Page 79 of Game Over

“You do go all out, don’t you?” He asked as he shoved another chip with queso into his mouth.

“I told you I did. Never doubt my commitment to a good Halloween costume. Here, let me show you the test run we did on her makeup.” I pulled my phone out and quickly showed him the zombie makeup we had perfected on her. Complete with arm cuts, gray skin with a hint of a green undertone, and cracked lips. It was utterly grotesque and perfect.

“That’s actually impressive. Unsettling for sure, but highly impressive. I didn’t know you could do that type of makeup.” He handed me my phone back and went to sit on my mom’s couch to finish eating.

“What can I say? Jack of all traders but a master of none.” I huffed a laugh while I placed the needle into the small pin holder on my wrist. “Okay, I think it’s done. I don’t see anything else we could do to make it better. Go take another look, and if you’re happy, then you’re good to put it back in the bag.”

“Will do, captain.” She gave me a salute and then skipped down the hall to her room.

“That girl, I swear. She cracks me up.” Plopping down on the couch next to Spencer and grabbing my box of takeout. “Thank you again for ordering dinner. I appreciate it.”

“Anything for you, baby. I love you.” He rubbed his hand on my knee and leaned into me, being respectful that we were in my mom’s house and my sister was a few rooms down. Olivia came back a few moments later, sitting cross-legged on the floor, telling us how much she loved the costume and that it turned out even better than she had pictured it. She also caught us up on how she was about to submit her college applications and how nervous she was.

“Don’t stress too much, I know you’ll get the one you want. You’ve worked so hard for this. I believe in you.” I choked on the words some, trying not to cry. She may not be my child, but with the age difference we had, and watching her like I did, we had a stronger bond than average sisters. Since we had a single mom who worked all the time in the hospital, I was the designated babysitter. My grandparents helped the best they could, but they were both older. They’d watch us after school, and we had some sleepovers too, but I always jumped in to help them. Dirty diapers needed to be changed?

I grabbed everything and jumped in. Babysitter canceled, and Mom has to work all weekend? Don’t worry, I’ll cancel my plans and help watch her.

I don’t think any of them expected me to, but I wanted them to be happy and to take some stress off of them. It quickly turned into lots of late nights of frozen pizzas or ramen noodles with Disney movies on repeat. Concerts and dressing up way past bedtimes.

“Thanks, sissy. I couldn’t have done it without you.” She came over and hugged me again, both of us more emotional than normal. “Well enough of that. I’m gonna go call Addie and see if she’s on the way.” I laughed cause neither one of us wanted to talk about feelings, but we’ve gotten better about it. My mother and I never set a great example growing up on how to talk through big feelings, and unfortunately, Olivia also picked up on that.

Getting up, I gathered everything up and shot off a quick text to my mom to check in again with her and let her know we were about to head out. Olivia let me know that her friend was almost here, so I took that as our cue to leave. We all hugged goodbye and then headed back home.

Riding in the passenger seat, windows down, making my hair fly around my face, and Greta Van Fleet playing in the background, I nestled back into the seat with a small smile dancing across my lips. My phone dinged with an incoming text. I quickly checked to make sure it wasn’t Olivia needing something before we got back home. I scanned over the message, excitement building up as I read the details.

“Hey, how does going to a little fall market on Wednesday after work sound? Emma sent me this, and I figured we could all, or just she and I can go if it doesn’t sound like your thing.” I quickly showed him the post while we were stopped at a light.

“That looks like fun, and it looks like they’ll have a lot to do too. Sounds good to me, sweetheart.” I excitedly texted her back, letting her know we were game, and that she could come over that day, and we could all ride together. We pulled up and headed inside, Dolly excitedly greeting us at the door.

“Well, I’m worn out, and I didn’t even do anything hard today. I’m mentally drained, ya know?” I slumped against the counter since my legs decided they didn’t want to go any farther.

“I get that pretty girl. How about you go take a hot bath, and I’ll bring you a drink, and when you’re done, I can give you a massage?”

“That sounds heavenly, yes. I’ll get all this put up tomorrow.” Sliding my shoes off at the door, I padded down the hallway and into the bathroom, flipping the lamps on as I went. Turning the water on, I set it to lava, like every other woman, and sprinkled in some Epsom salts. While the water continued to run, filling the tub, I lit all the candles on the counter. Turning my playlist on, “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None The Richer filled the peaceful space. I tossed my clothes into the hamper and sank into the warm bath, steam billowing up around me as I lay my head back on the edge. My body almost instantly relaxed.

“One Dr. Pepper and Crown with cherries is served.” Spencer's voice broke through the music as he presented the glass with a flourish of his other hand, making me chuckle. “I’ll leave you to relax, my love. If you need me, text me, okay?”

“Thank you again, honey. You’re the best.”

“Anything for you.” He pressed his lips to my forehead and gently, and left the bathroom, the door making a quiet snick behind him.

I still truly couldn’t believe how lucky I had been to find Spencer. Everything had been so perfect so far, it almost felt like something wrong should happen. Good things like this never happened to me, so sometimes it was hard to believe. Almost like it was a dream, and I’d wake up any second. It made me worry maybe I was the issue, and what if he got tired of me? What if I was too much and he didn’t want that anymore? I sank into the tub and took a deep breath, trying to stop the spiraling anxious thoughts. I knew it was my brain trying to sabotage this happiness. That’s what the bitch did best. I deserved to be happy, and I deserve good things to happen to me.

After finishing my drink and soaking, my mind and my muscles were more relaxed. Quickly getting out and drying off, I went to the dresser to grab some pajamas for the night. Most of my pajamas consisted of oversized t-shirts and random comfy bottoms. I had a few cute matching sets, but I preferred to use what I had. I headed down the hall to Spencer's new office area and found him in there on his game and Dolly lying in my reading chair. The spoiled girl. I also noticed he had a new bouquet of deep red daisies in the vase today.

“Hi there.”

“Hello, beautiful.” He put his controller down and turned, wrapping his arms around my thighs and laying his head on my lower stomach. He looked up at me, and I ran my fingers through his curls. God, I loved these curls. I prayed he never wanted to get rid of them because they were perfect. “How was your bath?”

“It was really nice and just what I needed. Did you want to come to bed or were you going to stay up?” His lashes fluttered closed as I continually ran my fingers through his hair and against his scalp.

“Well, if you keep this up, I’m going to fall asleep right here.” I chuckled and rested my hands against his shoulders.

“There, that better?”

“Well, no, because I liked it.” He stuck his bottom lip out in a pout and gave me the biggest puppy dog eyes.

“You literally just said you were going to fall asleep.” This man.