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She licks my cheek, and it’s one of those moments where I wish I could understand what she’s thinking. I can’t even remember the rest of the interview because I was so mortified. She’s never done that before.
My phone rings, and I lunge to see who it is, nearly falling over Athena. I just slip it off the edge of the vanity and cling to it with my fingers like it’s the claw machine game at Denny’s. “It’s Tab,” I tell Athena as she makes herself comfortable next to me. I take a deep breath, then answer the call. “I’m going to die. I might actually be dead.”
Tab bursts out laughing. “It isn’t as bad as you think.”
“Not as bad as I think? Bad enough that you knew exactly what I meant when I said it!”
“Well, I mean, who else humped Micah Freeman on live TV today?”
Athena rests her head on my calf, and I flare the skirt of my dress out so as not to embarrass myself in a different way.
I don’t answer, and Tab sighs. “It was fine. It was funny, even. Micah laughed it off, and so did Paula. It was like point three seconds of embarrassment, and then it was over.”
“Yeah, but it’ll be immortalized on the internet forever. What will people think of her?”
“Nothing. Absolutely nothing. They’ll think she’s an animal, and she saw a very tall, very sexy-looking man. Her base instincts kicked in, and she thought, ‘I need to make sure this guy knows I’m the boss.’”
I sigh with relief into the phone. “I thought you were taking that in a different direction there for a second.”
“Oh good, because you’ll love what I’ve got in store for you.” She pauses for dramatic effect. “How was it? What did he look like in person? Did Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome make any ofyourbase instincts kick in?”
I sigh. “He smells good.” There’s no point in trying to deny it. There’s a reason why Micah Freeman’s name came out of my mouth when I was high on those dental drugs. He’s the perfect male specimen.
She sighs back. “He looks like he would smell good. And he went right in for a hug!”
“I know! I nearly died!”
“I could tell.”
“What? Oh. My. God. Did I make an ass out of myself?”
“You did great. Really. I hope we get more TV spots in the future because you were on point. Joking with the host, using your winning personality like I said. You talked up Pet Threads. It was heartwarming. Really, Raeann, everyone loved you. And Athena only did what everyone else wants to do to that man. I bet you one hundred percent of the women who were watching that interview had the same idea.”
I chuckle. Tab always has a way of saying things that make everything better. “I’m glad I didn’t embarrass us or Pet Threads.”
“You could never embarrass Pet Threads. It’s your baby.”
A soft knock sounds on the door, and before I have a chance to call out or get up, it swings open. Startled, I peer up, but then my breath dies in my throat.
“Raeann?” Tab’s voice chirps in my ear, but she’s not seeing what I’m seeing.
Micah tilts his head as he takes me in, sitting on the floor, squished next to my vanity, with Athena using me as a pillow. Athena flops her tail around, thethwop,thwopof it hitting the ground the only sound until he walks forward. “Did you hurt yourself?”
“I— I’m…”
He pulls me up easily by my elbows. I stand there, comatose, before he pries my phone out of my hands. Tab’s voice rattles through the speakers while he brings it to his ear. “Hello?”
The sound that comes out of the phone speaker next startles me followed by “Hello? Who’s this?”
“Micah Freeman.”
“Micah fucking Freeman? No wonder she went mute.”
I inwardly sigh at Tab’s choice of words, but I’m still struck, unable to move.
“Is she okay?”
“Did you surprise her? She might need resuscitation.”