2. Sydney
2
SYDNEY
This was unacceptable.
So unacceptable that all Sydney could do was blink at the woman with thick dark bangs, a ponytail, and curious brown eyes.
Katie.
She hadn’t forgotten her name. Hadn’t forgotten anything about her.
Stephen was still watching her reaction, so Sydney removed a hand from her coat pocket and held it out in front of her. “Nice to meet you, Katie.”
She hoped that was enough of a hint for Katie to play along.
A long hesitation that made Sydney’s insides squirm, but Katie eventually reached out to shake her hand. Relief washed over Sydney as she squeezed the woman’s soft hand, hoping her appreciation got through the gesture.
“Nice to meet you,” Katie said, then cleared her throat. “Sydney, right?”
Sydney could only fight to keep her smile tight as she read Katie’s eyes. There was a curious hesitance behind her gaze, but also a hint of playfulness.
If outing herself to her brother before her planned timeline wasn’t at stake, Sydney might also be amused. Might even enjoy the inevitable hidden banter.
Stephen gestured dramatically to the side. “Katie was just about to turn down my invitation to join us for dinner.”
Sydney’s insides squirmed again.
No, no, no.
Why was Stephen working so hard to screw up her plans?
Of course, he couldn’t possibly know what he was doing. But Stephen always bumbled around and bumped into her plans. Even when they were kids, he’d wander into her carefully laid out worlds, plopping down excitedly to join her with whatever toys she had lined up, only to mix everything up. He was never malicious. Just clueless sometimes.
Unless Katie had told him what happened between them.
That would be Sydney’s worst nightmare.
But no. He didn’t seem to have any idea that she and Katie knew each other.
She was safe.
For now.
Sydney assessed Katie’s expression and saw that amusement dancing at the corners of her lips again. Like she was going to enjoy making Sydney squirm in this conversation. Just like…
Nope. Sydney wasn’t going to think about that. Not with her brother standing right next to them. He couldn’t actually read her thoughts, but she still didn’t want to risk giving something away if she let her thoughts wander back to that night.
“Aw, that’s a shame,” Sydney said before Katie could change her mind. Maybe she could still do some damage control. “Already have other plans?”
Please, please, please take the hint, Sydney begged silently.
“Yeah, hot date,” Katie said, setting off something inside Sydney that was dangerously close to jealousy. A painfully long moment later, Katie lowered her voice to a husky tenor and added, “A hot date with my cat.”
The twinge of tension Sydney felt at the mention of the words “date” washed away, and she smiled at Katie. She seemed like a cat person. She already knew she worked with animals at the aquarium. Cat person wasn’t a stretch.
“I told her she can do that any night. She only gets the fourth Savoie sibling when the stars align. I’m at least insisting Katie has to come over later when all four of us are together this week.”
“All four of us might be a bit much for anyone,” Sydney said with a forced laugh.
She tried to convey appreciation through her eyes, but she couldn’t read Katie at all. The confidently coy woman from the other night was still in there, but Sydney was also picking up a touch of hesitation today.
“The holidays are exhausting,” Sydney said, putting a hand on Stephen’s arm. “Don’t give her a hard time.”
“Fine.” Stephen held out a finger to wag it at his best friend. “But I’m demanding a rain check. Sydney’s in town a few days, so the three of us can hang out later. But I’m holding you to that rain check.”
Katie gave a tight, resigned smile. “Rain check it is, then.”
Great. Now Sydney had time to mentally prepare for this.
Or obsess about it for however long until they did this all over again.
Sydney had planned last week perfectly. She’d arrived a couple of days earlier than she told her family. She’d stayed with an old friend and gone to a house party with them.
Sure, she went out with friends back in San Diego, but as big as that city was, she didn’t feel anonymous there. In New Orleans, she had a history, but not a future.
Maybe.
But for certain, if she hooked up with someone here, she never had to see them again after the holidays. Picking her brother’s best friend for her first hookup with a woman hadn’t been part of that plan.
Katie gave them both a wave, then walked in the opposite direction. Sydney watched the back of her black leather jacket as the distance increased between them.
“So what’s on your to-do list this week before you head back to bland town?”
“San Diego isn’t bland, and you know it. It’s not New Orleans, but nothing is.” Sydney shrugged. “And I don’t have a to-do list.”
“You always have a list.”
“Not this time.” She bumped her arm against his. “You get to tell me what I should do this time.”
