“Honey,” she says with a smile. “Hun, we don’t shake hands. We hug.” She pulls me in for a tight embrace, and I must look like a cat being scrunched in someone’s arms as I try to keep her body away from my arm. I pat her on the back a couple of times with my good hand, in a totally awkward way. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t hurt you, did I? What was I thinking? I’m such a dum-dum.”
“I’m okay. Don’t worry,” I say, placing my hand on her shoulder.
“Agh,” she squeals, fanning herself. “I’m such a klutz sometimes. Anywho, it’s so nice to meet you.”
“You too,” I say with an awkward gargling sound in my throat as I reach for the door.
“There you are.” I hear Brendan’s voice in the near distance. “I’m glad you made it back okay, and made a friend too. Oy, be still my heart, I might cry.”
“Brenny, quiet,” I tell him.
“Who is this?” Laurie-Cate asks, making her way down the steps toward him.
“This is my roommate and best friend, Brendan.”
“Just a roommate?” Laurie-Cate asks, fanning herself again. If I ever fan myself like that down here, there’s going to be a problem. I’m just settling that thought in the back of my head right now. “How is that possible?” She mutters the last part, but I’m sure Brenny heard her.
She reaches her hand out to him, and of course he knows to kiss her knuckles since we’ve jumped into another world where all people are just happy and pleasant all the time. This is a crock of shit. “It’s a pleasure to meet you—”
“Laurie-Cate,” she sputters.
“Well, I don’t want to be rude, but I need to get this girl into bed so she can rest up for her surgery tomorrow,” Brendan tells her. He might not be into women or me for that matter, but ... take that, Miss Laurie-Cate and fan hand.
I take a deep breath filled with annoyance and … more annoyance. “Aren’t you just the sweetest man,” Laurie-Cate says. “And I didn’t realize you were having surgery tomorrow, you poor thing.”
“Yup, my good-luck streak still continues,” I tell her.
“Well, I’ll be sure to send a basket of goodies to your room for after your surgery. If you need anything, most of the staff at the hospital know who I am and they’ll reach out to me.”
“Thank you,” I tell her. “I appreciate your kindness.”After only knowing you for ten minutes. That sounded weird coming out of my mouth. I sound weird. I can feel myself sticking out like a sore thumb here. My God. I didn’t realize there were parts of this country that were so completely different from Boston.
“It was nice to meet you, Brendan. I hope to see you around, as well.” Laurie-Cate waves us off, smiling, before crossing her hands over her chest like a love-sick weirdo. Oh boy.
As Brenny and I make it through the lobby and out the back doors, I glance over at him. “You’re welcome for not telling her she was barking up the wrong tree.”
“Snookums,” he says to me. “You are on my very last nerve right now. Do you understand that?”
“I do understand, babykins.” We walk through the low-lit grassy area quietly, matching the silence of the nature around us. It’s eery. “How was your time with Austin? Are you two best friends now?”
“He bought me a beer,” Brenny says.
“You went into the bar with him?”
“You ran off, and he invited me in. I love you, Scarlett, but I am neither required, nor entitled to chase after you.”
“I didn’t ask you to run after me.”
“Oh, the irony of your name,” Brenny says.
“Before you go any further, I just got my one Scarlett joke for the day, so no need for you to continue.” He jokes about my name more than anyone else, but probably because he’s the only one I’ll let get away with it. He thinks it’s funny and has threatened to buy me a chaise lounge chair for me to fall onto when I’m in a mood. At least he can’t threaten that anymore, not with the itty-bitty amount of space we have to live in.
“Shut it.”
“Okay, time to lose the ‘tude. I’ve seriously had it today. I get you’re in pain, but I didn’t do this to you.”
“Yes, you did. ‘Let’s take a shortcut, Scar,’” I mock his earlier words.
“You could have said no,” he replies.
