Page 23 of Romantic

A screen door creaks open. I wheel around just in time to see two braids flying in through the front entrance of Brandon and Pepper’s cottage. The door slams shut and soon a light turns on in the upstairs window. That evil little genius. Does Brandon even know that Pepper snuck out? He’s probably busy swiping right. My bare feet slap on the wooden steps of his front porch as I run to the front door and knock.

To have resisted such attractions . . . Is there a man on earth who could have done it! —Sense and Sensibility

7

Brandon

Loud rapping on the door starts me awake. My first thought is Pepper. I hop out of bed, put on my glasses, and run to her room across the hall from mine. Relief washes over me. She’s in bed fast asleep.

“Pepper! You come back here.” Annie’s voice calls up the staircase. Why is Annie on our front porch in the middle of the night? I hurry down the stairs and open the door.

Annie marches in. “Where’s your daughter?”

“In bed asleep.”

“The little faker. Go get her! And while you’re at it, put a shirt on.”

“No.” I fold my arms across my chest.

“No, what?”

“I’m not going to wake Pepper, and I’m not going to put a shirt on. You’re the one barging into my house in the middle of the night.”

“It’s not the middle of the night. It’s a few minutes after eleven. What are you, eighty?”

“It’s late enough that I was asleep, and so is Pepper.”

“She’s not! I just saw her.” Annie’s wearing the long flowing skirt and white blouse she had on earlier, but no shoes.

“What is going on?”

“Your daughter snuck into Jack’s cottage and left a tarantula!”

“A tarantula?” I’m trying my best not to laugh. This is all so ludicrous.

“Yes, a tarantula as big as a kitten. I’d show you, but I set it free.”

“Hold on! Jack made you dispose of the spider?”

“He’s scared of them.”

“I see.”

“Don’t be rude”

“All I said was ‘I see.’”

“But you said it with judgment.”

“Fine, yes, I’m judging the man who sends his barefoot girlfriend out after dark to dispose of the scary spider.”

“He didn’t make me. I was in too big of a hurry for shoes.”

“Does he know how to do anything other than style his hair?”

“Why are you being like this? You’re acting like you’re jealous.”

Hell yeah, I’m jealous! I’m burning up watching Annie with Jack. I would probably hate seeing her with anyone, but Jack Willoughby is everything I’m not—fun, flirty, relaxed, care-free. I’m confident and competent in nearly every aspect of my life—except dating. Relationships terrify me. I’ve learned the hard way to move cautiously and carefully when it comes to matters of the heart.