Read Candlemoth: A Holy City Romance for Free Online

asleep like a kid after a throwing a tantrum on a too-long road trip.
                  “Thank god,” Beren said, wryly.  “But she can’t sleep at my place.  I have a date tomorrow.”
                  “But this is today.  And your place is closer.”
                  “Uh, honey, you haven’t experienced this before,” Beren said.   
    “This has happened before?!” I said.
                  “When Hazel Forsythe passes out at your house, she stays there alllll weekend.  Uh-uh.  Not this time.  No can do, sorry.  Now make sure you turn her onto her side, okay?  Kiss kiss..”
                  “Fuck, Beren!” I groaned.
                  “Welcome to Charleston, boo,” he said.
                  “Oh no you don’t.  You are going to help me get her inside, at least.  And then I’ll call you an Uber.”
     
    By the time we got Hazel settled in and Beren had ubered off into the morning, the day was golden and hot.  Down the street, beneath Hominy Grill’s famous mural of a smiling blonde holding out a plate of buttery grits, a hopeful line had already formed.
    Grits and eggs calling...
    But I was too wiped for even that siren call.
     
                  I laid around all morning, reading and dozing on my sofa.  It was four in the afternoon when Hazel wandered into the kitchen. 
                  “Good morning, sunshine!” Hazel said.  Her hair was wet from the shower, and she was wearing my little pink satin Victoria’s Secret robe.  I loved that she’d just made herself right at home.  She rubbed her face sleepily.  “Or anyway, it was morning.  What time is it?”
                  “Don’t you try to distract me,” I said, laughing.  “Who was that dude last night?”
    Hazel flopped onto the sofa dramatically.  “Don’t tell Beren, okay, but he’s… kind of... this guy?  I’ve been seeing?”
    “I, uh, kind of gathered that.”  I stuck my nose back into my book.
    “I knew he was married, but he said they were separated, and I don’t know, it was so fucking stupid but I just couldn’t…”
                  “Stop?”  I offered.  My place was tiny, really just a bedroom and a kitchen that opened out into the living room, and I could smell the minty smell of my shampoo in Hazel’s hair as she raked it back into a ponytail.
    “Yeah…that,” Hazel said.  “I’m not so good at that.  I love love , you know?  But it’s over now, I swear.  Finito, there, see?”  She held out her phone to show me.  “I deleted his number.”
    “You don’t have to prove anything to me,” I said.  “I just don’t want to see you get hurt like that.”
    “I was pretty bad last night, huh?”
    “Pretty bad,” I admitted.  “I think you broke some of his windows.”
    “Oh god.”
    “And keyed his car.”
    She sat up.  “Shut the door!  I did not!”
    “Annnd you definitely woke up the neighbors…!”
    “Oh god…” Hazel said, her head in her hands.
    “But if what you wanted was to get him and his wife to have an adult conversation, I’m sure it worked.  They don’t live together, I’m guessing?”
    “No, dude, they’re long distance or something,” she said.
    “But… if you knew he was married, why did you get so upset?” I said, instantly regretting it.
    Hazel’s face closed off.  “I already feel shitty about it.  Let’s talk about something else.” 
    She looked around at my apartment as if seeing it for the first time.  Her eyes seized on the photograph on my bookshelf. 
    It was one of my favorite pictures in the entire world. 
    Me and Steve running into the ocean.  We’re holding hands and sun-drenched, laughing, and I’m looking over my shoulder at the camera.  You can just make out the color of my eyes, and they match the brightest points in the splashing waves. 
    When I think of home, I think of that