HotText by Cari Quinn

inside
him, remaining even in the face of the most persistent sunshine. As much as he
loved the fall, no towering pile of colorful leaves or wisp of wood smoke in
the air could chip it away.
    October ninth. Almost a year since he’d done something
completely crazy. Nosing into Daisy’s business had been one thing. But going so
far as to grab his sister’s boyfriend’s phone and texting his wife—estranged or
not, she was the man’s wife —then meeting with her, talking to her,
sleeping with her…
    Falling for her. So hard he still hadn’t picked his ass all
the way up off the ground.
    He’d never been prone to introspection. But alone, stretched
out on a deck chair in the miserable space that passed for his balcony, a glass
of Shiraz in hand and his phone in his lap, he could admit he’d changed. Not
outwardly. But parts of him had altered irrevocably.
    Whether that was good or bad, he didn’t know. He’d just save
that question for the day he finally bought that six-pack of sessions with a
shrink he’d always wanted.
    His cell buzzed and he grabbed it, smiling as he saw the
caller. If he felt a moment’s hesitation, a moment’s hope, it didn’t linger.
His response to the phone was instinctive. And annoying. “What’s shaking,
Daze?”
    “You know what’s shaking. Have you made up your mind to help
me with Trick’s Treats yet?”
    “Halloween’s not for three weeks.”
    “It’s not on Halloween. It’s the weekend before. C’mon,
Jeffy. You’ll get your very own striped suspenders.”
    He snorted and tipped back his bottle of wine. The more he
drank, the better the stuff tasted. “Dressing up as a clown isn’t my idea of
fun.”
    “But you’ve been volunteering so much lately.”
    He’d decided to volunteer at the senior center on a whim,
much as he’d decided to sext Karyn. One day he would learn. He hoped. But he’d
had too much time to think, and the center needed help.
    Somewhere along the way, he’d grown to enjoy going there a
couple of times a week. Much to his surprise, he’d discovered sometimes he
liked people. Emphasis on sometimes .
    He sighed. “So you think that means I’ve got my sucker card
already punched?”
    She ignored him as she usually did. “You don’t want to help
little kids?”
    “You said they were high school students.”
    “Junior high. It’s career day. They come to the shops on the
block, check out the different businesses, participate in a typical day. Then
they get candy at each stop.”
    “So what the hell’s the thing with the clown?”
    “Well, duh, there have to be people in costume. You’ll be
wearing the most rockingest wig ever and I’ll do your hair. Live
demonstrations. Come on. The kids will love you. You’ll be the meanest clown
these kids have seen since the Stephen King movie.”
    “Thanks. I think.”
    “Jeffy—”
    “If you call me Jeffy one more time, you’re going to find
your clown wig in a very unpleasant location.”
    Her giggle made him grin. “Threats of violence won’t deter
me. Now what do you say?”
    There could be only one answer, and they both knew it. Even
if he wanted to say no, he couldn’t have. She’d made such progress in the last
year. Transferring into a diploma program at the cosmetology school, sticking
with her new job, booting Karyn’s sloppy seconds to the curb—though it had
supposedly been mutual.
    It had also occurred shortly after he and Karyn had
spent the night together.
    As tempted as he’d been to do some investigating to see if
Lon had left his sister to reunite with his wife, he hadn’t. If they’d gotten
back together, he was happy for them. Ecstatic. He wished them the
mother-effing best.
    “I’ll do it,” he said under his breath, hoping she couldn’t
hear him.
    “Yay, thank you. You’re the most awesome brother ever.” She
puffed out a giant breath. “So what size clown suit should I get you?”
    A few minutes later, clown suit sizes squared away, Jeff
propped his bare