Page 18 of Don't Bite the Boy Next Door

“I thought you said you only did corpses.”

“No, I paint too,” I laugh gently, “although not very well.”

“At night?”

“As you see,” I shrug.

He shakes his head and, giving Toto one last pat and a command to stay, slowly turns to leave, but pauses momentarily.

“Thank you for the sweater, by the way. It’s warm. I appreciated the gesture.”

“It was my way of thanking you,” I reply, loud enough for him to hear as he walks away, “for the flowers.”

He turns back.

“What flowers?”

“The, ugh, wildflowers you left on my doorstep when you first moved in, after, you know, after we met in the woods that night.”

“I didn’t leave any flowers,” he says gently. “I’ll see you in a week.”

I’m confused, but I set this aside for the moment because there is something else on my mind, something I’ve been thinking about for a while and wishing I could ask.

“Do you mind if I paint your house while you’re gone?” I shout louder as he walks further away.

“Go for it,” he replies, not turning.

Toto gives a little yip, and I look down to see Orson with his mouth around her tail, and I have to move quickly to quell the ensuing drama.

When I look up, he is gone.