“You cracked the case, Detective Rhodes. Eh, uh, Brady,” Zoey said in an old-timey accent.
“I’ll let you know if I hear anything. Much to Brady’s chagrin, I’ll probably start working on Makenna and Dan next.”
“Good luck,” Zoey said. “I doubt either of them will ’fess up to anything.”
“I agree; I don’t think they’ll ever admit it if they did something. They could be married before anyone knows they’re together.” She turned around and paused. “Well, we need to keep working on cleaning up this place,” Caroline said. “But just so you know, if I, say, had more than three orgasms in a night, I would tell you.”
Zoey held up a full hand with all five fingers.
“Oh, honey,” Caroline said, as she walked around to the island to hug Zoey. “Your vagina must be exhausted.”
Brady held his duffle bag and a couple random items still left when he came into Jonathan’s room. “Hey.”
“Hey. How’s it going?”
“To be honest, I’m glad the wedding is over. Now I can do the thing I was most excited about. Honeymoon.”
“Planning to get your wife pregnant?”
“My wife, huh,” Brady said, mulling over that word. “Let’s hope it doesn’t happen for a couple months. I’m not ready to lose my favorite drinking buddy just yet.”
Jonathan nodded and zipped up his toiletries bag.
“So,” Brady started. “Did you have fun last night?”
“Oh yeah. Your wedding was super fun,” Jonathan said.
Brady stared right at Jonathan. “You know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t.” He laughed like a demonic teddy bear.
“I haven’t seen you this weird in a really long time. I like it.”
Jonathan didn’t confirm or deny as he folded a shirt and placed it in his bag.
“So, what happens now?” Brady asked.
“I’m going to my mom’s for a couple days to visit, and Zoey and I will spend some time together.”
“But you’re leaving on Tuesday?”
“Correct.” Jonathan had a plane ticket early Tuesday morning out of Sacramento International Airport back to Phoenix. He was sure he and Zoey could figure things out before then.
“It can’t be like last time with Zoey,” Brady said.
“I’ve learned my lesson,” Jonathan said.
“Have you, though?”
“Absolutely. I don’t want to lose her this time.”
“Are you back in love with her?” Brady asked.
Without hesitating, Jonathan said, “Yes. I just don’t know what we’re going to do. All I know, though, is I’m all the way fucking in.”
20
The cars were packed by eleven thirty. The dishes were cleaned and surfaces were disinfected. Zoey and Jonathan privately confirmed all spaces their bare asses had hit were wiped down twice. The hosts did not ask for the sheets to be stripped, but Jonathan stripped Zoey’s bed anyway so there was no question that those sheets needed to be washed.
“Thank you so much for being in our wedding,” Caroline said as she hugged both Jonathan and Zoey, kissing them both on the cheek. She pointed to Jonathan. “I want to see your ass again before Christmas.”
“Noted.”
“Have a wonderful honeymoon. I’ll pick you up at the airport when you get in,” Zoey said.
Caroline hugged her one last time and whispered into her ear, “Take a chance.” Zoey nodded once.
Zoey watched Caroline’s SUV drive down the street, and Jonathan and Zoey were alone again. As their friends turned off the street, Jonathan enveloped Zoey into an embrace, laying one on her like they were in a black-and-white movie.
“Wanted to do that all morning,” Jonathan said.
Jonathan slammed the trunk of his rental car, and Zoey got him back with a full wind-up and satisfying slap.
“Oops,” Zoey said. “Hand slipped.”
“This is war, Zo.”
Zoey locked the vacation rental and dropped the key in the lockbox. Zoey looked at the door, marveling at how she entered the house on Thursday a nervous wreck compared to where she was now. It felt like a million years ago, but it had only been four days.
She felt an impact on her butt cheek that made her jump off the ground. She looked back. “Gotcha,” he said.
The traffic was light coming down the hill on Highway 50, shockingly so. They talked more about Jonathan’s daily schedule in Phoenix, his gym, and his usual circle of friends. His life sounded like a sleeper compared to Zoey’s exhausting fourteen-hour days and driving to all corners of Lillyvale to make money. They discussed the wedding, and Zoey remembered to text Addison to check on her. Addison sent heart and flower emojis and thanked her for her concern.
Zoey had a Monday open shift scheduled at ISLAY, the athleisure clothing store she worked at, but she was able to find a replacement. A disinterested girl named Heather eventually agreed to change a Thursday for her Monday. Zoey deleted the shift from her calendar on her phone and looked up.
“Got rid of that shift,” Zoey said.
“Good. I can’t wait to have you all to myself,” Jonathan said. He grabbed her hand and pulled it toward him, their fingers intertwined. A smile spread across Zoey’s face. Jonathan looked over. “What…are you thinking? You have that smile like you’re up to something.”
“Do you want to try spin?” Zoey asked. If ever there was an opportunity to get Jonathan to try a spin class or see a romantic comedy, it was right after sex.
“I don’t know. The way you describe it…I’ll embarrass myself.”
“Please?” Zoey asked. “Taylor’s studio is amazing. Plus, you could see where I work.”
“Okay,” Jonathan said.
Victory.
Zoey called the studio and booked her favorite bike and the bike next to hers. Kelsey, the head Fitness Experience Consultant, a fancy name for “Employee Who Works the Front Desk,” was professional and didn’t ask questions, even when Zoey gave Jonathan’s name.
They were quiet for twenty minutes as Zoey watched out the window and Jonathan passed semis and careened around mountains. When they’d left Tahoe, she felt rejuvenated and alert, her eyes bright and her shoulders relaxed. As she got closer and closer to Lillyvale, her chest tightened up and her anxiety rose. It was easy to pretend she had no money issues and she was carefree on the wedding weekend. Now, every weird thought she had on loop at home lingered back like as they approached the town. The dread crept over her as she mentally flipped through her schedule for the coming week. Four hours of sleep a night would be a luxury.
“Back to reality,” Zoey said, breaking the silence.
“Not for me,” Jonathan said with a smirk. “Well, at least for another day.”
“Rub it in, why don’t you?”
“Gladly. You seemed to enjoy that last night.”
“You won’t let me hear the end of it that we had sex last night.”
Jonathan looked forward, a smile developing on his lips. “We didn’t just have sex last night. That was the Sex Olympics.”