Page 66 of Filthy Twisted Devil

February

The past month of my life can be measured in selfies, the pictures Eden and I take to send to her brothers. I find myself scrolling through them whenever I have a spare moment, smiling at the way her nose wrinkles or a strand of hair falls in front of her eyes.

That’s exactly what I do when I finish my final set of chest presses at the gym. Sitting at the end of the bench, I flip back through the photos. There’s me and Eden in the Twisted Devil tasting room, clinking glasses for the camera. Really, we didn’t drink anything. She just stopped by for a minute on her way home from work for the photo and left before I could do more than ask how her day was.

Then, there’s us at a Valentine’s Day party she helped plan for UPS, Nate’s company. I was attending as a guest, and she was mostly too busy to talk to me. She did stop long enough to put on some red heart-shaped glasses and press a light kiss to my lips. That photo went straight to Wade, Reed, and Jasper, who gave it a thumbs down.

The newest selfie shows me and Eden outside the House of Cards, bundled up in our warmest coats and holding snowballs. A surprise snowstorm inspired us all to gather in the building’s courtyard to build snowmen and, inevitably, start a snowball fight. Beau and I tend to be especially vicious, but Brinley outdid us all, pummeling a cowering Ryan with a barrage of pre-rolled snowballs.

Eden and I didn’t get to talk much that day, either. We were too busy dodging snow projectiles. We’ve been talking plenty, though, mostly over late night texts.

Luke

Fuuuuuuuuuuuck.

Eden

That’s an awful lot of u’s. What’s wrong?

Luke

A strike at the plant we contract for manufacturing bottles. Not a plant I own for the record. Twisted Devil employees are very happy, thanks.

Eden

:( What does that mean for the cherrywood launch?

Luke

Nothing yet. I’m still praying they can settle it in the next few days.

Eden

Do you want me to do a good luck ritual for you? I have a witch friend I could ask for help.

Luke

Why am I not surprised you have a witch friend?

Eden

She’s not the potions and spells kind of witch. She’s more like the kind who reads your tarot cards and blames everything on Mercury being in retrograde.

Luke

Sure. But if she thinks her tarot cards can stop this strike I’d appreciate it.

Eden

I’ll ask.

Update—bad news. She consulted the cards and said the strike is inevitable. Also, apparently, you’re struggling with impotence. Sorry.

Luke

That’s okay. They settled the strike twenty minutes ago.

For the record, I am also not impotent.