Naughty or Nice

9. Henry

9

HENRY

DECEMBER 10

N oelle is ranting about Rora’s ex when I finish changing and meet them in the back room. Rora has changed out of her costume and she’s sitting at the table, her head propped on her hands, staring at the wreck of her camera like she can fix it with sheer willpower. If anyone could, I suspect it would be her.

I slide past Noelle and drop into the seat beside her. “Is it fixable?”

She pulls it toward us, running a finger over the large crack running down the mirror on the front. The casing is busted, mangled insides peeking out. Even with next to no knowledge of camera, I know the lens is a lost cause. It’s completely shattered.

“In theory, it’s fixable,” Rora says with a sigh. “It would be a long shot, but it would also cost a hell of a lot more to repair it than replace it.”

“Surely your insurance will replace it,” Noelle says, taking a seat opposite us.

Rora closes her eyes and rubs her forehead, a pained expression crossing her face. “They would…”

“Oh my god. Rora, tell us you have insurance.”

Rora groans, throwing her hands up at Noelle’s question. “Insurance was a perk of my job, and I didn’t think I’d need it here. I’ve looked into it, but I wasn’t planning on getting it until I leave. ”

She sounds so fucking done with everything, and it’s instinctive to reach out and rub a hand over her back. It’s the first time I’ve touched her since we climbed out of bed, and Rora tenses for a moment before her whole body seems to relax into my touch. I avoid looking at Noelle, not wanting to see her reaction to me comforting her best friend like this.

“You should make Kenny pay for the replacement,” Noelle growls and Rora laughs, but there’s not a shred of humor in her voice.

“As much as I’d love to, I can’t imagine he has several thousand dollars sitting aside for this. I have savings; I can manage it. It’s just… Shit. Not what I needed right now.” She shakes her head, grabbing her purse from the floor and rummaging through it. “It’s a popular model, so I shouldn’t have any problems replacing it, at least. I’ll head up to Jackson now, so we can open the grotto again tomorrow morning.”

“Are you sure? That’s a lot of driving in the snow,” Noelle protests.

“It’s a three-hour round trip. That’s nothing.” Rora pulls a set of keys from her purse.

Before I know what I’m doing, I reach across and snag them from her fingers. “I’ll drive.”

Rora blinks in surprise. Noelle leans back in her seat, her arms crossed.

“Oh, you don’t have to. It’s a lot of driving.”

“As you literally just pointed out, it’s a three-hour round trip. That’s nothing,” I repeat. She frowns at me, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. “You’ve had a stressful day. Let me do this for you, sugar.”

Rora’s lips remain down-turned, but her eyes soften. “I hate how easily that fucking accent works on me.”

“Sure you do.” I stand up and squeeze her shoulder. “Give me five minutes to get your car warmed up before you come out. I don’t want you to be cold. ”

Noelle’s voice follows me down the hall. “This is interesting.”

Followed by Rora’s unmistakable groan and, “Shut up.”