Page 56 of Hold Your Breath

“Hmm.”

Since Lou was unable to translate the hum, she asked, “Thoughts?”

He opened his mouth but closed it again when the sleigh bells jangled. Lou glared at the intruder.

“Whoa!” Derek backed into the door he’d just entered. “Whatever I did, I’m sorry. Don’t kill me, please!”

“What?”

He walked up to the counter. “You were giving me the face of impending death.”

“Sorry,” she apologized. “It’s not you. It’s those stupid sleigh bells.”

Glancing at the door, he turned back to her with raised eyebrows. “Yeah, I see how they’d make anyone rage-y. Are you calm now, Lulu, or are you going to spit in my coffee out of displaced anger?”

“Lulu? That’s not going to be a thing now, is it?”

“Why? Does it bug you?”

“No.” The denial came out too fast, and she winced.

“Liar. Lulu the Liar.”

She sighed, resigned to having a new, hated nickname. “I might consider the spitting thing if you annoy me.”

“I’m never annoying.” He sat on the stool two down from Callum. “Hey, brave leader. It’s kind of late for you to be out, isn’t it?”

Callum narrowed his eyes. “It’s not even six.”

“Exactly. Aren’t you missing a scheduled reorganization of your sock drawer?”

“Please,” Lou snorted. “As if his socks would ever be disorganized.”

Derek laughed. “True. Sad, but true.”

“While you two analyze the state of my sock drawer,” Callum said, standing, “I’m going to use the bathroom.”

“Good timing,” Lou said approvingly. “It’s freshly cleaned after the hordes came through here. It was not pretty after the last of them finally left. Not pretty at all.”

“Okay,” Callum said slowly. “Thank you for rectifying the situation.”

“You’re welcome.”

With a shake of his head, he walked to the restored bathroom. Once the door closed behind him, Derek turned to Lou.

“What did you do to him?” he asked in a hushed voice. “Did you get him addicted to happy pills? Did you give him a personality transplant? Hypnotism? You have to tell me, because I have a bet going with Artie.”

Lou stared at him. “I didn’t do anything to him. What the hell are you talking about, crazy man?”

“Please. Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed.”

“Uh…noticed what?”

“He’s smiling. All the time now.”

“He is not. He hardly ever smiles.”

“No, he hardly everusedto smile,” Derek corrected, pointing a finger at her. “But now you two are joined at the hip, and he’s turned into Mr. Giggles.”