The Best Friend Bargain(18)
Damn it. He put aside his laptop and walked down the hall to her bedroom. “Liv?” he said, voice raised but apologetic.
She didn’t answer so he knocked. “Maybug?”
Still no reply, but he heard rustling. She was in bed, probably reading.
“I’m sorry,” he said through the door. “I was out of line earlier. This is just…it’s a lot to deal with and I’m still figuring out how to handle it. I’m all in, but I need you to cut me some slack once in a while.”
He waited for her to say something or open the door. He got nothing.
Her silence bothered him. Hadn’t they agreed to talk about everything? He was tempted to barge in without invitation when he heard a very faint, “Okay.”
Not exactly the brief conversation he wanted to have, but he’d take it. He put his palm on the door. “Thanks. Good night.”
Back in his room, he pushed thoughts of Liv away and resumed work on his laptop.
A few minutes later a new email popped up in his inbox.
Olivia Lincoln
Re: Honey Love
October 12, 8:57 PM
It’s official. I want to marry honey. Something that makes me feel this good deserves all my attention.
Danny laughed, grateful his friend didn’t hold his being an ass against him. Liv had loved her sandwich this afternoon so much they’d stopped at the store to load up on jars of honey. She’d put it on her baked chicken tonight and in the peppermint tea she took with her to bed.
Danny Ellis
Re: Thanks Sugar
October 12, 8:59 PM
Far be it for me to stand in the way of your true love. I guess this means the Chips Ahoy are fair game now.
Olivia Lincoln
Re: Finders Keepers
October 12, 9:00 PM
If you can find them.
Danny Ellis
Re: Seriously?
October 12, 9:01 PM
You know I’m better at hide and seek than you are.
Olivia Lincoln
Re: Seriously?
October 12, 9:01 PM
You found them already? I suck.
Danny Ellis
Re: Or you’re messy
October 12, 9:02 PM
Word to the wise: Don’t leave a crumb trail.
Olivia Lincoln
Re: Excellent
October 12, 9:03 PM
Now that I know it was me that led you to the goods, your powers of deduction have been stripped, Cookie Thief, and future stashes shall be impossible to locate.
P.S. Do they make honey cookies?
Danny Ellis
Re: Honey, I’m home
October 12, 9:07 PM
“They” do. After a quick Internet search, see the attached recipe. I chose the simplest one for you. Simple = Less Mess
P.S. Baking is a good look for you.
Olivia Lincoln
Re: Wipe that grin off your face
October 12, 9:10 PM
Let’s just say for argument’s sake that I was to bake for you. With chocolate chips even. What would I get in return?
Danny Ellis
Re: Your favorite thing
October 12, 9:11 PM
How about this weekend?
Olivia Lincoln
Re: Deal
October 12, 9:12 PM
Hey, do you think my love of honey means Baby Lincoln is going to be a Winnie the Pooh fan? I loved Winnie the Pooh. Did you?
Danny Ellis
Re: Bee-ware
October 12, 9:13 PM
I did. My mom dressed me as him for Halloween one year. Got stung by a bee for the first time the same day. I became a Tigger fan after that.
Olivia Lincoln
Re: Why is Tigger so bouncy?
October 12, 9:14 PM
He eats spring rolls. Lol
Sorry about the sting. Bees only sting sweet things, you know.
Danny Ellis
Re: What did Winnie the Pooh say to Jerry McGuire?
October 12, 9:15 PM
Show me the honey!
Keep up with the sweet talk and I’ll have to show you my not-so-sweet side, Miss Lincoln.
Olivia Lincoln
Re: Flirt
October 12, 9:17 PM
That kind of talk might work on every other female who lays eyes on you, but I’m immune to your charms, Mr. Ellis.
I’m going to sleep now. Sweet dreams. :D
Danny Ellis
Re: Good night
October 12, 9:18 PM
Danny shut his laptop, his head falling back against the headboard as he closed his eyes. He had been flirting, caught up in the fun exchange with Liv and liking it a hell of a lot. He’d wanted to email back he’d be dreaming of her, but some truths were best kept secret.
He was a guy. It was normal to dream about the woman sleeping down the hall in a T-shirt and nothing else. Yeah, that was the problem. Liv had once told him she didn’t sleep in underwear, which meant that’s all he thought about now when he saw her ready for bed. Did she wait until she slid under the covers to slip off her panties? Or did she walk around commando?
Why was he thinking about his best friend like this again? He jumped off the bed, threw on a pair of board shorts. Five minutes later, wetsuit on and surfboard under his arm, he took to the surf. He had to clear his head the best way he knew how.
Alone, out in the water, it didn’t matter that his night vision continued to deteriorate. All he needed was that one glimpse of the wave, the smell of the salty air, the sound of the waves crashing. Then he felt every molecule of the sea, the rush, the surge, the swell, like it was an extension of his body. He became one with the ocean, weightless, part of nature’s energy. With every paddle his arms made, every balancing act on his board, his mind unclouded.