“Yep.” I nod, watching her standing there, utterly clueless and absolutely adorable.
She takes a wobbly step forward, holding out the glass and reaching up for my neck with her pill hand. I bend down as she pulls me in for a hug, putting my hand on herwaist and holding her at a safe distance so I don’t wrap both arms around her and consume her like my primitive brain has wanted to do all night.
Soft lips press against the side of my cheek and she leans back slightly. Our faces are close. Her eyes lower to my mouth, and my lips grow heavy. I memorize the profile of her nose, the small dip in her upper lip, the feel of her breath against my skin.
Everything stills, and it would only take the smallest move, the slightest lean, a little closer to kiss her. Instead, I summon every ounce of strength to straighten, to pull back and break the spell.
“You’d better get to bed.”Before I forget my mamma raised me right.
“Okay,” she whispers, turning slowly.
She does a little wave with the hand holding the caplets and turns to walk a crooked trail to the stairs.
My brow furrows as I watch her. “Do you need help getting upstairs?”
“Nope!” She calls back to me, waving over her head. “You’ve done enough for one night.”
She has no idea. “If you do, call me. I’ll be awake a few minutes longer.”
Taking up my phone, I read the texts on the screen.
Knox
Haddy says you’re all alone, so I’m coming to keep you company.
Scrubbing a finger over my chin, I think about telling him Dove’s here, not that it makes a difference. We’ve all known each other since we were kids. He’ll just give me all the shit in the world.
Maverick
I’m out of town next week.
Knox
Noted. I’ll bring a cousin or two.
Maverick
Sounds great.
9
DOVE
“MP-29 is a peach-plum hybrid rootstock that can be grafted into the roots of the tree to potentially create a more resistant species,” Dr. Smithfield says.
I rub my eyes behind my glasses, feeling the headache creeping up behind my sockets again. My morning dose of ibuprofen is wearing thin.
“It’s a better alternative than Mariana 2524, which is a straight plum hybrid and can change the nature of the produce.” He shows me the slide.
“It’s so close.” I fight my aching head and make a note of the root’s genetic makeup.
It’s later in the afternoon, and I’m counting the minutes until I can leave, go home and crawl beneath the blankets on my bed—preferably with an ice pack on my head.
If Maverick hadn’t given me those late-night…early morning?electrolytes and ibuprofen, I’d never have made it here today.
Thankfully, Dr. Smithfield hasn’t seemed to notice my hungover state, or if he has, he’s kindly ignored it.
We were having such a good time last night. I can’t believe I did shots with Gina. I rarely drink alcohol, but we were all fired up after the game and the music and being with Maverick and my old friends was so fun.
