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Twenty-Six
Phillip
Having someone else in my house, knowing she was staying longer than a few hours, didn’t feel like the intrusion I expected. Then again, neither did having Adrienne here the other night.
It wasn’t just the sex, it was the company—the movie marathon that brought us here last week, the late night chat by the pool… Really everything about her had me captivated.
It would be weird if Dustin was never here again, though. I was okay with the idea a couple of months ago, when I made the decision to leave Aces. I needed to get back to that place, but every time I tried, I remembered how right it felt to spend time with Dustin. How much I enjoyed his company. How it was instinct for me to do whatever he asked whenever he wanted, and how he did the same for me.
I showed Adrienne to the guest room. “You can leave your bag in here.” I wanted her in my room, instead. Longer than for the night or the weekend. I shoved the jarring thought out of my head. I was helping out a friend. Nothing more.
“Thanks.” Her laugh was dry. “I think I’ve spent more time in guest rooms in the last few weeks than the entire rest of my life.”
And it wasn’t her fault. That wasn’t right on so many levels.
“How about I grab us some sodas and we sit by the pool,” I said. Not the best way to put last weekend out of my thoughts, but I wanted her company, not just a warm body in the house.
Her grin was worth it. “I feel so spoiled, hanging out with someone who has a pool. If it was me, I’d be out there every day I could, dangling my feet in the water, soaking up the sun, and doing whatever.”
“Now’s your chance to live the dream.”
We left our shoes by the back door, picked a spot that would stay half-shade, half-sun for the rest of the afternoon, and dipped our bare feet in the pool.
The conversation came easily, like I expected with Adrienne. We fed each other a series of rapid-fire questions: Where did you grow up? Favorite color? Best concert ever? Worst movie ever?
It was simple and perfect.
So when Adrienne said, “Five things you grab very first in a zombie apocalypse.”
I replied with, “a way to find everyone,” without thinking. Wait. What did I mean by that?
“Everyone who?” she asked.
I didn’t… “Everyone.” Brilliant. Not.
“The entire world?” Her question was teasing lined with insistence.
If I drew this out, my answer would seem like a big deal and it wasn’t. “Dustin. You. Brandon and Danny. Reese would be brutal in a zombie apocalypse.”
“I do like her. What else?” Adrienne’s smile was warmer than the fading sunshine.
So glad she didn’t push the issue, but moving on didn’t stop my answer from rattling around in my head. “That’s five plus me, right? We’d make the most kick-ass zombie apocalypse team ever.” Don’t ramble.
“Do we plan to sing and draw the zombies to death?” Adrienne asked.
“Dustin can swim. Zombies typically can’t. They’d get all waterlogged.”
“Eww.” Adrienne’s grimace was priceless. “But also accurate. And depending on what kind of zombies we’re talking about, they’re drawn to noise. I mean, are these classic Romero zombies? World War Z? Shamblers, runners, self-aware, just drones?”
“You know your zombies.” I was impressed, but I shouldn’t be surprised. She knew her aliens, too.
“That’s what I’m bringing to the party. But we can’t offer people up as bait.”
“Definitely not.” Especially not with the nagging behind my ribs at the thought of losing any of them—especially Adrienne or Dustin. I was taking this game way too seriously. “But we’re creative, smart, and have an extensive knowledge of zombies, which puts us ahead of ninety-nine percent of everyone who was ever in a zombie movie or TV show.”
“Right?” Adrienne shook her head with a short laugh. “Like, not a single person on TV has ever seen a zombie movie? Hard to believe.”
I smiled at her amusement. This was easy. Light and fun despite the whispers in the back of my mind that wanted me to give them attention.
