Page 218 of Bride of Choice

Cupping his nose, he gave me an unimpressed look. “Jo not mad at Doogie now?” he garbled out through his hand blocking his mouth as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I’m definitely feeling more charitable towards you,” I snarked.

Doogie snorted, then grunted and winced.

“Maybe don’t do that for a while yet,” I advised, then promptly closed the door on him.

“Mean,” Doogie muttered, making me smile.

It automatically made me think of Rek. As the thought occurred to me, I threw my door back open and stepped out.

It was gone. All of it. My junkyard of a front yard was completely empty.

“Did you do this?” I barked, waving my arm around wildly.

“Do what?” Doogie spluttered.

“Clean up the mess in my yard? All the crap! Where’d it go?!” Walking past him, I did a full circle of my place, then remembered I was wearing fluffy slippers and frowned at my bubble brained fuck up. Covered in mud and bits of snow, I might as well kiss them looking cute good-bye now. They’ll never look the same!

When I rounded back to my hut’s door, Doogie had vacated the premises. A wise choice, all things considered. The Joanster was in a mood.

Feeling eyes on me, my head snapped up. My gaze left my ruined slippers, falling on the male standing in the shadows a short distance away, fidgeting and rubbing at his jaw with one hand, a single, pathetic looking wilted little pink flower, my favorite, in the other.

“What?” I barked. So much for trying to play it casual.

Rek stepped closer, until only a few feet separated us. “Rosa come see Rek,” he grunted out softly.

I blinked. I couldn’t have possibly heard him right. Did she run the feck over there?!

“Why?” I muttered, eyeing him warily.

“She say, Rek hurt Jo, she break Rek’s face.”

Observing the lump on his head and the way he was rubbing his jaw, I clucked my tongue. “Did she give you that goose egg or did you walk into a wall? Again?”

His hand lifted, fingers hovering over the spot. “You Bum-bum grab Rek by neck, say Rek take care of him’s female or he smash Rek head in. I make Jo unhappy, he break bones in Rek body.”

“No, he didn’t.” My lips pursed. “You’re just making that up.”

“It true!” Pointing to his jaw, he grunted. “After Rosa say take care my cousin or I break Rek face, Tokre fist go into Rek’s face. Rosa say he say with handsy speak, This one for him Rosie-lindy.”

Struggling not to laugh, I sucked my lips into my mouth and nodded. “I see.”

His expression puckered, pulling into a grimace. “Rek need face to breathe.”

It wasn’t so much of a struggle fighting back a laugh anymore as all humor fled me. “So, what you’re saying is, you’re here because you’re worried about your face.” Why did that not surprise me?

“No.” Moving in a little closer, he grunted and shoved the flower fisted in his hand out at me.

I didn’t take it.

Frowning as he glanced from me to the flower, loud grunts left him. “Rek move Jo’s list things she needs. Joansie needs them, they at Rek’s.”

Taking a step back, sliding my hands behind my back, I nodded, “I’ll be sure and let you know if I’m ever in dire need of a bike bell or pool noodles.”

“What pooled noodles for?”

“I won’t tell anyone if you piss me off,” I told him, on the off chance that’s why he was lingering, for the reassurance. “I’ll just punch you in the face myself. This…” My hand waved around him, encompassing this whole production, the flower, the fake contrite shit for fear of his precious face, etc, it wasn’t needed. “It’s not necessary.”

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