“Exactly.” I half-smiled. “Now, have you checked your sandwiches?”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
* * *
PRESTON
Raccoons Love Pizza
Darkness fell swiftly.
It happened somewhere between my story about prom where the prom queen got punch thrown on her and Halley’s tale about the time Ava met a guy she’d flirted with online and he’d been a total catfish.
Now we were on the swing, having talked for hours. The pizza boxes were discarded on the table, and so was one bottle of wine and three empty beer cans.
I was in my spare room, if you believed her.
I did, for what it was worth. If she wanted me in the spare room, I’d take it. I’d learned so much from her tonight. She’d opened up to me in ways I’d never imagined.
She’d gotten personal somewhere between the pineapple pizza shaming.
I liked her more than ever. She was so fucking real. Seeing her in her own environment was a breath of fresh air. She was so comfortable here.
I’d wanted to kiss her at least ten times, but there was a brightness to her blue eyes when she looked out at the forest that lined her yard. There was a love there that I was sure I would never entirely understand, but it was her love.
It was a part of her.
And I wanted her.
All of her.
A shuffling came from beneath the porch. I froze, but Halley smiled.
No. It was beyond a smile. It was a fucking beam, the kind of smile that lit up every single one of her features.
She got up from her chair and looked at me. She pressed one finger against her red lips and whispered, “Can you get those sandwiches and put some in the bowl there?”
Dusk was well upon us, and it was honestly earlier than I’d expected the raccoons to come out, but I nodded and slipped inside.
My backpack was on the coffee table, and I grabbed one of the airtight sandwich bags. I checked it before I went outside, but the bread was still soft, so I took it to Halley.
“Can you put it in the right bowl?” she whispered. “I think it’s Betty.”
I had no idea how my life had come to this.
Yet here I was.
Depositing pre-made peanut butter sandwiches into a steel bowl.
I did as she asked and backed up to the corner.
It was so fucking weird, but I wanted to watch her. I wanted to see how she interacted with these wild animals. It was so important to her, so individual to her, that I knew it was my only chance to witness it.
I wanted to understand her.
I wanted to understand her connection to this animal.
Betty seemed to be the key.
There was a scuffle, and Halley sat on the top porch step. She made a clicking sound with her tongue, and I gripped the porch rail from my position in the corner.
Visibility was, low, but I watched as a dark creature made its way up the steps.
“Hey, Betty,” Halley said in a quiet voice. “Where’s Boris? Did you kick his ass?”
Betty stopped halfway up the steps. She looked at Halley before she darted forward and took sandwiches from the bowl. My eyebrows shot up as she padded back to Halley and sat next to her.
Halley reached over and ran her hand over Betty’s head. “You got late babies, huh?” she whispered. “You under my porch, pretty girl?”
Betty stayed perfectly still as Halley lavished love on her, scratching her little head and back.
“I’ll tuck you sandwiches in there, okay?” Halley leaned into her.
It was almost as if she’d totally forgotten I was there, watching her. She was hyper-focused on this raccoon that may or may not have been pregnant. Her love for it was something special.
It was fucking inspiring.
Betty ducked her head out of Halley’s grip and trotted down the steps. She slipped to the left and darted into the darkness beneath the porch before Halley had a chance to catch up with her.
“Damn it.” Halley trudged back up to the table. “She’s a pain in my ass.”
My lips pulled to the side. It was so weird to see her pay so much attention to a wild animal, but there was something in the way she handled it all.
It was so genuine.
She cared.
She really, really cared. In a way few people cared about things. It was a deep-rooted, consuming need to protect Betty the raccoon, and it only made her more attractive.
She sat back down on the chair and cupped her wine glass. “She’s definitely pregnant. She only goes under my porch when she’s having babies. This is late, though. I need to keep an eye on her.”
Her eyes shone with love. It was a weird thing to see, just how much she cared for them. I think I could have sat here and watched her interact and over and over and never find myself bored with what she does.
“You might be the nicest person I’ve ever met,” I said, eyeing her. “You care about so many people in so many ways.”
Halley finished what was left in her wine glass with one tip of the glass. “That doesn’t make me perfect,” she said softly. “You say all these nice things about me, and I get that it makes me look like this amazing person, but—”
“But nothing.” I stood and grabbed her wrist, pulling her up with me. “Tell me the five worst things about yourself, then, and balance it out.”
“In total?”
“In total,” I confirmed. “Tell me all the things you’d tell someone you were trying to convince not to date you, and I bet I’ll still want to date you after it.”
“You’re so weird.”
“Weird grows on you.” I grinned.
She rolled her blue eyes. “Can we sit down while I do this?” She didn’t wait for me to reply before she went back to her swing and sat on one end.
I went with her and took a seat.
“Okay. Hmm. Obviously, I can’t cook. I have a really hot temper that sometimes leads to overreacting. I occasionally open my mouth before my brain kicks in. I’m really good at ignoring people when I read and can do it for hours. And, uh…” She frowned. “Wow. This is hard. I literally just made up the book one as a bad thing to round it out.”
I laughed.
“Oh!” She snapped her fingers and pointed at me. “I am notoriously competitive.”
“No, really?” My lips twitched. “I didn’t notice. Ever.”
She flipped me the bird. “Your turn. Tell me the worst five things about you.”
“There aren’t any.”
“Well, there’s number one.”
I snorted. “Okay. Shit. Um. I think before I speak, like you. I constantly look at anyone who has an interest in me like they’re only interested because of my family’s money. I’ve never mopped the floors in my apartment. I judge people too quickly. And… you’re right. This is hard.”
She nodded slowly. “Question.”
“Shoot.”
“If you constantly think people who are interested in you only want your family’s money, what’s so different about me?”
My grin was lopsided. “Because your dad is rich as balls.”
Halley choked on her laughter. “So rich he owns this house outright and makes me pay rent!”