“Sure I can,” Anna said, shooting Brooke a wicked grin.“Lesbians always pick scissors.”
Brooke groaned.“Oh, that was horrible.”
Anna burst into a giggle and Brooke couldn’t help but laugh along with her. This was truly ridiculous. This whole situation. She should have come alone. She shouldn’t have subjected Anna to this, and yet she had. And she was so incredibly thankful that Anna was here with her, in what was practically a stranger’s guest room, like this wasn’t the weirdest thing in the world.
Brooke needed to vocalize her appreciation. She needed to let Anna know how much it meant to her.“Thank”—
—“I got you something,” Anna said before Brooke could finish. Anna blushed and stared down at her hands.“Sorry, you go.”
Brooke shook her head.“No, you first. Please, I insist.”
Anna bit her bottom lip, her sudden excitement palpable. She pushed her carry suitcase over on Nate’s dark walnut floors, quickly unzipping it and rifling through it.“Ta da!” She exclaimed as she turned around holding two coordinated pajama sets. One set was purple, the other was navy. Their favorite colors, Brooke realized.
Brooke huffed out a laugh.“You got us matching pajamas?”
“I got us matching, monogrammed pajamas.” Anna held the navy blue set out for Brooke.
Brooke frowned.“But navy blue isyourfavorite color.”
“I know,” Anna said back, her tone unmistakably flirty.“Now can I please ask you a question? Vivienne is a vault and wouldn’t tell me.”
Brooke swallowed and hoped that it wasn’t so loud that Anna would be able to hear it from the other side of the bed.“You can ask…” There was an unspoken, I can’t promise to answer.
“What is your middle name?” Anna asked.“Vivienne gave me the‘I’so the monogram would be correct, but that’s all she let me have.”
“Oh,” Brooke chuckled.“That’s all?” Brooke finally came back around the bed to accept the offered pajamas from Anna.“Isabella.” She stole a glance at Anna’s.“What’s your G stand for?”
Anna shook her head, no.
Brooke's jaw dropped indignantly.“I told you mine.”
“Yours is nice.”
“I’m sure yours is too, Anna Fourchette sounds like a Bond villain. Your mum is clearly good with names.”
“It’s Graham,” Anna said through gritted teeth.
“What’s wrong with Graham? That’s a pretty name, maybe a little masculine, but I think that’s quite nice. Wait, Anna Gra—. Anna… Graham…. Nooo. Like anagram?” Brooke covered her mouth, trying to stifle a laugh.
“No, bring it B-Bell. I’m ready.”
“B-Bell?” Brooke threw her head back in a full on cackle.“Your mother named you Anna Graham. Should I even bother asking if it was intentional?”
Anna rolled her eyes.“She pretty much only speaks French. It’s my father’s last name. She wasn’t giving him full credit, but I guess wanted him to have something. So, no. It wasn’t intentional, just,” she let out a huff of a laugh,“a choice.”
“Well, I’m a massive fan.” Brooke reigned her smile in. She was still determined to express her gratitude.“Thank you, Anna. For the pajamas, and for coming with me. I would honestly probably be having a panic attack if you weren’t here.”
Anna’s wide smile softened.“You’re welcome, Honey.” She held up her own purple set of pajamas.“I’m going to go change into these and brush my teeth.”
Brooke nodded towards the door.“Well, go on then. I’ll change in here and freshen up when you’re done.”
As soon as Anna had shut the door behind her, Brooke’s eyes dropped to the pajama set in her hands.“What the fuck?” she whispered, adding another thing to the incredibly long and growing list of things that Anna did that confused her.
Chapter Ten:
Brooke decided she should take a quick shower before climbing into bed. She moved quickly and efficiently as she always did, never one to linger under the scalding hot water. As soon as she got out, her eyes lingered on the pajamas Anna had gotten her. Her thoughts raced over what had been said in the car ride. She sighed, embarrassed thatthat’swhat was occupying her thoughts. She hadn’t seen her brother in thirteen years, and yet her mind was stuck on Anna’s incredibly detailed memory of their early acquaintance, stuck on the way that Anna had spit out the words‘eleven months,’like it was a curse in and of itself.
She dried herself off and wrapped her hair up in her towel. She picked up the pajamas that Anna had given her. It was an incredibly kind gesture. They were soft to the touch, silk to be sure. Brooke stepped into the pants and tied the drawstring in the waistband. She unbuttoned the top and slipped it on, realizing immediately that it smelled like Anna. Brooke allowed herself exactly thirty-two seconds to bury her nose into it. It was such a wonderful combination of scents. There was a faint linger of clean breeze laundry detergent, the second was the scent Brooke still had no name for but that was definitely Anna’s perfume, and the third unmistakable fragrance that Brooke knew was simply Anna herself. Brooke buttoned up the shirt, leaving only the top button undone. When Anna had freed up the bathroom, Brooke had noticed that Anna had left the top three buttons undone on her own shirt, but Brooke wasn’t that bold. She was also very aware of how this shirt hung to her braless chest. She had managed to not look that low on Anna’s and had no idea how it clung to her, but Brooke's pulse raced at the thought. She shook the intrusive thoughts from her mind and brushed her teeth.
