Chapter 24
TWENTY-FOUR
“You’re going.”
Bree eyed me from the entryway of the cabin—I was comfortable on the couch with an outline notebook—and practically dared me to argue with her.
“I don’t want to go.” I sounded whiny, but I didn’t care.
“I’m comfortable.” I gestured toward the couch.
“Nathan will be back soon.” It was that last part really keeping me on the couch.
He’d gone off to rustle up some snacks with the express purpose of hibernating in the cabin until we had to leave for one of the bar events later in the day.
“Listen, it’s cute that you and Nathan believe you’re the only two people in the world right now.” Bree used her most matter-of-fact tone. “I remember those days with Brody, fondly. You’re going, though. You’re addicted.”
My brow furrowed. “What are you suggesting I’m addicted to? Not his…” I trailed off, refusing to finish the sentence.
“Penis?” Bree pressed. She was not the type of person to get embarrassed. “Yes, that’s exactly what you’re addicted to.”
“You make it sound so shallow,” I complained.
“I know, but I need to get Brody out of here. He’s actually considering buying a cabin by the water for us to spend our summers. It’s disturbing.” Bree was beyond dour.
“You don’t have to go with him if he does that. You can make regular dates in town or something.”
“Oh, no.” Bree shook her head. “That’s not going to work. I’m as addicted to his penis as you are to Nathan’s. I need him to see reason. That’s why he’s going golfing with Nathan.”
That was news to me.
“And you’re heading downtown for some retail therapy with us.”
I wasn’t opposed to shopping. I just had other plans. “Nathan—”
As if on cue, the man in question barreled into the room with Brody yapping on his heels. He didn’t look happy.
“I don’t want to golf,” Nathan argued. “I already have plans.” His eyes swept the room and he looked relieved when they found me. “And there they are. Hey, Bellarino.” He’d just seen me twenty minutes before but acted as if we’d been apart for twenty days.
“Hi,” I said, sounding a little breathless.
“He’s trying to make me go golfing,” Nathan whined. He had a bag of Doritos and what looked to be a package of cookies. It wasn’t a full meal—there was no food at the campground today because of the event tonight—but it was enough to keep me from gnawing off an arm.
“I don’t want to go.” Nathan dropped the food on the counter and scampered over to me, easily evading Brody, who made a grab for his arm. “I want to stay here with you.”
“Why are you guys being so bossy?” I asked as Nathan leaned so he could rest his head in my lap. “Why can’t all of you go out and leave us behind?”
“Because that’s not how today is going to work.” Bree was full of self-confidence as she strode forward. “You two are being absolutely disgusting right now. Normally, that wouldn’t bother me—”
“Yes, because it’s never all about you,” Nathan teased.
Bree ignored him. “You can’t make your whole lives about one another.”
“That’s rich coming from you,” Nathan shot back. “You and Brody have been all about each other for a freaking year at this point. It’s been two weeks for us.”
“Not nearly long enough,” I agreed, grinning.
“Never.” Nathan made kissy-face lips from my lap.
“Don’t make me get the hose… or a pitcher of gross lake water that you just know is full of parasites and will give you diarrhea if you get too much of it in your mouth,” Bree snapped.
Slowly, Nathan and I turned our attention to her in tandem.
“That was weirdly specific,” I said.
“She’s been reading on the internet,” Brody offered, not looking happy.
“Water parasites are way more deadly than your lame serial killers,” Bree agreed. “Also, stop arguing with me. You’re both going on separate excursions. That’s separate, as in Bella is coming with Hayley and me and you guys are going to play with some sticks and balls.”
Nathan opened his mouth, a very obvious snark attack on the tip of his tongue, but I quieted him with my hand over his mouth.
“We were just going to spend some quiet time here before we have to go downtown for the event,” I said in my best “I’m little and sweet and you can’t possibly want to argue with me” voice. “It was going to be a quiet day.”
Nathan’s eyes lit with wicked intent and I knew exactly what he was thinking. There was going to be nothing quiet about our day. I tore my eyes away from him so the others wouldn’t see the naughtiness on my face.
“Um, what was I saying?” I asked, stumbling over my words.
“You guys are morons,” Bree muttered. “Also, your original plan isn’t happening. My plan is happening.”
“But—”
“No.” Bree was firm when she shook her head. “It’s happening. It’s time for some girl chat. It’s also time for Brody to remember that living in a remote cabin for the summer months will deprive him of Nathan’s company, something he will be bereft about.”
“I think you’re exaggerating,” Brody said.
