Phil rolls his eyes but crosses the room to where the pads are left. “That’s a yes.”
“All women are pretty.”
“Deflection doesn’t suit you. Come on, give me something.”
My sigh comes out sounding as weary as I am over this whole conversation. “Fine. She’s got dark hair, she’s around five-foot-seven or eight, she’s got a tattoo on her shoulder, pretty little nose piercing, pouty lips that are always coated in this pale mulberry kinda colour, and she smells like chocolate.”
She also wears the fuck out of denim jeans, and when those shapely thighs are bare on the nights she sits out to watch the stars, I can’t help but wonder how smooth her skin would feel under my palms. How badly I want to run my tongue over every inch and mark up that flesh with my beard.
“Did you notice how your descriptions got a lot more starry-eyed at the end there? Cos I sure as fuck did.”
“You’re imagining things.”
“Whatever you say, buddy.” Phil grins. “I’ll reserve my full judgement for when I see you two at the wedding.”
We grab our bags and start heading out, with Phil locking up the studio behind him. “That’s not fair. We’ll be putting on a show.”
He stares at me, eyebrows raised in scepticism. “Mate. We’ve been friends for thirty years. I know when you’re bullshitting.”
“I don’t bullshit.”
“That’s why it’ll be so easy for me to see if this thing is fake or if you actually like the girl.”
I push his shoulder as we make it to the car park, where our cars are parked side by side. The truth is, I do like Maevyn. There’s something about her that feels different to any other woman I’vemet. I like the way she carries herself so unapologetically. She’s brave and feisty. She says what she’s thinking, but I can tell there are things she holds back about herself. There’s something she’s hiding, and it scares the shit out of me with how badly I want to know more. I can’t remember the last time someone had this kind of pull over me, even Phoebe. And look how that turned out.
“Wow. Sure sounds to me like you don’t want any of Liv’s cannoli,” I mutter.
Phil chuckles as he throws his bag on the passenger seat. “Okay, okay, I’ll shut up.”
I unlock my door and lift myself into my ute. “Good. I’ll see you for Saturday’s class.”
“Yep. Catcha, mate.”
The whole drive home, I still can’t get my neighbour out of my head. My eyes often stray to her house when I’m in the backyard with Patch, and I can look up into her balcony, or from my upstairs study that looks straight at her front door. Sometimes she leaves the solid door open, letting the strawberry scent of the candle she’s always burning drift through the flyscreen until it reaches my windows, and traces of her permeate my own home. I blow out a breath, frustrated that I can’t seem to get these feelings under control. She’s always in my fucking head.
I pull into the shared driveway, my headlights rolling over my front door, and there she is, with a panicked look on her face. I stop my ute in the middle of the driveway and jump out. Within seconds, I’m in front of her, a gentle hand on her bicep, thumbs tracing the lines of her tattoo. “Is something wrong?”
Her face is flushed as she swallows down her obvious distress.
“Aurora’s running a fever. Do you have any pain relief?” she breathes out. “I thought I had some, but I’m all out. I haven’t found a doctor in the area yet. I don’t know where the closest emergency room is. Do you guys have an after-hours clinic for non-emergencies? I don’t even know if this is an emergency. Shedidn’t have an appetite for dinner, then she wanted to lie down, and when I went to check on her, she was burning up. She almost never gets sick.” The more the words tumble out of her, the more distraught her voice grows.
My hand moves to her back, rubbing up and down. “Hey, it’s alright. I’ve got some medicine she can have,” I say, keeping my voice calm and even. “You go back to Aurora, and I’ll be right over, okay?”
A pleasing feeling fills my chest as I watch Maevyn take a few deep breaths, convinced it was me who brought that comfort. My words that settled her.
I lead her back to her door, giving her a gentle nudge. “I’ll be right there,” I call as she stumbles back inside.
I move my ute into the garage, then race inside. Heading straight to the medicine box under the kitchen sink, I pull out a strip of paracetamol and some electrolyte tablets. Patch comes trotting down the stairs, pausing on the last one to stretch out his back legs. He comes over to me, whimpering as he picks up on the frantic way I rush through the kitchen.
“Come on then, you sook.” I whistle as I rush out the door, waiting for Patch to follow, then I’m running over to Maevyn’s.
“Maevyn?”
“Up here.” Her voice comes from the top of the stairs.
I take two steps at a time until I find the first door off the landing, moving into what’s clearly Aurora’s bedroom. “I grabbed some electrolytes too,” I say, handing her the box.
There’s a desk set up under the window and a corkboard mounted to the side, covered in photos and little quotes. Movie and musical posters cover the wall, and a shelf runs the full length of one wall, full of books and a random assortment of crocheted animals.
