And I'm still thinking about the pretty veterinarian.
6
WREN
The coffee in my mug has gone cold.
I'm staring at it from the wrong end of an eight-hour shift, and the clock above the reception desk says I've only been here forty-five minutes.
“You look like a ghost.” Paige slides a fresh mug under my nose and lifts the cold one out of my hand without asking. “What is happening with you?”
“Nothing.”
Her eyes narrow. “Wren.”
“I didn't sleep great.”
“Mm.” She makes the same noise I made yesterday at Rowe. Skeptical.
I sip the new coffee and burn my tongue, but I welcome the pain because it gives me something to think about that isn't the loop running in my head since last night.
Sorrowful eyes. A clenched jaw and cheekbones sharp enough to cut glass. The way he flinched and how he refused to let me misunderstand him for a single second longer than necessary. The way his hand cradled a shaking monkey like the monkey was made of glass.
The way he'd looked at me when I laughed.
I burn my tongue again, on purpose this time.
“Okay.” Paige hops up onto the counter, legs swinging. “Spill. Carnival report. I want every detail. Animals first, because I know that's where your brain goes.”
I crack a small smile despite myself. “The animals are happy.”
“Stop it.”
“I'm serious. The elephant has a tarp puzzle. With fruit in it. The lion has all his claws. The zebra has a pony friend named Domino because she gets lonely. The bear was sulking about Missouri.”
“The bear was sulking about Missouri,” Paige repeats deadpan.
“Apparently Missouri was offensive.”
She blinks at me. “Okay, A, I am obsessed with everything you just said. B, you said the lion has all his claws, which of course you checked because you're you. C, sowhydo you look like that?”
“Look like what?”
“Like a girl in a Hallmark movie who just got home from her grandma's bakery,” Paige says dryly.
“I do not look like?—”
“Wren, you've smiled twice.”
I pull the mug closer to my face and let the steam fog up the bottom of my glasses. Then I wonder what Rowe would think of me with my glasses on. And then I wonder if that's the reason I didn't put my contacts in today.
“Alright, alright,” I finally say. “I only met three of the main performers.” I count them off on the rim of my cup. “Logan. He came to get me from the parking area. Said he was the fire-eater. Looks like he'd start a building on fire if he was bored.”
“Oh, that's a hot guy red flag for sure.”
“His twin,” I continue. “Rowe. The animal tamer.”
“So he's the one with the monkey.”
