Alyssa looks at Brady frozen, like a deer in headlights. Suddenly she’s moving again, recovered, like nothing had happened. She gives him a winning smile. “Yes! I remember, yeah. Really nice to meet you Brady.”
“It’s nice of you to stop by, Brady, why don’t I put a pot of coffee on? Yeah? What’s got you in town at the moment?”
“Oh, didn’t you hear? My L.A. fight was cancelled.” As I look back he’s following me into the kitchen. “Daniels backed out, no idea why. I was pretty bummed out about it but then I realized that I could stay a few extra days and visit with my baby brother. So, here I am.”
A laugh escapes me. “That’s a real shame, buddy. Did I miss your call or something?”
“I have to call now?” Brady asks, raising a brow.
“That’s not what I meant, just…” I look pointedly at the front room.
“Oh right, yeah… Is she a student here? She looks—”
I roll my eyes,heaven help me.“Please don’t hit on my girlfriend, Brady.”
“Nah, nah, nothing like that. Actually, you know what, it’s nothing at all.” He pulls a stool out at the breakfast bar and sits down.
I watch the coffee heating in the pot, waiting for the little red light to go green.
“It really sucks about your match, though. Are you still getting paid for coming out here?” I ask, turning the conversation to safer territories.
“Oh yeah, that’s no biggie. I’m covered for stuff like this. And there’ll be another fight sooner or later.”
I nod. “That’s good.”
Finally the light goes green and I pour the coffee into three mugs. “Alyssa?”
She appears in the doorway, a faultless smile plastered on her face. “Coffee time? Cream and sugar for me. Actually two sugars, please.” I hand her the mug and the cream after dumping two spoons of sugar in there. Brady takes his black. Sometimes, depending on whether he’s bulking or cutting, he’ll take it black with a spoonful of butter. Never sugar though.
“Thanks.”
We sit and chat, Alyssa staying fairly quiet, for a little while. I’m just starting to relax into the conversation when Alyssa checks the time.
“Oh, look at the time. I hate to rush off, but I forgot that I’ve got some errands to run.” She stands and turns to Brady, “It was lovely meeting you, I hope you enjoy your stay in L.A.”
“I’m here for a few days, maybe we could all grab lunch?”
“That’d be nice.” She smiles politely before making her exit from the kitchen.
What the fuck?
I’m still standing, completely shell shocked, wondering what the hell just happened. Did I miss something? One minute we’re all sitting, chatting and the next she’s up and gone. Shit!
“Wait, what? Alyssa.” I call after her and I finally follow after her as she rushes out the front door. “I’m really sorry our day got interrupted.”
“What? Oh no, it’s not that. It was really nice meeting your brother.”
But, “Did I do something wrong?”
She giggles. Actually fucking giggles at me like she thinks the idea is beyond the realm of believability. “I have to go because I really do have some errands to run. Look, your brother is only in town for a couple of days, enjoy it. Spend some time together, I know it’s not often that you two get to see each other.”
“But you’re okay? I mean, we’re good, right?”
“Of course. I’ll call you later.” She smiles and beams up at me.
Oh.“Okay.” I guess. She leans up and gives me a quick kiss before she’s gone again. I watch her go still unsure as to whether I believe that everything is as okay as she claims. I don’t see why they wouldn’t be but still, that doesn’t take away the feeling in the pit of my stomach.
