Chapter 8
EIGHT
Iwoke up early and wrote.
Three thousand words.
“What’s with that smile?” Nathan asked as I slid in across from him. “Wait, let me guess.”
He held up his hand. He was far too excitable. I knew exactly what he was going to say, and I didn’t want to hear it.
“You got laid last night,” he said.
I rolled my eyes and looked at the menu.
“What’s her name?” Nathan persisted. “Wait… was it one of the readers? Please tell me it was that little blonde who followed you from one end of the bar to the other. She was hot.”
“I didn’t get laid.” I frowned. “I don’t like that saying either.”
“What should I have said? Did you make love last night?”
“Geez.” I couldn’t even look at him. “You’re so weird.”
“And you’re glowing.” Nathan was the sort of guy who wouldn’t let something go no matter what. Once he convinced himself of something, that was it. He was like a dog with a frisbee. “What’s her name?”
“I wasn’t with anybody last night.” Briefly, my mind wandered to Bree. Seeing her with the guy—Joey whatever his name was—had rattled me, but only because she was so clearly shaken. To me, he was just a guy. She’d obviously seen something I hadn’t.
“See, right there!” Nathan snapped his fingers. “You were thinking about whoever you were with last night. I want details. I was starting to believe you were asexual.” He seemed to realize that what he’d said could be construed as an insult. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that.”
There were times I wanted to shake him. Unfortunately, he was loyal to a fault and a good friend.
Plus, he was more outgoing than I was. At author events, most of the time, I could get away with just hanging out in his vicinity.
He’d gotten me a pass on the social stuff more times than I could count.
“I was not with anybody last night,” I said. “I did, however, write five thousand words this morning.”
That obviously wasn’t what Nathan had been expecting. “Seriously?”
I nodded, breaking into a wide grin. “They were good words too.”
“That’s why you’re smiling?” Nathan seemed disappointed.
“Since I’ve been struggling with writer’s block for years, at this point, that is definitely why I’m happy.”
“But… I thought you had sex.” He said it loudly enough that the server heading toward our table stopped in her tracks.
I sent her an apologetic smile even as I felt my cheeks burning. “Ignore him. He’s just looking for attention.”
Clearly still uncertain, the server closed the distance to the table. “Do you know what you want?” she asked in a nervous chirp.
“Yes.” I bobbed my head. “I want the double smash burger with fries.”
She wrote it down on her pad and glanced over at Nathan. Eagerness to get away from our table without hearing him say something weird was etched all over her face.
“I’ll have the patty melt with fries,” he said.
She turned to leave.
“I have a question, though,” he continued.
She turned back, resigned. “Okay.” She looked leery.
“Why would you make a po’boy out of oysters?” If Nathan had picked up on her attitude, he didn’t show it. “That is just gross. It’s like blowing your nose on a sandwich.”
The server looked as if she wanted a hole to open up beneath her feet and swallow her. “You’ll have to ask the manager. I don’t make decisions regarding what’s on the menu.”
“But it’s gross,” Nathan insisted.
She sighed. “Would you like me to get the manager?” That was obviously the last thing she wanted to do.
“No,” I answered before Nathan could.
She nodded. “What would you like to drink?”
“Iced tea for me,” I said.
“I’ll have the Stella on tap,” Nathan added.
The server smiled, but there was nothing warm about it. “Great.”
I watched her go, amused despite myself. “How many times do you think she’s been asked about the oyster po’boy?” I asked.
“Not nearly enough if she doesn’t have an answer prepared. Tell me I’m wrong,” he said, focusing on me. “That’s gross, right?”
“I’ve never been a fan of oysters, so I have to agree. Obviously, somebody likes it, though. They wouldn’t keep it on the menu otherwise.”
“I bet only two people ever have ordered that, and both did it on a dare.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” I tapped my fingers on the table, nervous energy taking over. I waited two beats. “What do you think about the words?”
“I’ll have to read them if you want me to serve as a judge.”
“I don’t need you to read them. I just want you to comment on the fact that I wrote them at all.”
His smile was surprisingly soft. “I’m glad you got some writing in. But I’m curious why the well is no longer dry. Is it the event last night? Is it whoever you had sex with?”
The server just happened to be delivering our drinks when he said the last part, and I slapped my hand to my forehead. “Why can’t you ever be normal?” I hissed.
Nathan merely shrugged before offering up a wink to the server. “It was just a question.”
A stupid question. I waited until the server was gone again—she couldn’t get away from us fast enough—and focused on Nathan. “There was no sex. Why can’t you get that through your thick head?”
“Because you’re far too happy. There had to be sex. Nobody gets that excited about words.”
