Oh yeah, she just shivered and in my favor.
Lainey shifts her head to the left to keep our faces far too close and her mouth in dangerous proximity to my own. “Says…” she rasps in a sultry way that I would spank her for, and that thought alone shouldn’t be in my head right now. “Satan.”
There it is. Her ever-so-kind retort.
We step back from one another and take a breather. Our eyes remain locked for a few seconds before I decide that I need to leave this hall and enjoy an evening of peace and rubbing one out.
“Night, Lainey, may your dreams tonight be of clowns or some shit that scares the hell out of you.”
“Funny.” She rolls her eyes.
After a few more seconds and a slip-up of staring at her lips for a moment, I turn to head inside.
“Tyler, wait.” Lainey’s voice softens, and it causes me to glance back at her. She sighs a breath while her eyes flicker closed then open. “Thanks.” Appreciation floods her face as I turn and fold my arms over my chest. She points to the pumpkin by my door that Enzo gave me last week. “I mean, I know these holidays must be your idea of hell.”
“They are,” I confirm sharply.
“And your heart probably struggles with the festive joy of the months from October to December, questionable if January first falls into that timeframe.”
“I don’t have a heart,” I mundanely point out.
She tries to look anywhere but at me. “It’s just… I’m aware of all of that, and I just wanted to say… thanks.” Her eyes flick up to meetmine.
Ah.
Maybe it started a month ago when I left tickets for Enzo to see a game because I overheard him talking to his mom in the elevator, excited about hockey but bummed his uncle wasn’t around to get tickets for a team no longer his.
Or maybe it’s the way he told me about his costume for weeks whenever I ran into them in the parking garage.
“It’s no problem.” I mean it sincerely.
The corners of her mouth tug, and I wouldn’t need a magnifying glass to see that she nearly gave me a little smile. She gives me a little nod before disappearing back into her place.
I can’t help but watch her door close.
Any holiday, I hate. Except, I made an exception for ten minutes, and she just thanked me for a simple reason; for Enzo or her, I’m not quite sure.
Enzo is a great kid, and I can’t seem to say no to him.
Despite my dislike for Halloween, I got candy for trick-or-treaters. Only one, actually. Because there was no way I was opening my door more than once. But Enzo asked last week right after he gave me a pumpkin if he could trick-or-treat at my door. It wasn’t in my plan. Lainey pointed out to him that I was too cranky for that kind of stuff.
Still, I went out and bought candy to hand out.
Only for him.
And Lainey didn’t even ask me to.
CHAPTER 2
LAINEY
Frowning, I watch as the barista takes down the paper ghosts hanging in the window while her other colleague begins to wrap green garland and holiday lights along the window looking out on Main Street.
“They waste no time,” I comment.
A chirp of a laugh brings my attention to my best friend, Gracie. She’s sitting across from me at our small corner table. Her perfectly shaped red nails are a contrast to the white mug of coffee that she’s sipping on.
“It’s okay. We still get to have pumpkin spice lattes for another month. Thanksgiving allows it,” she reminds me.
