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“I’m not going in your backpack.”
“Just open it.”
“No. I can’t imagine that there’s anything in there I need to see.” She pushed it back toward me. “It’s fine. You think it’s weird that I name raccoons and can tell them apart. I even felt one up last night.” She shrugged a shoulder and grabbed the cup of coffee that was sitting on the stool. “It is weird—”
“But it’s your kind of weird,” I finished. “Look, what I said didn’t come across well. It was supposed to be a joke, but I didn’t know how important they are to you until Reagan and Ava came over this morning.”
Halley pursed her lips.
“Open the bag.”
She continued to stare at me.
I sighed and reached for the zipper. “Fine. I’ll do it.” I opened my backpack and pushed it back over to her.
Her gaze darted down at it, and her cheek twitched. “Is that a backpack full of peanut butter sandwiches?”
“Yup.”
“Okay, why do you have a backpack full of peanut butter sandwiches?”
“It’s a peace offering.” I fought a smile. “And an apology. To you and the raccoons.”
“I’m not sure the raccoons had their feelings hurt, but a day off making sandwiches sounds like a real treat.” She peered over at me, biting her lower lip. “I overreacted a bit.”
“To be honest, insinuating that you needed therapy was a step too far.”
“I’m not going to argue with that.” Shaking her head, she zipped the backpack back up. “But while we’re on the subject of weird, this is the weirdest apology I’ve ever had.”
“Yeah. I figured I had to fight weird with weird.” I smirked. “So… we’re good?”
It felt like forever until Halley finally smiled. “We’re good. At least Betty won’t have to hear me talk shit about you tonight.”
I ran my tongue over my lower lip and grinned. “She’s probably still mad at Boris for cheating on her with a stuffed animal.”
“True.” She pointed at me. “It was touch and go there for a moment. Now I can add sweeping a raccoon out of my kitchen to the list of things I never thought I’d do.” She turned, then stopped. “See, talking to you about the raccoons? Now it feels weird. It’s not this strange when I’m sitting on the back porch alone.”
I laughed and climbed up onto the stage with her. Taking the coffee from her, I set it back on the stool, then ran my hands down her arms. “So…Are we still on for the second date?”
“We’ll see.” She peered up at me. “You have to feed my raccoons first.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN – HALLEY
Get In The Kitchen and Make Me A Sammich
“You want me to feed the raccoons?” Preston blinked at me.
I nodded. “You made them sandwiches. Did you think I was just going to take them and do it myself?”
“I… Yeah.”
“Nope. You’re coming to meet Betty, Boris, and all their babies.”
“All their babies? How many are there?”
“Not a lot, but I think Betty’s pregnant, so…”
“How do you know she’s pregnant?”
“She eats more when she’s pregnant.” I shrug. “Last time, she ate a ton more sandwiches, disappeared for like a week, then came back and ate loads. A couple of weeks later, she showed up with three babies in tow.”
“Wow. How many babies do they have at once?”
“Up to eight.” I picked my coffee up. “But I hope she doesn’t have eight, because I already have to make enough sandwiches. I’m not sure I can feed that many.”
Preston’s lips tugged to one side. “You’ll sure as hell try, though, won’t you?”
“Maybe,” I muttered behind my cup. He didn’t even need to ask because he knew damn well that I would try, even if I had to take out a small loan or do a fundraiser or something.
There wasn’t much else I could do. I already bought peanut butter in bulk from the internet.
Preston’s grin reached his eyes, and as soon as my gaze, it was near impossible to stop myself from grinning, too.
“Look, we’re still at a stalemate in our bet.” I held his gaze. “I understand that trash pandas probably aren’t your thing or how you want to spend your Friday night.”
“Are you going to be there?”
“Feeding the raccoons? What else do you think I do on a Friday night?”
“Then I’m happy to be here.”
“Aw. I didn’t know you had a sweet bone in your body, Preston Wright.”
He smirked. “It’s not the only bone I’ve got that you’ll like.”
I blinked at him, unimpressed. “That’s the worst line I’ve ever heard, and I’ve run this booth for four years. I’ve heard some shit, but that takes a cake.”
Reaching up, he rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, it sounded sexier in my head.”
I pouted my lips and wrinkled my nose. “No. That’s not sexy no matter how you say it.”
“You were saying about the bet…”
I bit back a laugh. That one was so coming back to haunt him. “If I win, you have to feed the raccoons tonight. If you win, you don’t have to.”