Stephen froze in the middle of the sidewalk, causing a man walking behind them to nearly run into him. The man hurled a few choice words at Stephen, while her brother ignored him and stared open-mouthed at Sydney. “Who are you, and what did you do with my sister?”
“What? I’m winging it. Trying to be more like you while I’m here.”
The truth was, she didn’t know who she was trying to be like. Stephen was right. She certainly wasn’t being herself.
For the first time in her life, she’d shown up somewhere without a plan. And not just for this week. She didn’t have a plan for anything.
Sydney wasn’t even sure when she was going back to San Diego. Of course, she hadn’t told Stephen that yet. Besides the other things she hadn’t told him.
While she valued his opinion, she didn’t want her brother’s enthusiasm for the idea of her sticking around longer—maybe even permanently—to influence her decision.
“I’m going to take full advantage of this shocking turn of events,” Stephen said. “Prepare to be bossed around while I make all your decisions for the rest of your time here.”
Sydney laughed. “That sounds terrifying.”
* * *
Sydney bit down on one quarter of the muffuletta they were sharing. Her taste buds exploded with the tang of the olive salad and the rich mix of meats and cheeses. The round Italian bread loaf was both crispy and chewy and perfectly warm.
There were so many restaurants to love in the city, but this butcher shop that supplied the sandwich counter, as well as the high-end restaurant next door, was at the top of Sydney’s not-to-be-missed list.
“So, how have you been?” Stephen asked after he swallowed his first big bite of the shared sandwich. “Really. Be straight with me.”
Sydney choked on the bits of bread she hadn’t quite swallowed fully at his innocent use of “straight”.
Not that she didn’t want to tell him she was bisexual. She just didn’t want to tell him yet .
Sydney had known this about herself for quite a while, but she hadn’t really talked about it with anyone but her therapist, her best friend back in San Diego, and, eventually, her ex-husband. That hadn’t been a factor in their divorce, but since everything had gone to shit before she’d come out to more people, she didn’t want anyone thinking the two were linked.
She just needed some time and distance between announcing her divorce and announcing her sexuality.
Sydney liked when things followed an outline and stayed in their neat little compartments. Of course, life was usually messier than that. But if she could have any say in how this reveal would go down, this was how she wanted it to happen.
“I’m fine. Really.” Sydney wiped the sandwich crumbs from her hands.
“How? I mean, you guys were together for… how many years was it?”
“Six.”
“See. That’s a long fucking time in my book.” Stephen’s face morphed into concern. “Unless I had it all wrong when I asked if he’d been the one cheating. Were you?—”
“No,” she said. “I already told you. No one did anything wrong. We just weren’t right.”
She’d been clear with her family, from the moment she told them about the divorce, that Doug had done nothing wrong. He was just wrong for her. And her for him.
Over those six years, they’d always valued their time with their friends as much as their time with each other. Sydney loved the nightlife. Getting lost dancing in a crowd full of people, music, and lights weirdly relaxed and energized her after a long week at work. It was a stark difference from the days filled with quiet calculations.
Doug preferred poker nights and fantasy football with his friends. It felt like a perfect balance for a few years. Then, over time, their interests grew further and further apart and they spent less time together. The balance of time together versus apart grew more lopsided with every month.
“I guess I just don’t get how you aren’t upset.”
“I was upset. And now I’m not,” she said. “It’s done. I’m ready for whatever’s next.”
“Something’s next?” He raised his brow in interest. “Or someone?”
“Nothing specific,” she said quickly. Probably too quickly. “I mean in general. The rest of my life and all of that.”
“I still can’t convince you to move back here?”
“You could try, but it would be a waste of energy.” She held up the remaining quarter from her muffuletta. “If this can’t convince me, nothing can.”
“I don’t know,” Stephen said. “That sounds like a challenge to me.”
“You always were the competitive one of us all.”
“Me? You’re the one with checklists and goals.”
“That’s only me in competition with myself,” she said. “You were always the one to lose it when I beat you at Battleship.”
“Well, whatever. I’m still not giving up. Maybe not this year. Maybe not next. But I’m gonna find something to help me convince you to move back here.”
An image of Katie nodding toward the back of that house flashed in her mind.
Nope.
Not a reason to stay here. Even though Sydney was already considering the move, she wouldn’t let a woman she barely knew factor into that huge decision.
Sydney didn’t have a plan for this week, but the one plan she did have was to not jump into a relationship with the first woman she’d made out with. That had been her plan for going to the party. Kiss someone and move on.
She was never supposed to see that person again, of course. It had been her ridiculous luck to pick her brother’s best friend for that first delicious experience.