A few minutes later, I’m sitting on the edge of the couch, stationed behind my laptop on the coffee table and am not surprised with my full email inbox or the fact that Scotty Smith is getting traded due to the PR nightmare. I don’t condone cheating, so I have no problem whipping through the needed legal papers to get him on a plane out of here for a player trade.
This is how my weekends go. Gym, beer, work, and to make it riveting, add in arguments with my neighbor for my breaks from my laptop.
Sitting up and straightening my spine, I comb my fingers through my hair. For some peculiar reason my lips quirk out, and I tap my finger loudly on the table.
And fuck my mind for betraying me and for a millisecond imagining my neighbor splayed out on it.
Because I absolutely, completely, utterly can’t stand that woman.
2
ESME
“He still has no clue that you know who took the photo?” Hailey smirks as she twirls a teabag in her mug.
I only recall for a brief second how I discovered this tidbit from another photographer in the area. She’s someone I’m acquainted with from a local meet-up group of photographers.
Hailey’s been my friend forever. I’ve known her since we were teenagers. Her school year is winding down for her middle schoolers, and she’ll only teach a few days a week for summer school. She can relax more, which means sitting on my couch with our feet under our knees and leaning into the sofa is a regular occurrence. Sometimes wine shows up too.
“Nah. I’m saving it for the perfect time to really piss Keats off. The fact that I encouraged her to leak the photo that probably sent the Spinners legal department into a frenzy is a card I plan on keeping in my back pocket.” I glance down to my tea that I don’t really want. I would much prefer a coffee from Foxy Rox. Cold-pressed coffee all the way.
Hailey narrows her eyes at me. “You two are playing some twisted game.”
Sighing, I reach to the side table to set my mug down. “It’s not a game. It’s a nightmare. I think the zip code auto-fills addresses on their end. You know how we added the dash plus numbers to our five-digit codes a few years back? It messed with all the automations. Sometimes I get Mrs. Tiller’s boxes, too.”
“Probably.”
Tugging my hairband off, I let my hair loose. “I just wish I didn’t have to cross his path so much. Such an arrogant guy. He’s married to his work and seems to be wound tightly, grumpy too.”
She hums a noise. “Well, at least he’s easy on the eyes, your eyes in particular.”
Something tightens in a place that I wish he had zero effect on. The truth hurts sometimes, but yes, okay, he’s lean yet toned, and his crisp white shirts with two buttons loose at the top brings out his whiskey-brown eyes. I choose not to comment on the way his chocolatey-brown hair, short in the back but just long enough on top, would probably be nice to sink my fingers into.
Shaking the image out of my head, I raise my brows at my friend. “I guess he’s alright, if that’s your type.”
Hailey stares at me blankly.
Divert. Divert. Divert.
“So.” I lean forward to slap her arm gently. “That party at the manor you have happening. Do tell.”
Excitement floods her face. She volunteers at the historical museum outside Everhope, and she managed to steal a slot on the busy calendar to throw a birthday party for her brother. “Of course, we’re going to theme with the times of the manor, so 1920s. Long table for dinner with high candles. But I think we are going to add a murder mystery to the mix.”
I roll my eyes because it’s ridiculous, yet I love it. “Let me guess… we need costumes?”
She claps her hands together once. “Absolutely. I’m also going to send invites by mail, too. None of that e-mail or chat message crap. We’re going all in.”
A smile breaks out on my lips. “This is kind of cool. Although we know how I feel about haunted places.” My eyes draw up to the ceiling.
She sputters a laugh. “Still think this place is possessed?”
“Uhm, not really. I just can’t help shake that there might be a curse or something. Something doomed to happen.” Ghosts are not my thing, but there is an uneasy feeling that sometimes breezes into the air here. My great aunt was lovely, and thanks to her, I get a home mortgage free. It’s just strange because my old great-aunt never mentioned that this two-story house with a front porch and farm-styled kitchen would ever be mine. My home is by far better than my neighbor’s wraparound porch, a house way too large for one, but I guess Keats needs room to put his ego somewhere.
It's just every now and then I feel a brisk breeze that chills down my spine. Something of the past or something foreshadowing the future. Not going to lie, I’ve been burning sage a lot.
“I promise it will be fun. I need to figure out which characters everyone will be.” Hailey seems to be reflecting, as she’s in her element of party planning, but then her face turns pained. “Right, so you know that Keats is a friend of my brother which means that Keats is also getting an invite.”
Rolling my eyes, I choose to take the high road. “Sure. Kind of expected that.”
