"Eating alone?" he asked.
I shook my head, still holding my menu up between us. This was not something I'd considered when I was musing about how much I loved living in Farley now. Though, for once, I didn't feel the usual mixture of both excitement and anxiety at his presence.
For once, it felt...normal.
He grinned. "It is normal to greet someone when you see them. You know,hi, how are youorstop following me around. That sort of thing."
The corners of my mouth twitched and said, "Stalking is illegal in all fifty states."
"See, that's a good greeting," he teased, his green eyes sparkling.
"It took me a minute because I'm not used to you popping up wherever I go. Maybe I should start carrying around one of those Whack-a-Mole hammers."
Brody laughed. "I'm not too worried. If I remember correctly, you sucked at that game."
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Really? You're gonna go there?"
"Go where?" Sierra asked as she approached the table.
"Nowhere," I muttered.
Sierra stopped next to Brody and stared down at him, her expression expectant. It took him a moment to catch on, which made me bite back a laugh.
"Am I in your seat?" he asked. His tone was ripe with amusement.
Sierra nodded and Brody got to his feet and slid out of the booth. Then my best friend looked at me with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. "You can sit next to Cam if you want to join us for lunch."
"Thanks, but I just finished eating and I need to get back to work. Maybe next time?"
I had no control over my head as I nodded. Brody walked away, waving at Steph before he walked out the door.
As soon as he disappeared from sight, Sierra looked back at me and said, "Y'all are so gonna bone."
My cheeks heated. "Stop saying that. Who even uses that expression anymore?"
Her answering laugh was more like a cackle. "That must have been some apology. You went from wanting to smack him to wanting him to smack your ass."
"What? Where in the hell did that even come from, Sierra?"
She shrugged and slid into the side of the booth that Brody had just vacated.
"And Brody definitely doesn't look at me like that," I continued.
"How does he look at you?" she asked.
"Like an annoying little sister."
Amy, one of Steph's waitresses, came over. "What can I get y'all to drink?"
After we both ordered iced tea and Amy vanished behind the counter, Sierra turned back to me. "You may annoy him, but if a man looks at the sister the way he looks at you, well, they belong on that cable show you're always moaning about."
I gaped at her. "Are you bad-mouthing my favorite show?"
Sierra rolled her eyes. "That'swhat you took away from what I said?"
"I'm pretending you didn't mention the other thing. The only thing Brody and I could ever be is friends."
"Let me know how that goes in a month, okay? Wait, never mind, I'll be here to watch it all in real time. That'll make sayingI told you socompletely satisfying."
