Andi was wearing one of her growing collections of ridiculous sweaters, even though it was getting to be far too hot for them, especially in California. This one was fuzzy, red, and had a big heart in the center that could be unzipped. Andi was way too entertained by her ability to hold all of our stuff “in her heart.” She had stuffed it so full of keys, phones, and every other little thing she could think to carry that it looked like it was about to rip away from her sweater entirely.
She was reading something on her Kindle while we waited for mom to be let out of recovery.
“What is this one about?” I asked.
She tilted her phone so I couldn’t see and gave me a guarded look. “What if I don’t want you to make fun of me?”
“Then you’ll tell me, because I’m not going to make fun of you. Even if you dove back into the world of tentacle monster romances.”
She grinned. “Okay. Yeah. It’s not that bad. I’m just reading a BDSM book. I was hoping to get some ideas to use on this guy I kind of have the hots for.”
“Oh? Do I know him.”
“Hmm. I could try describing him and see if it rings any bells. Tell me when to stop,” she set her phone down and bit her lip so sexily I almost stopped her right there with a kiss. Instead, I waited patiently.
“Let’s see,” Andi said. “He looks kind of scary, like he might tear you a new one if you pissed him off. But he’s actually a really sweet guy once you get past all the grumbling threats. And he likes to get really jealous of me when he thinks I’m going to be around other men, but he still trusts me. It just drives him crazy, and it’s kind of adorable watching how hard it is for him. What else… Oh, yeah. He’s got this trick he can do with a feather where he basically makes you come without even—”
I softly put my hand over her mouth. Andi either didn’t realize or didn’t care that the elderly couple sitting across from us had been listening in with growing interest. I flashed an apologetic smile to them, then looked to Andi, who was smiling from behind my hand.
“If I remove my hand, are you going to behave?” I asked.
She shrugged.
As soon as I pulled my hand away, she picked up where she left off. “He can make you come with it even though you can’t feel a thing, it’s the most bizarre and inten—”
I covered her mouth again, then somewhat gently helped her to stand and led her to a little side area off the waiting room. I spotted a small concession area and took her inside it.
“Hey,” she said, gesturing to the room around us. “Remind you of anything?”
I nodded. “Except this vending machine just has chips. No Skittles.”
“Well, I didn’t come here for the Skittles.”
“No?” I said, smiling. I reached out for her, but she ducked under my arms and went to the machine behind me.
“Pretzel sticks sound so good right now.”
I glared at her back, then turned her around so I had her pressed up against the machine. “This is what I wanted to do the first time I saw you at the Wainwright hotel.”
“Did your plan evolve from here, or was pushing up against me the whole shebang?”
“There was more,” I said. I tilted her chin up for a kiss, but approaching footsteps made us stop.
A mom and her son walked into the small room. “No,” she said, trying to pull him away. “I already told you we’re not having chips for breakfast. There are eggs in the hotel room.”
The little boy, who must’ve been about eight, struggled and tried to pull away. “The nurse said they were eggs been a dick. I’m not eating that, mom!”
My eyebrows shot up. Andi looked back at me with the same, shocked and amused expression.
The mom grabbed the boy by his sleeve and yanked him down the hallway. “It’s eggs benedict,” she grumbled at him. “Do I need to get your ears cleaned?”
Andi snorted out a laugh once they were out of earshot. “I can’t blame him. If I was a kid and someone told me they were going to feed me the eggs that have been a dick, I’d be pissed, too.”
When my mom came out a little while later, she looked tired. We helped her back to the car and then to her hotel room, which she had chided me for spending so much money on. I didn’t care, though. I wanted her to at least get a little bit of the life my father tried so hard to keep her from having after she cheated.
“Any good news?” I asked once we had her back in her room.