The Slow Burn (Moonlight and Motor Oil #2)(42)

The only attention I wanted was Toby’s, and I had that.

But doing this actually might be more for me than it was for him.

It was still for him.

Dapper Dan had decided to stretch out on the bathroom rug, and I was combing out my hair when my phone binged with a text from Toby.

Let’s roll.

I smiled, texting back, Calling her now.

Then I instigated my side of the plan, which was calling Izzy, while I knew Toby was instigating his side of the plan, calling Johnny.

I hit speakerphone and put the phone by the basin, grabbing the shine oil I put in my hair that was in its dregs.

I really wanted to drop a hint to someone I needed more for Christmas because it did great things to my hair and I’d miss it when it was gone. But even if I’d decided to let those who loved me help out, and one could say with ten thousand dollars in my desk drawer I could afford a bottle of shine oil, I wasn’t yet at the place to do something like that.

Izzy’s voice came over the speaker. “Hey, Addie. Everything okay?”

I was really looking forward to the day when my sister didn’t answer every call with “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s good. Do you have a second?”

“Always.”

Okay.

Damn.

This was weird.

I didn’t think it would be, so caught up in all the goodness that had happened with Toby.

But two sisters very with two brothers?

Yeah.

It was a little weird.

“Listen, something happened,” I told her.

“Oh God,” she replied. “What?”

“I know you heard about that fight I had with Toby.”

“Yeah,” she said slowly.

Having put the oil in my hair, I was combing it through, saying, “Well, today we worked things out.”

Izzy didn’t reply.

“Like, really worked things out,” I stressed. “We had another huge fight and then we . . . got together.”

“Got together?”

“Together together.” I reached for the hairband I used to pull back my hair before I put on makeup and continued, “We had sex.”

“Oh my God,” she whispered.

“Izzy—”

“That’s great!” she cried.

I couldn’t stop my smile as I grabbed my moisturizer (which I also needed more of, ugh).

“Great isn’t the word,” I told her.

“Was it awesome?” she asked in a hushed tone.

“It wasn’t, it was . . .” I stopped slathering my face with moisturizer to focus on my words. “It was everything, Izzy. It was him and me and what we were doing and what we were feeling, and after, he was so hot and so sweet. He actually gave me a hug before he took off to get rid of the condom. It was just . . . no guy has ever . . . it was just . . . so Toby.”

“Yeah,” she whispered.

“He’s into me. I’m into him. He loves Brooklyn. We want . . . we want . . .”

What was the matter with me? Why couldn’t I just spit this out?

I spit it out.

“We’re doing this.”

“Of course you are,” she stated. “You’re both totally in love with each other. All I can say is, it’s about time.”

I didn’t go back to my toilette because her words blew everything else out of my brain.

Totally in love with each other?

“Is Toby who Johnny’s talking to now?” she asked.

“Yes. We synchronized our calls.”

I heard my sister laughing and felt my lips quirking, because it didn’t feel weird anymore. Instead, I realized, it was kinda funny.

I then went back to getting ready, but I did it having to make something clear.

“I’m not in love with him . . . yet.”

“You’re so in love with him,” she returned on what sounded like an actual freaking chortle. “And him you. If sex is good and you finally have some time to be alone without other people around, and you two get along, we might have a double wedding!”

I knew she was joking because she started laughing her ass off after that.

I wasn’t laughing.

“Toby’s not in love with me.”

“Doll, he is.”

“You don’t know him well enough to say that.”

“Maybe not, but Margot does and she says he’s gone for you.”

Oh my God.

Margot said that?

She totally knew Toby.

Oh my God.

“I mean,” she went on, “you two finally stopped dancing around each other and love from afar is a lot different than love from up close. But he’s perfect for you, he makes it clear you’re perfect for him, so I see good things and I’m happy. God, Addie, so happy for you.”

He makes it clear you’re perfect for him.

Okay.

I couldn’t think about this.

I wanted to think about this.

But I had a mission.

Look hot for Toby during my family Christmas decorating party.

I could not let all I was feeling mess with that mission.

So I stroked on the eye primer and said not a word, actually kinda forgetting I was on the phone with my sister.

“Addie,” Izzy called. “Don’t let that freak you.”