Page 60 of Callahan

I lifted my shoulders. “I mean, that’s a good fortune. It’d suck for you to be unhappy with your spouse—in or out of bed.”

“Yeah, well, but I don’t see even a girlfriend in my future anytime soon,” he said as he snatched another cookie from the shrinking pile and opened it.

“What the fuck?”

I giggled at his outrage.

“Read it!”

“You will have a long and fruitful marriage.”

“Sorry, Bri. But I’m afraid it’s out of our hands. The fortune cookie gods are demanding a sacrifice, and it appears your bachelorhood is it. I’d ask if Conor can be your ring bearer, but it sounds like this might be happening before he can walk.”

****

Adam

After we finished dinner, we had about an hour left to get the camera installed before it got dark.

Unfortunately, Brian hadn’t accounted for how tall a ladder we’d need if we wanted to place the camera in its optimal location.

“We’ll come by first thing in the morning,” he assured Lainey. “But I think you should stay at my house tonight, to be on the safe side.”

“I’m not staying at your house. I’ve already put Conor to bed, and I have to be at the bakery first thing in the morning. I’m not leaving my apartment—that means whoever wrote that letter wins. And I refuse to let that happen.”

“Fine, then Adam is sleeping on your couch again.”

I am?

After a nanosecond of thought, I realized that was probably the best option. Then my mind flashed to what she’d told meearlier about how she’d wanted to ride me on her couch. Or wished I’d slipped into bed with her.

Staying here with that knowledge could be detrimental to my “staying out of trouble” plan.

It was no surprise that Lainey was not on board.

“Not happening,” she declared without a moment’s hesitation.

And while I understood, and maybe even agreed with, why I shouldn’t stay, I was still a little offended at how quickly and easily she dismissed the idea.

I interjected, “Now, hold on. You said I was helpful when I slept here.”

“And you were, but that was befo—” She didn’t finish her thought, only shook her head and blurted out, “It’s just a bad idea.”

Brian was determined to find out what had occurred between us.

“Why?”

“Well, for starters, he’s too big for my couch.”

“I have an air mattress he can use,” Brian offered.

I turned to her with a smile. “He has an air mattress. Problem solved.”

“The air pump will wake up Conor.”

“We’ll blow it up at my house.”

I raised my eyebrows at her, as if to say, “What else you got?”

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