“Sure, thanks.”
“Yeah, anything.”
I blinked in confusion, wondering if I’d misheard him sayany time. But it sank in, and I knew I’d heard him right.Anything—for me.
His mood seemed to have improved from all the forlorn dismay of group therapy, and he jammed out to Caroline Polachek on the way to the hospital, singing so badly that it might have been good.
“What’s he doing here?” Nikki hissed through her teeth as we approached her in the emergency room lobby. NoHi, noEverything’s fine, Nat, don’t worry, just venom.
“How else did you expect me to get here?” I replied. “You took my car, and I was already with him.”
Nikki scowled as she glanced over my shoulder at Brooklyn, who hung back with his gaze down and his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
A tense moment (that felt more like ten minutes) passed, and I kept myself very much in between them, like a barricade. Then Nikki took a step back, and suddenly nothing was wrong. “She’s all right, they’re getting her set up in a cast. She broke her ankle.”
“How?” I asked, lowering myself into one of the thick-cushioned paisley chairs.
“Tripped going into the community center.” She shrugged in reply. Then her eyes found Brooklyn again, who sat two chairs away from us. “So, you’re really not needed here.”
“Oh.” He sat up in the chair, looking back and forth between us. “Yeah, I guess not.”
“I’ll walk you out,” I offered. I didn’t want him to leave, but I didn’t want Nikki eviscerating him either—metaphorically, of course.
Brooklyn got up, and I followed him through the sliding double doors of the emergency room. We lingered off to the side under the overhang of the building.
“I’m sorry,” I blurted over the wail of a siren in the distance. “About my sister.”
“Hey, listen.” Brooklyn took my arms and pulled me closer, wrapping them around his torso. He reached down and gently caressed the side of my cheek before pulling me into a soft kiss. “It’s all okay.”
I nodded, feeling far too at home in his arms, and we kissed again, as if it was always the first time.
“How about you go on a date with me,” he said softly as we separated, staying close enough that his lips still brushed against mine when he spoke.
“A date?” I echoed.
“Yeah.” He finally pulled away, and his eyes twinkled in the sunlight. “Like an honest to god, hold my hand, I’ll even wear a collared shirt kind of date. Seems like the logical next move. At least, that’s what certain early 2000s rom-coms tell me.”
“I knew you paid attention.” I reached down to intertwine my fingers in his. “Well, I already like holding your hand and everything, but I won’t lie, I like seeing you get all dressed up and stuff.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, yeah, don’t get used to that.”
He kissed me one more time before backing away, smiling to himself until he eventually turned around and jogged to the parking lot. The moment I stepped back through the sliding double doors, I reeled on my sister.
“Whatis your problem?”
“Me?” Nikki squeaked as she clapped her hands to her chest. “What’syours?”
“I don’t have one,” I told her plainly.
“Really? Because I happen to know you do. He just walked out.”
I sat back in the chair and pressed my hands against my thighs. “That’s—” I sighed, shaking my head to see if I could rattle out better words. “That’s kind of fucked-up.”
Not at all better, but got the point across.
Nikki put her hands to her forehead. “You really don’t see what a bad idea this is, do you?”
“No, but I canfeelthe whiplash you keep giving me with this,” I drawled with an eye roll. “First you’re all happy and excited for me, then you’re not, then things are fine, then they’re not. It’s like,please, make up your mind already.”
