Love, Exes, and Ohs (Cactus Creek #4)(15)

“The guy was actually pretty normal until he got drunk. Now, what was he drinking, you ask?” She paused for dramatic effect. “Wine, Isaac. And not even a whole bottle. One glass. One! Now, you know I don’t drink wine so I don’t know if they come with pink and blue writing on the labels, but I really do think this was some sort of chick wine. All the other tables had normal-sized wine glasses but this one came in a pretty little glass, the kind that restaurants serve dainty little scoops of ice cream in with a sprig of mint. By the time that glass was empty, he was sloshed off his rocker.”

Ah, that explained the lightweight part.

“Seriously, Isaac. The guy went through all five stages of drunkenness in maybe thirty minutes tops—from thinking he was suddenly outrageously smart to totally invisible and inaudible to people with functioning eyes and ears.”

He assumed that was around when the ventriloquism factored in.

Xoey opened her apartment door for him and hung up her phone, continuing right along in her incredulous summary of the night while Isaac dropped his phone and keys in their usual spot and followed her to the living room.

She already had the mix of buttery popcorn and salty chips ready in a big bowl, with a bag of pistachios for him to toss in on his half, and chocolate gummy bears to sprinkle on hers.

Looked like the date ended even earlier than he’d thought.

He slung one arm on the back of the couch and started munching on a handful of popcorn and chips.

A sports flick they’d both wanted to see a few months back flickered onto the TV screen.

“Is this okay?” she asked as she navigated through the previews and grabbed a blanket to snuggle up under.

“This is perfect, sweetie.”

If only they could both use the same dictionary when it came to defining their relationship.



*



“HUNGRY?”

Isaac tried not to think about the hundred hot, lusty thoughts that exploded in his brain at the sound of Xoey’s innocent question.

“Starving,” came his slightly gritty around the edges reply.

Which thankfully went unnoticed as she reached around him from behind and dropped a sandwich sized Tupperware in his hands triumphantly. “Thought so. I know you all have been putting in extra hours trying to get Tyler ready for his big MMA debut so I figured you probably worked through dinner.”

Turning around to give her a one-armed hello-hug, he cracked open the lid, grinning at the thing of beauty that awaited him inside.

Extra dry salami piled high with brie and sliced nectarines on a poppy pretzel bagel with a generous dollop of peanut butter Dijon dipping sauce.

A Xoey and Isaac original.

It was a crazy invention they’d stumbled upon during one of their DVR nights. Stackable foods were a particularly specialized zone of culinary awesomeness for them. While neither of them were really much for cooking, when it came to anything that didn’t require heating up or beating in a bowl, they were convinced they could star on their own food network show, using things like truffle oil and other ingredients from the gourmet aisle of their grocery store that they’d usually end up having to google to figure out how to use properly.

He took a giant bite of the sandwich and groaned, immediately holding the rest up for her to share so she could marvel in her own greatness.

Shaking her head with a smile, she produced her own container and settled in beside him, their backs against the big picture window overlooking the gym.

His next appreciative bite had a resounding echo from Xoey. And after that, not a single word was exchanged between them until every last morsel was gone.

“You are my angel, sweetheart.”

She licked one final drop of the nutty Dijon dressing off her thumb and fluttered her long eyelashes. “I try.”

“Oh, and speaking of my angelic ways. I made a new super cute shirt for your gym.” She pulled a fitted, women’s style t-shirt from her bag and showed it to him. “I’ve said before and I’ll say it again, ‘The Pound’ is the best gym name ever.”

She flipped open the shirt, which read across the front:

GOT TAPPED?

While the back read:

AT THE POUND

Chuckling, he actually knew a lot of guys who would buy these shirts for their girlfriends and wives. Lots of ring girls who would love it, too.

She beamed and continued excitedly, “I know what you’re thinking and you’re absolutely right. I should print the front logo across the butt of a pair of daisy dukes for your ring girls. I’ll get right on that.”

Shaking his head, he leaned over and kissed her forehead. “You and your dirty slogans are going to start bringing a whole new kind of clientele over here.”

“Again, I try.”

Together, they walked around the gym floor to turn off all the workout machines for the night. About halfway through, he finally ventured, “So either your date with Sienna’s perfect bachelor rescheduled or we have a new S&M record tonight.”

He’d been too busy with all the fighters to be able to drive himself crazy over Xoey’s date like he usually did, but she’d remained on his mind all night long. And after the exhausting schedule he’d been keeping the past few days, having her come over instead of text was infinitely better.

“I almost didn’t even let the guy get a chance to swing, let alone miss.”