shaking hands.
They, too, have clearly already met.
I snap my jaw shut and remind myself to smile at Kami, Nick’s wife. She’s a veterinarian and always has the best stories.
Sometimes about her own pets, sometimes about clients’ pets, and sometimes about Nick himself.
