Page 58 of Protective Heroes

Asha laughed. “You’re going home sweetie. A few pairs of jeans, hiking boots, and some warm layers would have done the trick. I can’t even imagine what you crammed into not one, but two, suitcases. You haven't been gone that long!”

I shrugged. Seven years is a long time to me and my tastes have changed considerably. Now I prided myself on being prepared for every occasion. That was true whether I was striding down a Manhattan street or trekking through the wilds of my home town. Bad enough I had to go at all. I would not be caught unprepared for whatever life threw at me.

I strode over to the bed and straightened the wrinkles in the comforter.

“I don’t know why you’re bothering with that,” Asha said with a laugh. “Willa and I are just going to mess it up again when we have cuddle time after you leave.”

I ignored the little pang of jealousy that pinged through me at the thought of Asha and Willa snuggling together. I’m the one who fed the trouble-making furball and cleaned her kitty litter. Shoving it away, I arched a brow at my friend. “You know I like things neat so don’t be video calling me from my wrinkled bed.”

Her tinkling, contagious laugh rang out. “Oh, honey, believe me, I know. Everyone with a view into your apartment windows knows.”

My shoulders stiffened. “What? There’s nothing wrong with keeping my house clean.”

“Clean? No, there’s nothing wrong with clean.” Asha came over to me and slung her arm around me again. “But you take it to a whole new level. I might actually eat off your floor after you leave and video call you the whole time. How’s that?”

My shoulders dropped and I leaned my weight into Asha. I couldn’t help it when the corner of my mouth started twitching as I tried to fight off a smile. The woman was not wrong. And as much as I liked my life to be as neat and orderly and organized as possible, it didn’t mean I couldn’t appreciate the fact I was a bit over the top about it.

“Is that your way of letting me know my house won’t be as clean when I return as it was when I left?” I teased Asha. If I was the epitome of a clean freak, she was my polar opposite. I’d seen the woman wreck her kitchen from one end to the other just making a sandwich.

But it was one of the reasons I loved her so much. She was the only person in my life who made me feel comfortable enough to show all my little quirks and habits. She was also the only person in my life who regularly slung an arm around me, snuggled with me, and made me feel like a normal person.

Guess I could understand why my cat loved her so much.

“All I’m willing to promise is that your apartment will still be here when you get back.” Asha gave me a squeeze and purposefully flipped up the corner edge of my bed’s comforter just to annoy me.

“Brat!” I admonish with a laugh.

“You bet I am,” she quipped with a hearty laugh.

I huffed out a breath. “I guess I’ll have to live with your mess.”

“Just think, you can look forward to all the cleaning you get to do when you get back.” She offered me her lopsided grin.

“Great.” I acted put out, but sad to say, cleaning was one of the best ways I knew to work off tension.

She hip checked me. “A little mess is good for you. I think you could use more mess in your life.”

I shook my head. The mess I’d find when I returned home from my trip was about the worst I was willing to deal with. I’d carefully set up my life to avoid messes. The last one I had nearly did me in.

“I’m good,” I said.

“You aren’t. Everything is always so orderly. You need a mess. You need a man. You need a few things to add some disorder to your life.”

I wrinkled my nose at her. “A man would just invade my space and leave chaos everywhere.”

“Exactly.”

“No, thanks. I’m good,” I repeated.

“I know you try to avoid messes, but life is messy, sweetie. When you avoid the bad messy, you miss out on the good messy, too.”

I held back a sigh. We’d had this conversation before, but right now I thought the trip to Alaska was messier than I wanted to handle. Adding anything else on top of it was torture.

I kept my tone as light as possible when I responded. “There’s no such thing as good messy.”

Asha’s expression turned unusually serious. Her gaze searched mine.

Seeing the concern behind her eyes, the smile I offered her was genuine. “Hey, don’t worry. My life is exactly how I like it.”

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