This is what we do for the next hour before my date with Allison, where I will meet her at the bar for a drink, and presumably go back to my place and do the things Natalie refuses to write about. I watch a sappy, unrealistic movie about love.
Why do I do this when I firmly do not believe in the institution?
Because.
Because I’ll do anything for Natalie.
5
Natalie
Nine o’clock isa normal time to show up at someone’s front door and demand brunch, right? Because that’s what I’m about to do.
Hopefully Aidan’s date is long gone. Honestly, I don’t know how he does it, especially with those roommates of his. Who wants to get busy when there are so many people around?
Lifting my hand, I knock my signature knock, the one all three guys tease me about. The first time they teased me, I felt embarrassed. Every time thereafter, I felt included, like I’d been let into a secret club. If they disliked me, they wouldn’t look my way twice. It’s kind of like that dumbass rule from the elementary school playground— if they hit you, it means they like you.
Rob answers the door, his shaggy blonde hair falling into his eyes. “You need your own key, Best. I was sleeping.”
I shrug at his complaint, but inside I’m grinning. I love my nickname. At first, I thought it stood for best friend, but Rob explained it’s because I’m the best girl Aidan has ever brought into this apartment.
“Does he have company?” I whisper, walking farther in and lowering my purse onto the table that doubles as a desk.
“He did last night. I’m not sure if she’s still here.” He points to himself. “Asleep, remember?” Rob walks into the kitchen, feet dragging on the wood floor, and grabs a box of cereal from on top of the fridge. “You want?” he holds the box out.
Shaking my head, I tell him I’m supposed to be having brunch with Aidan.
Rob looks at the time on the microwave. “Kind of early,” he says, then shoves a massive bite of cereal into his mouth.
I squint at the utensil in his hand. “Is that a serving spoon?”
He glances at it on its way up to his mouth. “Guess so. I’m not sure what a serving spoon looks like.”
My lips twist with contained laughter. Rob settles into a seat next to my purse, pushing it aside and motioning to the empty seat across from him. Ignoring the grumble in my stomach, I sink down into the mismatched chair.
“Where’s Jasper?”
“Sleeping. How’s life?” Rob asks, not knowing he’s asking the very question I do not want to answer.I’m a divorcee who writes saccharin romances and gets rejected more than the last item at the bottom of a discount bin.
“Fine,” I chirp, my tone false, but I know Rob won’t catch it. “How is your mom?”
Rob’s dad blindsided his mom with divorce papers last summer. Since then she chopped and dyed her hair, lost twenty pounds, and found herself a man she refers to asCroatian Sensation. Rob is generally disgusted by it all, but I think he’s secretly happy for his mom.
“She called a couple days ago from Maui.” He pauses to roll his eyes. “She hiked a mountain and it waslife-changing.” Another eye rollanda head shake.
“That’s good, maybe—”
A door opens. Hushed voices.
I look to Rob, but he’s looking down into his cereal bowl, intent on capturing the final bits of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
Footsteps. One set a soft thud, the other a slap against the wood floor.Last night’s heels.
I sneak a glance down the hall. Aidan and the mystery woman appear. She looks sleepy, but her makeup is still mostly in place. No mascara streaking. She does morning-after well. Rob and I are quiet as they pass us, and then Rob kicks me lightly under the table.
“JBF hair,” he whispers.
I look just in time to see the small rat’s nest at the back of her head. She steps out and Aidan follows her into the hall. He’s back inside in less than ten seconds. I’m just guessing here, but that probably wasn’t the goodbye she had envisioned.
