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“Did you help your mom with that fucking disaster?” he asks, pointing out the sign as we pass. It’s actually not as bad as some of the others we made.
“If I say yes, will you change your mind about arresting me?”
“Maybe,” he grumbles, and I can’t help but laugh.
“In my defense I didn’t think Mom would hand out all the signs we made.” I rub my lips together when he looks down at me. “Or at least not the ones we started making toward the end of the evening.”
“What happened toward the end of the evening?”
“Mom got us wine, so we were all a little tipsy by the end of the night.” I hold up my hand. “Don’t worry, Dad and Kolter came to pick us up, and they drove us all home.”
“At least there’s that.”
“Sorry.” I laugh. “I know that you probably don’t think they’re funny, but everyone is talking about them and you, which is good, right?”
“Not sure I agree with you.”
“Why not? Do you really think that people, especially women, flock to the theaters to watch those Marvel comic movies that come out because of the storylines and action sequences?” I look up at him and smile when I see that he’s frowning. “They don’t, and if there weren’t hot guys playing the roles of the superheroes, their revenue would drop dramatically.” I don’t actually know if that’s true, but it sounds like it would be. I for sure wouldn’t have watched that one movie with Jason Momoa if he wasn’t the lead in the film. “Like my mom says, if you’ve got it, flaunt it.”
He doesn’t reply, but he does wrap his hand around my wrist, which catches me off guard. Holding on to me, he helps me down the edge of the sidewalk and then walks me around to the passenger door of his truck. After opening the door for me, he waits until I’m seated, then slams it closed. Needing a distraction so I don’t watch him like a lovesick kid with a crush, I focus on putting on my seat belt.
“You should have a message from your mom on your phone,” he tells me, starting the engine of his truck and turning up the heat when I hold my hands close to the vent in front of me.
“Oh.” I unzip my purse on my lap. “About what?”
“She wanted to know what time you’d be ready in the morning to go pick up the campaign signs from someone named Shauna who doesn’t like men.”
“Shauna likes men.” I laugh. “She just doesn’t like them in her house. Once she was dating a guy for a few months, and she woke up to find him in her kitchen, making her breakfast after spending the night. That was the last time she ever saw him.” I pull out my cell and read the message from my mom, then look over at him. “You don’t need to go with me tomorrow. I’m sure I can manage getting the signs on my own.”
“I doubt your car can hold two hundred signs.”
“Two hundred?” I repeat, sure I’ve heard him wrong.
“That’s what your mom said.” He flips on his turn signal and turns onto our block.
“Yeah, then I’ll definitely need a truck, but I’m sure Kolter will let me borrow his for a few hours.”
“I’ll go with you,” he says, leaving no room for argument, and I sigh because the poor sap has no idea that my mom is using this situation and the purchase of his soon-to-be house as two ways to get us to spend time together.
“I should probably let you know that my mom is trying to hook us up.”
“I know.”
“What?” I swing my head his way.
“I figured that out at breakfast yesterday.”
“Oh, how?”
“It’s just a look she gets when she’s up to something.”
“You know her well,” I murmur.
“My mom would do the same shit if she had the chance.”
“Would she?”
“Without a doubt.” He glances over at me. “Whenever I’ve gone back home to visit for a holiday or just to go fishing with my dad and brother, she’s made it a point to host a dinner party that includes mostly single women.”
