Page 122 of Sit, Stay, Love
Heat rushed her cheeks. He was only touching her foot. Just touching her to make her feel better. Why did that make her blush? And why was her stomach fluttering? And why was she all hot? ‘I’ll sleep on the couch.’ She shifted a little, pulling her legs towards her.
‘You can have my bed. I’ll sleep on the couch.’
‘No. I’ll sleep on the couch.’
He shrugged. ‘We can both sleep on the couch. Have a movie marathon.’
‘But you’re working tomorrow.’
‘No appointments Monday morning, you know that, and I don’t have any surgeries until after lunch.’
‘Well,I’mworking tomorrow. It’s only a couple of days until the stupidfundraiser, and stuff is starting to be delivered and apparently, I have some gardening to do.’
‘It’s thestupidfundraiser now, huh? You really are the sulkiest human today.’
She kicked him again. ‘I’m sad. I thought my dog was dying. Why do I even put up with you?’
‘Because, Sera, you love me.’ His mouth quirked a little, and his eyebrows flicked up and down, challenging her.
Her heart stumbled, tripping and falling, landing against her ribcage with a beat so powerful, she was sure her eyeballs vibrated. She looked away, reached for more chocolate and shoved it in her mouth.
Sera awoke to the loud, obnoxious sound of ringing. She was curled around Toby, her arm across his chest and her leg sprawled over his thighs.
She awkwardly wiggled over him, half-asleep as she patted the coffee table searching for her phone, pushing aside a half-full bag of chips and some empty chocolate wrappers.
‘What’s happening?’ Toby rubbed his eyes with the back of one hand, while he hung onto her with the other. ‘What time is it?’
She slid off him, finding her phone under an unopened packet of Twisties. It was twelve-thirty, and Ethan was calling.
‘Ethan?’ She flicked a wide-eyed look at Toby and pressed a finger to her lips to tell him to stay quiet as she dropped back onto the couch.
He narrowed his gaze as he sat up, his jaw flexing and unflexing.
‘Did I wake you?’ Ethan asked.
‘It’s fine. Is everything okay? It’s late.’
‘Shit. Sorry. I didn’t check the time. And no, I’m not okay. I want to apologise for being such an arsehole on the phone yesterday. I was being a brat.’
‘That’s okay. I kind of sprung the Carol thing on you.’
‘Still. I was overreacting to some stuff she said to me.’
‘Stuff she said?’
‘About you and the doc and—’
Toby pushed off the couch with a deep groan, stretched his back and yawned loudly. ‘I’m going to go check on Buffy,’ he said, in an unnecessarily booming voice.
Sera closed her eyes.
Ethan was silent for a beat, then asked, ‘Was that McManus?’
‘Mm-hm.’ She glared at Toby’s back as he sauntered from the room.
‘Where are you?’ Ethan asked.
‘At his place.’
