Page 23 of Colliding with Ten

“I don’t have room for all this,” I said.

AJ’s eyes narrowed. “Then we throw some away.”

I gasped. “You cannot throw out roses.”

“I can if they’re in my walkway.”

“But they’re so pretty, and they smell nice.”

Micah cackled and wiped at the corner of his eye. “This is the best.”

“It’s not funny,” AJ said.

“No. It’s really funny,” Micah mocked.

The deliverymen put the final piece on the coffee table, blocking half the TV. By the time the last one left, the apartment smelled like a garden. The final count was ten arrangements.

I looked at the flowers, my cheeks warming. “Who sent them?”

AJ closed the door.

Micah looked around, delighted. “Whoever the man is, he is rich, rich.”

“We don’t know it’s a man,” I said.

Both AJ and Micah looked at me as if I were being stupid.

I lifted my chin. “Women can send flowers, too.”

Micah nodded. “Absolutely. But this is male guilt money.”

AJ’s head snapped toward him.

“What?” Micah said. “It is. This is not ‘thinking of you.’ This is ‘please don’t sue me.’”

I grabbed a throw pillow and threw it at Micah. He caught it, still laughing. AJ walked to the nearest arrangement and searched around the base.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Looking for a card.”

My stomach fluttered. I should have wanted a card, but part of me wanted the mystery, a way to deny my suspicions.

AJ checked the next arrangement. Nothing. Then the next. Nothing.

“Hey,” I yelled. “What about my privacy?”

They ignored me. Micah got up and started helping, lifting ribbons and peeking between flowers.

“I’m not going to read it,” AJ said, as he searched the arrangement by the window.

“No card here,” Micah called from the one on the coffee table.

The more they looked and didn’t find the card, the more irritated AJ became. “Who sends this many flowers without a name?”

“Why did you look at me when you said that?” I asked.

“No reason,” AJ said