Authors: Hazel Kelly
Chapter 43: Andi
The
red dress stank of stale beer in one hand while I gripped my heels in the
other, making my way home barefoot in a mishmash of Shane’s gym clothes.
To
say it wasn't how I imagined the morning going would be a ridiculous
understatement.
After
such a huge night of firsts, I thought I could at least count on some pillow
talk or another round of wickedly good sex.
I
certainly hadn't anticipated following that emotional roller coaster with a
walk of shame.
My
phone vibrated again, and I rearranged the items in my hands so I could answer
it.
"Hi."
"Andi-
I've been blowing you up for a half hour," Izzy said.
"Sorry.
I was- my phone was on silent. I didn't realize until just now."
"Oh."
"I’m
about to hop in the shower, though,” I said, crossing the street towards my
building. “So maybe I can call you b-"
"I'm
in town!"
"Oh
really? That's great news!"
"Please
tell me you don't have plans today," she said.
"Nope.
I'm all yours."
"That's
what Shane said."
I
flinched. "Funny. Are you with him now?"
"Yeah,
but he wasn't alone when I showed up."
"Busted."
"So
busted," she said. "I'll give you the scoop at Mama's. We can pick
you up in-"
"I'll
meet you there," I said, starting up the stairs to my apartment. "I
need to shower and drop something off at the dry cleaners."
"Oh.
Okay. Well, is it cool if I put the order in since it's always crazy busy on
the weekends and I’m starving?"
"Yeah,
sure. That's fine. I won't be long."
"Cool.
What do you want then?"
"Shane
knows."
"Shane
knows," she repeated.
"Yeah."
"Okay,
great. Can't wait to see your face!"
"You,
too," I said, hanging up the phone and taking the rest of the stairs two
at a time.
What
the hell was I doing? Lying to my best friend?! Sleeping with her brother?!
What a mess!
I
mean, last night was the best night of my life, and now I couldn't even enjoy
the moment.
On
the contrary, I had to pretend it never happened.
I
was shaking my head as I pushed my apartment door open, marveling at how
unprepared I felt to juggle this day and all its unanticipated moving parts.
When
I looked up, I saw Steph sitting on the couch with her thick black glasses on
and her hair piled on her head. Beside her, several stacks of notecards and a half
a dozen empty mugs littered the table.
"No
rest for the wicked, eh?" I asked.
She
laughed. "Not by the looks of you."
I
stared down my front, following the Final Four shirt to my knees and realizing for
the first time how silly the oversized shorts looked with only my ankles and
bare feet sticking out.
"I
thought the dress looked better to be honest," she said, lowering her
notecards to her lap.
"So
did I, but Shane's ex threw a beer over me about five minutes after I
arrived-"
She
craned her neck forward. "You're joking."
"I
wish."
"What
did you do?"
"Stood
there dripping like a wet blanket."
"Crap."
She pulled her glasses off. "That is so not how it was supposed to
go."
"No
shit. But my dry cleaner can definitely sort your dress out so don't
worry-"
"What
about the rest of the night?"
I
sighed and dropped my stuff on the table in the hall. "There are no
words."
She
laughed and put an arm up on the back of the couch. "That good, huh?"
"I
can't even get into it with you
cause
your soul will
go straight to Hell."
"Okay.
First of all, don't even joke about that. Second of all, I can think of worse
ways to go."
"It's
not just that," I said. "I literally don't have time to tell you
now."
"You're
a horrible tease."
I
smiled. "I can think of a guy who would disagree."
"Do
you not even have time for a quick coffee?" she asked. "My dress can
make it a few more hours."
"Izzy's
in town."
She
raised her eyebrows. "Izzy
Izzy
?"
I
nodded. "The one and only."
"Is
she coming here? Should I move my study party to my
roo
-
"
"No,
you can stay where you are. I'm the one that has to get out of here five
minutes ago."
"To
go…?"
"I'm
meeting Shane and Izzy at Mama's."
"Whoa."
"Yeah."
"Does
she know you guys are swapping spit yet?"
I
felt my cheeks burn. "First of all, we're swapping more than spit."
She
slapped a hand over her face, hiding one eye behind her palm.
"Second
of all, no."
