Page 46 of It's Not Home Without You

Do one stupid thing, and the whole town knew about it.

“You know what sucks? Waking up in the morning to find out they’ve used your police code without you,” Rusty grumbled as soon as he got out of the car. I thought it was cute when he picked up Jana and set her down gently. He sure had come a long way from the boy who had three different prom dates.

“God, does everyone know?” I was still in my PJ’s, my legs were sore, my head throbbed, and I’d be lucky if I didn’t catch a cold.

Jana grimaced. “This is the most exciting thing that has happened since the factory opened, that and the fact that you called a coyote a werewolf, priceless.” She handed me a brown paper bag. “Here, there are two bacon burgers in there. I figured it would help with the hangover.” Speechless wasn’t a word I used often, but it perfectly described me now.

“You made me a burger?” I shakily grabbed the bag from her. It wasn’t often that people did things for me, and whenthey did, I appreciated it more than most. When you had nothing, you learned to value everything. Jana smiled at me, and for the first time, I felt okay that she was the woman Rusty picked. I could learn to love her as well.

“Do you mind if I tell EmmaImade her a burger? After last night, I’m scared she’s never going to want to hang out with me again.” Both Jana and Rusty laughed, and since they were here already, I asked them for a ride to town. Might as well face Emma and apologize for last night.

“Why are you walking funny?” Rusty asked before I could get in the truck.

“You try walking in the woods with six-inch heels, then tell me if you’re not walking like you have a pipe up your ass.” I ate the burger on my way, and it was the best burger I had ever tasted.

My hangover was gone.

First thing I did when I walked into the coffee shop was read the blackboard.If you have crazy friends, you have everything.Aw, I was touched. I was the crazy friend. Right?

“Emma, I made you food,” I sang. She came out from the back with flour on her cheeks, her eyes still red, and her arms scratched. Oh God, maybe I should have stayed home today.

“Freya, how could you!” she hushed so that the customers wouldn’t hear. I guess now was not the time to tell her what the chief did.

“I’m sorry. I was drunk,” I replied as I got her burger ready.

“Do you know how freaked out I was when I woke up inbed with Dex? I punched him in the nose! He’s going to hate me.”

Okay, so telling Dex to take her to his house didn’t work as I had hoped. In my defense, I was drunk. I knew she liked him, she confessed as much last night, and we both didn’t fit in my little bed.

“You said you didn’t want to wake your parents. Honestly, I thought he’d sleep on the couch or something. It’s not like I could have predicted he was going to get all cuddly.” Emma gave me a droll look. Got to hand it to the detective, he probably figured if he spooned her, she’d melt for him like butter.Now I wanted to see his nose.

“This burger is so good,” she moaned.

“I know right.”

“You can’t cook.” She stared me down until I confessed that Jana had brought them over. She said she was glad we were getting along, that it was important for mine and Rusty’s relationship. How much different would things have turned out if Jana and I had become friends seven years ago?

“So, tell me, how was it waking up in Dex arms? Anything I should know?” I wiggled my eyebrows, mostly to tease Emma.

“No!” Emma’s cheek turned pink, which made me intrigued, but you could only push a girl for so much info. Besides, we had more important things to talk about.

“A werewolf, Emma, seriously?”

“I panicked,” she whined. I smiled at her; she was adorable. Good thing we weren’t in high school anymore. Ididn’t want her mother after me, telling me I corrupted her daughter. Being friends with Rusty since I was little, no one ever thought he corrupted me. Nope, I was corrupted long before.

The afternoon dragged. I had forgotten how big of a deal homecoming week was. Everyone, and I did mean everyone, was at the powder puff game.

The only business we got was from people on their way to the game to get their coffee fix. It was going to be a long night. The only other day where the town was empty like this was Founder’s Day. Well, everyone just celebrated outside by the kiosk. As if she were reading my mind, Emma brought it up.

“Founder’s Day is in a few weeks. Will you be able to help out? That way I can give Jess the day off since Q has to have it.” Quincy was the quarterback of the Stallions. Therefore, his presence was needed at the parade. I wasn’t planning on going, but it did feel wrong to make Jess work. I thought Jess reminded Emma of herself in high school, just a darker version. I knew I was going to regret agreeing to it. A whole day dedicated to town festivities.

Barf.

“It tends to be pretty dead when there’s a game. I’m going to catch up on some work in the office if you want to go get food or something that’s cool. I’ll hear the bell chime in case someone comes in,” Emma told me before she disappeared to the back.

Grabbing a few cups, I started filling them with coffee.With two sets of cup holders and some cookies that I paid for, I made my way to the police department. I’ll admit I was doing a public service and giving them good coffee. But mostly it was me being nosey and trying to get a look at Dex’s nose. Hopefully, he was there and not with everyone else at the game.

When I passed Max’s office, I was relieved everything was dark. After what happened yesterday, I didn’t think I could face him today. I cried it all out, I drank myself stupid, and according to Emma, I was chased by a werewolf. How much drama could a girl handle?

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