Nolan grins at his friend, his face alight with mischief, and innocently comments, “Thatisstrange.”
Color creeps into Connor’s cheeks, and he begins to fidget, tugging at loose threads in the hem of his jeans.
I turn and point at Nolan, and full of snark, reply, “Oh, we haven’t even gotten to you and the creepy office cougar.”
Nolan coughs and blanches, and Connor looks back at him with an obviousHa ha, she got you, tooexpression. I have to give it to him. Connor can say a whole lot without saying anything at all.
“You first, hair sniffer,” I demand.
Donovan wheezes, “Hair sniffer,” while he gasps for air.
Connor scratches his nose and looks just past my head. He clears his throat. “You smelled different.”
“I. Smelled. Different?” I repeat slowly.What does that even mean?
Connor huffs, clearly not enjoying the spotlight. “You smell like a witch, but… different.”
Clear as coal.I groan. “Using the same word again doesn’t help.”
Connor shrugs like that’s all he’s got. I swear if we’re still friends by Christmas, I’m buying this man a thesaurus.
I turn back to Nolan right before he takes a bite of his sandwich. “Okay, Casanova, what’s with the office cougar?”
Nolan finishes taking his bite and chews slowly with a challenging quirk to his brow that makes me feel uneasy.
“Wait,” I add quickly, my stomach turning. “Don’t tell me if it’s gross. If you guys are, you know-- then I don’t want to know.”
He swallows, then licks his lips. He looks at me, his pale brows raised, and a smirk slowly rolls across his face. The sun glints off of his blonde hair to the point it almost glows.
I squint back at him, trying to figure out if he’s messing with me. I’m pretty sure he is, but since interacting with others isn’t really my strong suit, I can’t be positive.
Felix groans. “Dude, just tell her.” He looks over at me. “It’s nothing like what you’re thinking.”
“Fine,” Nolan sighs. “Spoil sport.”
Instead of answering me like he’s supposed to, he looks up at Felix and says, “Connor’s right, it’s definitely tabasco, and the orange juice and coriander is surprisingly subtle.”
“‘Course I’m right,” Connor grumbles indignantly, annoyed that they would dare doubt his nose.
“Hmmm,” Felix taps his pointer finger against his lips. “I’m not a huge fan of radishes, but the rest sounds pretty good. Though, if anyone was going to make me like radishes, it’s definitely Alicia.”
“Remember when you told her you hated mushrooms,” Nolan replies conversationally.
I think my blood might be actually boiling. He’s doing this on purpose!I sigh loudly, but I might as well be invisible.
Felix moans, an over the top dreamy smile crossing his lips. “Then she made those portabellas with cheese and that fancy tomato sauce.”
“It was a sun roasted tomato sauce with mozzarella cheese and parmigiano reggiano grated on top,” Nolan supplies helpfully.Argh!
Felix snaps his fingers. “That’s right.” He sighs wistfully. “Man, I miss food.”
You are about to enter another dimension. A dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind--The Twilight Zone opening begins to play in my head. I put the rest of my sandwich down so I don’t smoosh it and pinch the bridge of my nose.I’m going crazy. This is what crazy looks like.
Kaleb gazes at me with amused pity and starts, “Nolan is a vamp…”
“I’ll tell her. I’ll tell her,” Nolan interrupts, cutting a glare at Kaleb who looks unimpressed. “Okay, Ms. Martinez was an accident, sort of. You see-- I’m a vampire.”
I pointedly look up at the very sunny sky, then back at him. “Aren’t you supposed to either be on fire or sparkling about now?”