"You
have to tell her."
"Shane
said he'd do the honors."
She
squinted at me. "And you're cool with that?"
I
shrugged. "They're twins."
"And
she's your best friend."
I
scrunched my face. "It might be too much coming from both of us. I don't
want to, like, come at her as a united front. It's too weird."
"What
if she's not cool with it and you're not there to explain yourself?"
I
turned my palms to the ceiling. "Explain what? The detailed play by play
of how I've been falling for her brother the last few weeks? The way it feels
when he looks at me? When he-" I shook my head like a dog. "I doubt
she wants to hear any of that."
"She's
going to want to hear it from you eventually," she said, putting her
glasses back on.
"I
know, but I trust him and-" I held my breath at the thought. "That
has to be enough."
"So
what are you going to do at brunch? Act like you aren't picturing him
naked?"
I
nodded. "Among other things."
"Wow."
She shook her head. "What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall."
"It's
going to be fine."
"Yeah,
cause Izzy's really chill."
"Hey-
that's not fair. She's not that uptight."
"I'm
not saying she's uptight. I'm saying she has a flair for the dramatic, and the
longer you put off telling her, the worse it's going to be."
"He'll
tell her soon. As soon as the time is right."
"Does
that mean you guys have a future?"
"I
hope so," I said. "I mean, the guy is already the best thing about my
past so, yeah, I guess it's hard to imagine a future without him."
"If
Izzy flips, can I be your maid of honor?"
"Let's
take things one day at a time."
"If
you insist," she said. "Now go get a shower. You smell like a
nightclub."
"Thanks
for your understanding," I said, leaving with a nod.
I
went straight to the bathroom and kicked the door shut behind me as I turned
the shower on. Then, while I waited for the water to heat up, I looked in the
mirror.
And
despite my disheveled appearance, I had a sparkle in my eye that I'd never seen
before.
And
that sparkle was the knowledge that Shane Jennings was worth the wait.
Chapter 44: Shane
Izzy
pretended she was done grilling me about the mystery woman in my room, but I
knew she was merely preparing for another attack.
Sure,
I might’ve behaved the same if I'd shown up and found someone in her bed, but
that was different. It was my job to protect her.
Whereas
she was just being nosy.
"What
can I get you folks?" the middle aged waitress said at a volume that was
barely audible over the busy brunch crowd.
"Can
I have the eggs Benedict?" Izzy asked. "And a black coffee, please?”
The
waitress scribbled for a second and then looked at me. "Meat Lover’s
Omelette
, sir?"
"That's
right."
She
raised her eyebrows. "And a large order of cheesy hash?"
I
smiled. "Please."
Izzy
kicked me under the table. "Andi said you'd know what she wanted."
"Oh."
I pretended to think for a second. "And one- what's the
omelette
that has all the vegetables in it?"
"The
Supreme," the waitress said.
"That's
it. And one of those, please."
"Coming
right up," she said, turning towards the kitchen.
"She
knew just what you wanted," Izzy said. "Is she the mystery
woman?"
I
laughed. "You got me."
"I
didn't know you were into older women."
I
shrugged. "What can I say? A retiree has more time to devote to my
needs."
She
shuddered and pulled her elbows off the table. "You're disgusting."
"A
lot of people react that way at first," I said. "But when they see
our sex tape, it's really easy to see how much chemistry we have."
She
raised a hand between us. "
Eww
. Shane. Please
refrain from spoiling my appetite. I really need to eat. I've done nothing but
drink coffee all day and I-"
I
stopped listening. In fact, I think all the noise got sucked out of the room
when Andi walked in. She was in a thin teal sweater and dark skinny jeans, and
her damp hair fell in loose waves around her face.
The
first thing she did was lift her eyes towards her regular table. That’s when
they met mine.
And
if there had been any doubt left that this was the real thing, it was gone. I
would never get sick of meeting her gaze across a crowded room, of the swelling
in my chest I felt when she headed my way.
She
was like all the best things about being home, but I could take her anywhere.
Izzy
must've seen her catch my eye, too, because she looked over her shoulder and pushed
her chair back in one swift motion.
At
the same instant, Andi tore her smiling eyes off mine and focused on Izzy,
waving as she weaved through the tables.
