Page 33 of With Stars in Her Eyes
“Um…” I reached toward her and then pulled back because extricating the ferret would require plunging my hand into her cleavage.
Thea seemed to realize my predicament at the same moment. “Time for an eviction from the paradise you’ve decided to squat in.” Thea lifted the ferret out so they were nearly nose-to-nose. “TheFin my bra does not stand for ferret, you little hussy.” She gently placed the ferret back into the cage.
Before I could regain the power of speech, the shop door opened.
I always forget exactly how tall Marshall Greene is. Football players on TV seem normal until you see them next to a regular-sized human too. Thea’s height was above average for a woman, but she looked petite next to Marshall.
“Thereyou are.”
“Here I am. You’re back a lot sooner than you expected. I thought you were going to stay in Wichita a few days.” Thea smiled.
My sternum contracted as Marshall gathered Thea in a crushing hug. His nose hovered in her cascade of brown hair.
Was Sam right about their friendship being platonic? Was this hug longer than normal? Why was he looking at her like that? My brain twisted through scenarios, trying to assess every nuance of Marshall’s body language for any sign of something that hinted at a situationship.
He leaned close as if he wanted to drink her in. Oh my god…no.
Then he sniffed. “You… you smell weird.”
Okay, never mind.That’ssome little-brother shit.
She smacked him. “I smell weird because an uninvited guest decided to crash in my bra and start licking me.”
“Samantha and I hoped you and Courtney would get to know each other, but sounds like things are moving a little fast.”
My cheeks might have actually blistered with how hot they burned.
“Not her, you douche-nozzle. Stop making her blush. That electrocuted tube sock there got to first base with me.”
Say something. Say something. Say something.My mouth fell open. “I… I—uh—Thea’s had some bad luck in the store with animals. Though I guess the pig was fine.” My brain was probably shaped like a face-palm emoji.
“Pig?” Marshall said.
“At least the dragon didn’t cop a feel,” Thea said in a mutter.
“Dragon…?Oh, is Billy Gibbons here? How do his wings look? The photos I’ve seen look badass.” He looked through the cages and tanks behind her.
“This neighborhood is completely insane. I feel like Alice except instead of tea parties, getting high with a caterpillar, and croquet with hedgehogs, I get orange lizards with bespoke wings and pheromone-happy geriatric ferrets.” She pointed to the book on the counter. “So is that the one for this month? And you can just ignore Marshall. Jocks never grow out of their shit manners.”
“Hey—” Marshall tried to interject but Thea ignored him and nodded at the book.
Still unsure if it would be rude to completely die laughing aboutthe entire situation, I focused on her question. “Yep. That’s the right book. It’s ten percent off for book club members too. I forgot to give you that discount yesterday when you bought the other book, so I’ll give you that amount discount on top of the other one on this book. And I can sign you up for our rewards program, if you want?”
“Sure.”
“You joined the book club that meets at the pub?” His eyebrows shot up and he looked closer at the book. “Hmm… this looks pretty good. Maybe I will too. When’s the next meeting?”
“That’s the book for April. I can’t go to an actual meeting until June with all my dumb family stuff coming up, and won’t you be at that big tight end camp thing then…” Whatever Thea read in her friend’s face stopped her from whatever question she was going to ask him.
Without any other explanation, he grabbed the April book off the shelf and tossed it down on the counter with his credit card. “I’ll get that one for her too. Don’t worry about the discounts.”
Thea was still analyzing him, and her voice became more gentle when she spoke again. “Are you going home or to the pub now?”
“Home. Just stopped to check in with the pub. They said next door that you were done for the day.”
The energy had shifted, and I had no idea why. I had never been great at reading complex body language, but I think even Sam might not be able to decipher this moment without more context.
As I bagged Thea’s books, I slipped a sticker into the pages before passing it to her.
