11. The Golden Age of Crushes
Chloe sitson the other side of the picnic table. Her eyes go from squinty to sorrowful as she tries different tactics to win me over. ”You promised cookies.”
”I did. But first we have to eat this.”
”It”s vegetables. You don”t know that I”m not allergic to vegetables.”
I pull the cookies out of my purse just far enough for her to see them, and then I shove them back in and stare at her so she can see my determination. ”It”s a wrap that has vegetables in it. That”s hardly the same thing. And no one is allergic to vegetables.”
”That”s not true. My friend Alyssa from school is allergic to celery. One day the cafeteria had these all-natural hot dogs, and she?—”
”Chloe.” I try to raise one eyebrow because people who can do that always seem so in command. I would do anything for someone who could raise their eyebrow just so. But I”m not one of those people, so both of mine go up. It probably makes me look shocked rather than authoritative. ”You”re not allergic. So eat that, and then we can have cookies.”
She rolls her head like a boxer who”s ready to head back into the ring for another round, and I ready myself. I”m not going to lose a battle to someone who isn”t even old enough to drive. But someone else speaks before either of us has the chance to. ”You have a cookie for me too, Pajama Girl? I love taking a nice chocolate chip break in the middle of a jog.”
There”s no way I recognize that voice or that nickname. It”s definitely not... I turn and look as the man sits at the other end of the picnic table. But of course it is.
”You?” Chloe”s mouth falls open and her wide eyes move from Brant to me and back to him. ”You”re Brant Morrison.” She shakes her head like she”s trying to convince herself it”s not true. I wish it were that easy.
”That”s me.” He smiles.
Chloe”s mouth snaps closed and falls open several times. ”Brant Morrison? Here? Table?”
Brant chuckles and looks at me. ”You should have told me your daughter”s a fan.”
”She”s not my daughter.”
”She”s not my mom.”
Chloe and I react in unison.
”How old do you think I am?” I ask. ”Maybe I don”t want to know. Brant, Chloe. Chloe, you apparently already know who this guy is.”
Brant holds out his hand and shakes Chloe”s once she finally gets the courage to touch him. ”Very glad to meet you Chloe.” His left eye narrows just a little as the smile reaches his eyes, and it”s certainly not cute at all. Nope. ”And wonderful to see you again, Lily.”
”Again? You know the Brant Morrison? And you never told me this?”
I toss my hands up. ”We”ve only known each other a couple of days. Both of you. And it”s not like I know him. We barely even?—”
”I”m Lily”s boss.”
I don”t know how it”s possible, but Chloe”s eyes go even wider. ”He is not my boss,” I insist.
”When you think about it, I basically am.” He leans toward me and smirks. The feeling in the base of my stomach is probably just from the veggie wrap. Maybe Chloe was right, and I have an undiagnosed carrot allergy.
”You are extremely not my boss. You”re just someone at work who apparently thinks he”s hotter than he really is.”
He raises one of his eyebrows, and damn him! I growl, but he”s undeterred. ”So you”ve given thought to how hot I am?”
”What? I... no. I didn”t mean it like that. Of course I haven”t.”
Brant winks and then turns to Chloe. ”Is Lily always this uptight?”
Chloe nods and sighs. ”Every single time I”m around her.”
”That”s only been twice,” I insist, but neither one of them is paying attention to me now.
”And who”s this handsome fellow?” Brant reaches over to pet Silver. He curls his fingers around so he can scratch behind Silver”s ear. The dog leans into it, and his rear leg taps on the concrete.
”That”s Silver. He”s with me.” The way Silver and Chloe are both gawking at Brant, I could probably leave, and no one would notice.
Brant bends closer to the dog. ”It”s good to meet you too, Silver.” He nuzzles his nose against the dog”s and then looks back up at Chloe. ”As much as neither one of us wants to admit it, Lily is right, you know. This looks like it”s good for you.” He points to the wrap in front of her. ”As an adult, you have to do the things that are good for you.”
”That sounds awful.” Chloe wrinkles her nose in disgust.
He flicks the cap of her hat as he stands. ”It”s the worst.” He gives Silver”s head a quick scratch, and then he looks at me. ”Lily, I”ll see you tomorrow.”
I roll my eyes, but don”t answer. I don”t want to think about it.
”And Chloe? If I”m lucky, I”ll see you again soon too. Until then, be sure to give her a hard time for me, okay?” Chloe nods a little too enthusiastically. ”But eat those veggies. See you ladies—and Silver—later.” He tips his hand in a wave, and I absolutely do not stare at the way the muscles in his back somehow ripple as he jogs away.
When he disappears over a crest, Chloe turns to me. I”m pretty sure she says ”oh my god” several times, but it comes out as a long squeal. ”Tell me everything!”
”There”s nothing to tell.” I take a bite of the wrap to force me to focus on something other than the way Brant looked as he walked away. Instead, I think about how good he was with Chloe and Silver. I”ve always thought you could tell who a man really is by the way he interacts with kids and animals. I was obviously wrong. Brant is an asshole, and I refuse to believe any evidence otherwise. ”I”m a trainer for the Sting, and he plays for them. That”s it.”
”I already know he plays for the Sting. I know exactly who he is. But how do you know him?” I point to the forgotten food in front of her, and do my best to quirk an eyebrow again. If Brant can do it, it can”t be that hard. But no luck. Chloe, though, gets the message and takes a bite while she stares at me, waiting for my answer.
I shrug. ”Sorry. I don”t really know anything. I just met him earlier today on my first day of work. Well, there were the two times he was in my house, but those don”t count.”
Chloe inhales so sharply she chokes. ”Brant Morrison was in your house?” She stresses each word so hard they could each be their own paragraph.
”It wasn”t like that. We don”t know each other. Honestly. And you don”t have to use his full name every time you talk about him. If you just say Brant, I”ll know who you mean.”
”He knows you enough to have a crush on you.”
Now it”s my turn to choke. Thankfully, I have no food in my mouth. Just my tongue, which is suddenly too dry. ”Brant Morrison does not have a crush on me. You”re only fifteen. Trust me on this.”
”Um, yeah, I”m fifteen. That”s literally the golden age of crushes. And I know them when I see them.”
I shake my head. ”There”s no way. People like him don”t get crushes on people like us. It just doesn”t happen. That”s?—”
Shit.She tries to hide it—and she does a really good job—but I still see the flash of pain on Chloe”s face. Shit, shit, shit.
”I don”t mean it like that. You”re pretty. Really pretty. And you”ll have lots of people who have crushes on you. Whoever you finally choose is going to be the luckiest person on earth. But me? I”m... It”s different with me.”
”But you”re pretty. Maybe you could actually put on a little makeup, though.”
”Hey! I wear makeup sometimes!”
”But you”re still pretty. And you have those.” She motions to my chest. ”Men seem to really like those for some reason I”ll never understand.”
I chuckle. ”You will some day. But you”ll never understand men. Don”t even try to do that. And I”m sorry. Truly. I shouldn”t have said that.”
”You shouldn”t think it either, because it”s not true,” she says.
”Okay.” I nod and hope that maybe it won”t be true for her. She”s only thirteen years younger than me, but she”s growing up in a different world. Better in a lot of ways. Maybe this is one of them.
”And you should give Brant Morrison a chance.” Her tone tells me that she”s using his full name just because I told her not to. I”m glad she doesn”t know his middle name or she would use that too. ”He really does have a crush on you, even if he doesn”t say it.”