I
redirected my attention to her swaying hips, my mouth watering at the memory of
the previous night.
"Hello
my love," Andi said, pulling Izzy into a big hug. "It's so good to
see you."
"You
too," Izzy said, twisting Andi from side to side. "Your timing is
perfect." She let go and took a step back. "We just put the order
in."
"Oh
good," Andi said.
"Here-"
Izzy pointed to her pulled out chair. "You sit here, and I'll scoot in
next to Shane so I can look at your gorgeous face."
"What
about my gorgeous face?" I asked.
Izzy
shrugged. "Meh."
Andi
took the seat across from me, her face looking slightly more flushed than usual
as she smiled back and forth between me and Izzy.
The
waitress came by a moment later and poured a round of coffees.
"The
waitress knew what Shane wanted to eat," Izzy said after she was out of earshot.
"Weird,"
Andi said. "Maybe she has a little crush."
"Seems
likely," Izzy said. "Speaking of which, do you have any idea who was
hiding out in Shane's room this morning?"
"I
know he was seeing a blonde sorority girl a while back."
I
fixed my eyes on Andi. "She's dead to me."
Andi
shrugged. “Sorry,
Iz
. That was my best guess."
I
sighed. "It was just some girl. Let it go so we can enjoy our
breakfast."
"Normally
I would,” she said. “But after what you said-"
Andi
raised her eyebrows. "Which was?"
Izzy
leaned back in her chair and folded her arms. "He doesn't want to tell me
yet because he thinks he's falling in love with her."
Andi's
eyes grew wide. "What?"
Izzy
shook her head. "I know. Shane and true love, right? I'm pretty sure he's
fucking with me."
"I'm
not," I said, my eyes on Andi. "It's the truth."
Andi
swallowed.
I
stuck my leg out and leaned it against hers.
"Wow,"
Andi said, looking back at me. "She must be pretty special if you like her
that much."
"She
is," I said. "And if she likes me back even half as much as I like
her-"
"I'm
sure she likes you back," she said, breaking our eye contact.
"I
hope so."
Izzy
groaned. "It's so lame to say stuff like that and then not tell us
anything, especially when we're both- wait- Andi- how is project rebound
going?"
Andi’s
lips fell apart.
I
cocked my head. "Project rebound?"
"Yeah,"
Izzy said. "I told Andi the fastest way to get over Mike would be to get
out there and sleep with someone else
asap
."
"Is
that so?" I asked, trying to keep a straight face.
"Wasn't
there some guy in one of your classes that you were going to chat up?” Izzy
asked. “What ever happened with that?"
I
clenched my jaw.
"Nothing,"
Andi said. "Nothing at all. But it's fine. I'm over Mike. In fact, he's
transferring before the end of the semester, and soon I won't even remember his
face."
Izzy
shrugged. “I still think it would do you good to get laid."
"I'll
keep that in mind," Andi said, lifting her coffee. "And what about
you?"
"What
about me?" Izzy asked.
"What
do we owe this surprise visit to?"
"Oh,
right." Izzy shifted in her chair, crossing her legs the other way.
"One of my professors is doing a guest lecture thingy here, and I get
extra credit for attending."
"Cool,"
Andi said. "When’s that happening?"
"This
evening," she said. "I was hoping we could do happy hour, and I could
slip away around six thirty and meet up with you guys later."
Andi
nodded. "Sounds good to me."
"So
what'll it be, Shane?" Izzy asked. "You think you guys can stay out
of trouble while I go to this thing?"
My
mouth curled into a smile. "I suppose we could try."
"Good,"
Izzy said. "It's settled then. I'll call you when I get out and see where
you guys are-"
"We’ll
worry about it later," I said. "We've got loads of time until
then."
"You
want to stay at mine tonight?" Andi asked.
"Of
course," Izzy said. "Unless I meet some dashing young suitor who
wants to make sweet love to me all night."
Andi
smiled. "In which case you’ll have to go back to his cause Steph has been
cramming like a maniac."
"Deal."
When
the waitress arrived with our meals, I stole a glance at the clock and started counting
down the minutes until I’d have Andi all to myself again.
There
were only four hundred and fifty to go.