“For the puppet show.” Etta said, rolling her eyes loudly—if that were possible. “We have our handsome prince.” She gestured to him.
“Huh?” he asked, forgetting to channel Linx, who would’ve said something like, “Damn straight. It’s time somebody figured that out.”
“And you, my dear, get to be the magical princess.” Babushka practically sailed through the air as she moved.
“Today is checkers day. There are no princesses in checkers,” Sam said, sliding her gaze to Tanner as though asking him for help. A small crease formed between her brows.
The crease thing was adorable, even if it meant she was frustrated.
Just like that, the assignment here clicked into place. The way this whole thing had unfolded between them was intentional.
The residents at the Purple Peony had shipped him and Sam.
If he had to guess, pretty soon they’d be sending him direct messages on TikTok to prove how serious they were about a Tanner-Sam mashup.
“If Sam isn’t into this”—he gestured between them—“let’s not force it, yeah?”
“Into what?” Sam asked. “Precisely.”
“I think they’re working on a solid set-up,” Tanner said, under his breath only for her. “Pretty sure.”
“You knew about it?” Sam gave him a look he didn’t enjoy.
He lifted an aw-shucks shoulder, then his hands. “My hunch started about thirty seconds ago with the applause.”
There was no use fighting with these women when they put their mind to something. Something like a puppet show set-up.
“This is vhy ve do the show. So you two get to know each other.” Babushka took charge and herded Sam to the back of a makeshift cardboard puppet stage. Sam kept glancing behind to Tanner.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have a moment to consider how these nonsensical scenarios would play together. A set-up, a puppet show, his new ability to form a verbal sentence. There was a lot to unpack here.
No, there was no time to process, because he also found himself herded to the back of the theater, where a crocheted princely puppet—crown and all—got shoved on his hand. The puppet looked a little like a crochet version of him.
The puppet à la Tanner was a little extra, but totally fire. The other guys would be super jealous they didn’t get one.
The two chairs placed behind the mini theater had no one sitting there. Clearly, they were meant for Tanner and Sam, so he figured he should go along with it. That’s what made the most sense when he came to hang with his Purple Peony friends. Roll with it and enjoy the ride, because this crew threw a helluva party if a person didn’t ask too many questions.
He sat in the chair next to an absolutely bewildered Sam. She had a knitted princess on her right hand.
“Are you good being set up with me?” she whispered.
In the tight quarters behind the puppet theater, her face was right near his. Intimately close in a way he did not hate.
“Yeah,” he stared at her, soaking in the warmth of her brown eyes. “That’s why I asked you out.”
“You didn’t ask me out,” she whispered, again with the frown lines and the bewildered, glassy gaze.
Tanner’s tongue got a little stuck.Channel Linx.
“I was getting there,” he said, stumbling only a little over the words.
This is where he complimented her with a light shade to himself. Said something with the ease of Mach, minus the assholery Mach embraced on the regular.
He didn’t get the chance because the curtains to the puppet show opened and there was Betty Jane, sitting near the little window with a handful of index cards.
“Look, if you want to make an escape, I’ll cover here.” The rush of blood hit his cheeks and he didn’t need a mirror to know they’d turned crimson.
No, he didn’t want her to go. He also didn’t want her to stay if she didn’t want to be there. Didn’t want her to be uncomfortable.
