Page 70 of Hurry Up And Wait
“No, I was going to let you go inside alone,” he said sarcastically.
I stopped and glared at him, though there was no heat behind it. Even if he was an ass, he kept me safe the past few days. “You know, I don’t see how you don’t have a wife. You’re such a friendly person.”
“What can I say, the ladies love me, but not enough to marry me.”
As he strode forward, I thought there was a hint of loss or something in his eyes, but he hid it well. I kept up with his long strides, hoping that if I walked through the door confidently, all my fears would vanish. I didn’t like the way I felt since the day my kitchen was blown up. I’d never been weak or scared in my life, and I didn’t intend on ever letting fear rule over me again.
When I stepped through the door, a rush of air left my lungs at the sight of my house. It looked practically brand new. You couldn’t even tell that a bomb had gone off in my fridge. And as for the appliance…
I rushed to the kitchen and swung the door open, squealing in excitement at the state-of-the-art fridge. “Oh my gosh! It’s amazing!”
“It’s a fridge,” IKE pointed out, leaning against the door frame.
“Right, but it’s an awesome fridge.”
His eyebrows rose in amusement at my excitement. “And what makes it so awesome?”
“Well, it has this,” I said, pressing the water button on the front of the fridge. “I always thought this was an awesome feature. And then,”I grinned, pulling the front door apart from the rest. “Look how awesome this is!”
“A door that opens from another door. Amazing,” he said, his voice belaying how unimpressed he was.
“Okay, maybe you don’t think so, but I think it’s?—”
“Awesome?” he finished for me.
“Precisely. Ooh, and it has a cheese drawer and a meat drawer,” I said, continuing to check out all the features. “And look at all this shelf space!”
I glanced over my shoulder just in time to catch his lips twitch. Okay, maybe I was overreacting just a little to this awesome new appliance, but it was my dream fridge, and everyone should have an appliance they absolutely love.
“And did you have a fridge like this at your last house?”
I snorted at that. “Shawn was a little too cheap to go for anything this awesome. But if we were having company over, you’d better believe that he had the best liquor and the most expensive cut of meat.”
“I can understand that, but I wouldn’t share.”
“Your food?” I asked, still checking out the fridge.
“Sure,” he said, his voice sounding far off. “I’m going to check the house. Try not to let your excitement get the best of you.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I waved him off, shutting all the doors and smiling at my fridge. It really shouldn’t have taken a bomb going off for me to be quite this happy, but I’d take it for now. Just as long as the rest of my appliances didn’t get fixed by the same means of destruction.
I couldn’t believe the state of the kitchen. With a fresh coat of paint and a wall missing from the explosion, it almost looked like a new kitchen. And with all of that, I could almost forget the pain coursing through my body and focus on the fact that I was still alive and not easy to take out.
“Oh my gosh!”
I spun at the sound of Riley’s voice and hurried into the living room, grinning at her like a mad woman. “You should see the new fridge!”
She rolled her eyes. “Only you would be excited about a fridge after your husband tried to blow you up.”
“Ex,” I corrected.
“You’re not divorced yet.” She looked me up and down with an assessing eye. “Wow, you look like shit.”
“Thank you,” I grinned. “Imagine how you would look if you had been here.”
“Ah, but I wasn’t. And I would never be stupid enough to marry someone who would want to blow me up.”
“I doubt that’s true. You’ve just scared away all potential suitors with your less-than-charming personality.”