“I’m not. You’ll figure it out, though.” Bree gave him a hard kiss then grabbed my hand. She was ruthless when dragging me off the couch, leaving Nathan’s head to flop against the cushions.
“Hey,” he complained. “That’s my Bellarino. You can’t just take her.”
“Watch me,” Bree replied. “I’ll text you about where to meet for dinner,” she said to Brody. “Otherwise, I don’t want to hear from you guys all day unless it’s an emergency. Do you understand?”
Brody didn’t dare argue. “I love you,” was all he said in response.
That softened Bree’s expression. “I love you too.”
THE BEST SHOPPING IN SAVANNAH HAPPENED to be several blocks away from the river. Bree knew exactly where she was going when she parked.
“Come on.” She jerked her head toward the sidewalk for Hayley and me to follow. The ride from the campground had been surprisingly quiet. I’d been expecting a tirade. Bree had chosen to sing along to the radio instead.
“You don’t strike me as a Taylor Swift girl,” I complained as I followed her grumpily. I was still lamenting the loss of my sexy afternoon.
“I don’t like everything of hers,” Bree confirmed. “I like some of it, though.” She gave me a look up and down. “Chappell Roan?” she assumed.
I shrugged. “I actually prefer older artists.”
“Like Cher?”
“Cher is a queen.”
Bree didn’t consider it long. “Cher is a queen. I don’t know why I would ever use her as an insult. It proves I’m off my game.”
She really was the one chafing the most at the retreat. “It’s not that much longer,” I said. “Not even a week.” My stomach threatened a revolt as that sank in. In a week, Nathan and I were going to have to figure out what our relationship looked like when we weren’t at the campground.
Bree slid her eyes to me. “It’s going to be okay,” she offered, as if reading my mind. “Nathan is already gone for you. It’s done. You guys are going to be fine.”
She sounded so sure of herself that I wanted to believe her.
“What if it’s just the setting and what we were doing?
” I challenged as Bree led us inside Red Clover Boutique.
She waved at the woman behind the counter as if they were old friends—for all I knew, they were—and led me to a rack of shirts.
“That’s not it,” Bree said. “He’s totally head over heels in love with you.”
I balked. “We haven’t been together long enough for that.”
“It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been together. It matters what you’re feeling for each other, and what’s brewing between the two of you is real. Trust me. I know.”
“She does know,” Hayley confirmed, holding a white ruffled shirt up in front of her chest as she studied her reflection in a mirror. The shirt had a pirate vibe and she seemed interested despite her vanilla wardrobe. “She just doesn’t realize why you’re being so careful about this.”
I didn’t say anything, opting to focus on the rack. There had to be something here I wanted to buy.
Bree, however, wasn’t going to keep her mouth shut. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“For someone who prides herself on being so observant, you’re missing the biggest problem here,” Hayley replied in her patented “I know best so don’t argue with me” voice.
“Nathan has never been in love before, and he’s primed to do something stupid.
That’s not what’s worrying Bella, though.
No, she’s worried because she thought she was in love with Preston Martin Narcissist III, but she’s realized now that she never was.
“That should be an epiphany of the highest order, but she’s still worried that she has a bad picker,” she continued.
“Nathan has turned into a dream of a boyfriend, something we were all expecting, just not this soon. Bella is used to the bottom falling out of her boat, so she’s still leery.
There’s still the potential for a mishap here. ”
Bree pulled an oversized red blouse with flower buttons off the rack and held it up in front of me, her eyebrows practically hopping off her forehead. “Yikes,” she said. “That thing is long enough to look like a dress on you.”
“Yeah, I have to be careful,” I agreed, recognizing I was talking about more than the blouse even as Bree returned it to the rack. “It’s hard to find the right fit.”
Bree looked exasperated. She’d picked up on my not-so-subtle code. “Okay, obviously we should have started with drinks and then proceeded to shopping. I can rectify that.” She waved at the clerk. “We’ll be back. Bella here needs some lubrication to unclench.”
The clerk was clearly used to Bree’s brand of crazy because she merely nodded. “See you in a couple hours.”
brEE DECIDED ON OUR LUNCH DESTINATION—she was a woman on a mission—so I wasn’t surprised when she chose to drive to The Pirates’ House.
“The author event is at The Shrimp Factory tonight, so we can keep the car down here,” she said. “Let’s focus on drinks for now, huh?”
“What about the shopping?” I asked dully. I knew there was a Bree rant in my future, and I wasn’t looking forward to it.