Monkey Wrench by Terri Thayer Page B

stand a little shop talk?”
    Buster groaned and slid as if he was falling off the toilet seat. I took advantage of his vulnerable position and reached under his arms and dug my fingers in, tickling him. He wiggled out of my grasp and sputtered. He slammed his hand in the water and I backed away from the spray, laughing.
    “You trying to drown me?” I asked. “Just one question, I swear.”
    I didn’t wait for him to acquiesce. He’d answer my question. He always did.
    “I was looking at a Twitter feed today …” I’d keep it to myself that it was Wyatt’s. Buster’s tolerance had its limits. “And I saw a tweet about Provigil. A kid said he had some and was offering to trade. Do you know what that is? I never heard of it.”
    Buster squirted soap in his palm. He stroked my arm with the bubbles. He knew how to distract me. I leaned into his touch. I bit my lip to keep my focus.
    Buster said, “Provigil is what kids are taking to stay awake. I think it’s off use for some narcolepsy drug. He probably wanted something to perk him back up.”
    “But trolling for it on Twitter? Out there blatantly?” His hands were running up and down my legs. I felt myself begin to loosen. “Aren’t they worried they’ll get caught? I mean, it can’t be legal.”
    “First of all, we don’t have the resources to look at random Twitter feeds. And even if we did, if he’s not selling them there’s not much the police can do. Yes, it’s illegal but those kids are swapping out their meds like we swapped Magic cards.”
    I turned to stare at him. “You played Magic the Gathering in college ?”
    Buster said, “All the cool kids were doing it.”
    I laughed. “Yeah, like I buy that. Get in,” I said.
    He brought his head around to look into my eyes. “You sure? You know what will happen when I get in there. I don’t want to interrupt your relaxation.”
    “Maybe I’m relaxed enough,” I said, dropping back, leaning against the back of the tub. I patted the water between my knees.
    Buster needed no more invitation. He peeled off his shorts so fast, I giggled. The water level rose precariously as he climbed in. More bubbles popped.
    He straddled me, facing me and scooted my hips closer until I was snugged in right against him. I felt his powerful thighs surround me.
    He kissed the top of my head and rubbed my shoulders. I cupped my hands and poured water on his chest. I liked watching it sluice through his tightly wound hair.
    The tub was an old-fashioned cast-iron type, meant to house an entire family for their weekly bath. Buster and I had searched for months for one that he could fit into. With both of us, the tub was not quite as accommodating. We had to lock our limbs together.
    Not that either of us minded.
    Buster kissed me softly. He nibbled the side of my mouth and worked his way down to my chest. I sat back and let him do all the work.
    The combination of the cool room air and the hot water flushed his face. He thumbed the inside of my knee, an erogenous zone I hadn’t known about until Buster. I closed my eyes. The feel of the water heightened Buster’s touch. I let my legs fall open and Buster’s fingers moved deliberately up my leg. My toes curled in anticipation.
    We stayed in the tub until the water had gone cold.

Seven
    Monday morning, I was at the store early. I opened the window in the bathroom to dissipate the smell. Buster and I’d spent the entire day here yesterday painting.
    Ursula had a doctor’s appointment about her bum elbow and wouldn’t be in until noon. I would be working the floor for those two hours, so I needed to get a head start on the paperwork that kept me in my office. I was behind on bank deposits. I was hoping my order of custom wooden yardsticks would come today. Printed with QP’s name and logo, they were giveaways for the Crawl.
    First, I needed to track down the shipment from Lark. The books should have arrived by now. She was sending us her newest release. They were