Connor and I bite our tongues, but there are many moments throughout dinner where he gives me a look as if to say “What the fuck?” Now I get why Connor was on edge, because frankly, by the end of the night I’m feeling pissed at Paul too.
I wish I knew what Audrey was thinking.
I want to know if she’s happy.
After Connor pays the bill for all of us—without thanks from Paul—we move to stand from the table, Audrey and I end up knocking arms as we put our jackets on.
“Oops, sorry,” she says quietly, before I help her into her coat. My eyes flicker towards Paul, feeling like me touching her is wrong. He should be the one eagerly helping her, not me. His eyes are glued to his phone so he doesn’t even notice.
“Thank you,” Audrey whispers once her jacket’s in place. She shifts, giving me space to move past her. As I go to step around her, a waiter passes us with a tray full of food, forcing Audrey to press her back against my body.
My hand absentmindedly grabs her waist to keep her in place.
The electric shock that passes through me makes my heart jump out of my chest. The feeling intensifies when she takes a sharp breath and looks up at me, her wide eyes locked on mine.
Does she feel it too?
It takes everything I have to not kiss her right here and now. Dropping my hand from her waist is harder to do than I ever could’ve imagined. “Sorry, Auddie,” I whisper, but my tone holds no remorse.
Paul finally looks up from his phone, and reality comes crashing back when he speaks, “Come on, Audrey, let’s go.”
She gives Connor a tight hug while I shake Paul’s hand.
Audrey doesn’t hug me goodbye, but as she and Paul walk out the door, she looks back over her shoulder and gives me a drop-dead gorgeous smile.
Shit.
Six: Audrey
The Way I Loved You - Taylor Swift
God, he’s aged like fine wine … if wine had stubble, piercing blue eyes, blond hair and strong hands. I press my hand to my hip, even though it’s been almost twelve hours since I saw him, the tingle still remains.
I can’t decide if him being on Connor’s team excites or terrifies me. I have at least seven notebooks from my youth filled with "Mrs. Audrey Benson" and "Auddie & No 4ever". Noah and Connor played on the same baseball team from the time they were five until they both left for college. I would cheer them on at every game and I knew someday they would both make it to the big leagues. It’s been a long time since I imagined the two of them being on the same team again.
“What are you smiling about?” Paul’s voice snaps me out of my thoughts as he places a coffee cup on the bathroom counter beside me.
Like I need a reason to smile?
“It was nice to see my brother last night, is all.”
He gives me a half-interested smile. “Yeah, sure.”
“Thanks for making me coffee,” I respond, trying to ease the tension in my chest as I lift the cup to my lips. I can’t remember the last time he made me a coffee.
“I accidentally used the hazelnut pod,” he says at the exact moment I swallow.
I hate hazelnut and he knows that.
Placing the cup on the counter, I let out a long breath. I really wish Paul hadn’t come to dinner last night and that I could’ve told Connor what’s been going on to gain some clarity.
Instead, I stand here with a tingly hip from a guy who made my face hurt from smiling, and a boyfriend who doesn’t care enough to remake a simple coffee.
Something about this picture feels wrong.
I had hoped that Connor and Paul would get along when they met for the first time, but Paul never tried to understand baseball, and in turn, he never tried to understand my brother.
I realize now that probably means he never tried to understand me either.