“You do when it’s been two years.”
“When was the last time you had sex?”
There was no way I was answering that question. Instead, I decided to divert him toward another subject he might be interested in. “There was a guy at the event last night. I saw you talking to him. Joey something or other.”
Nathan’s eyebrows moved toward his hairline. “Oh,” he said, dragging out the sound.
I was confused by his shift. “Oh, what?”
“I didn’t realize you were into guys. It’s okay, man. I’ll start trying to find a guy for you.”
It took me a moment to realize what he was getting at. “I’m not into guys.”
“Not that there’s anything wrong with that,” he automatically added as if he was an extra in an old Seinfeld episode.
“There’s definitely nothing wrong with that. It doesn’t matter, though. I’m not gay. I wasn’t asking about him because I’m hot for him.”
“Then why were you asking about him?”
“Because when I was leaving last night, he was bothering Bree by the Uber pickup spot, and she was … I guess shaken would be the right word.”
Okay, now I had Nathan’s full attention. “Seriously?” He cocked his head. “He went home with Bree?”
Sometimes I wondered how I could be friends with Nathan when he was so … Nathan. Most of it was on purpose. Sometimes, though, he was just oblivious. “No. He was kind of … well, hitting on her might be the wrong way to say it. He was just sort of intense.”
Nathan tilted his head.
“She was upset,” I insisted. “We rode home in an Uber together just to be on the safe side.”
He still didn’t say anything.
“There was no sex. It was just a … well, not a friend thing. We’re not friends. I didn’t think it was safe leaving her behind. Or even if it was safe, she didn’t feel it was safe.”
“I’m not giving you a hard time,” Nathan said. “You did the right thing. I’m just trying to think back about that guy. He was a little weird I guess. I didn’t get that vibe from him.”
“I don’t think you have the right parts to get that vibe.”
“Fair enough.” He looked legitimately troubled. “I’m glad you swooped in. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”
That was not the response I’d expected. “I … well, I agree.”
He smirked. “Even though there’s definitely something brewing between you two.”
“Knock it off.” I shook my head. “There’s nothing brewing.”
“Nothing at all?”
“That’s what I said.”
“Great.” Nathan stood, catching me off guard, and waved his hand. “Bree!” He yelled her name so loudly I slumped low in my seat. “We’re over here.”
I was flabbergasted. “What are you doing?” I darted a look over my shoulder and found Bree standing with a young woman I didn’t recognize. She had brown hair and a bright smile. “Did you ask her to meet us here?” Betrayal had never felt so real.
Nathan laughed. “Why would I ask her to meet us?”
“You said ‘We’re over here’ like she was looking for us.”
“I just wanted her to know we were over here.” His smile was smug as he sat again. “She’s on her way.”
“I don’t want her here,” I hissed.
“Well, she’s coming. You can’t shun her now. That would be rude.”
“I’m not the one who invited her.”
“It would still be rude.” Nathan was all smiles as Bree and her friend tentatively approached the table. “Hey, Bree,” he said in a singsong voice. “It’s so nice to see you two days in a row.”
“Are you drunk or something?” Bree was blunt to the point of being distracting sometimes.
Nathan shook his head. His gaze wasn’t on the dark-haired author but her friend. “You should introduce everybody.”
Bree glanced between him and her friend before rolling her eyes. When she sat, it was with a heavy sigh. “You just don’t ever turn it off, do you?”
Nathan still wasn’t looking at her. Instead, he pulled out a chair for the friend. “Sit. We just ordered. I’m sure our server can deliver everything together.”
“Or we could get our own table,” Bree said.
“Yes,” I said hurriedly. “Or that.”
I could feel Bree’s eyes on me. “Or we can stay.”
I grimaced as my eyes jerked to her. “We don’t want to interrupt what is clearly a… um…” I had no idea who the other woman was to her, so I couldn’t even hazard a guess at what they were doing.
“This is Paisley,” Bree said. “She’s my assistant.”
“Really?” Nathan took Paisley’s hand and lavished an exaggerated kiss against her knuckles. “I’ve been looking for a good assistant.”
Paisley giggled. Bree, to my utter surprise, reached across the table and flicked Nathan’s ear. Hard.
“Ouch!” Nathan glared at her. “What was that for?”
“You’re smarmy,” Bree replied, not holding back. “You’ve got this way about you that is gross. Have you ever met a woman you haven’t hit on?”
The question should have offended Nathan. Instead, he smirked. “Um… I haven’t hit on you.”
“That’s because you know I’ll make you cry if you do,” Bree replied. “You flirt with people whether you find them attractive or not.”