Page 32 of Capture My Heart

She stuck her head under the stream of hot water. That was Trey’s job. Unless...

The idea popped into her head, and she dropped the soap. Would he go for it?

The sound of hip hop greeted him as Trey opened the door. He found the source of the sound in the kitchen. Brie had her head in the fridge. She came up with fixings for a salad in her hand. Stinky wound around her legs, praying for her to drop a carrot or two.

“What brings you by?” He snatched the bag of salad from her arms and pulled out a bowl.

“Nothing. I just needed a break from studying. I don’t know why I thought I should take two summer classes.” She turned on the faucet and started washing the veggies.

“It will be worth it when you graduate next spring with a double major.”

“For all the good it will do me. Who gets a Masters in Sociology and French?” She shrugged.

“You do. You only took the sociology major for Dad.”

Brie’s bedroom growing up had posters of the Eiffel tower and cobblestone streets. As long as he could remember, she wanted to live in France.

“I got a call from them yesterday.” She faced the sink, washing vegetables.

“How’s their trip?” His parents sailed off on the trip of their lifetime a week ago.

“Mom said Greece is beautiful. Dad grumbled about not being able to get his favorite beer.”

“He’ll be happy when they get to the Irish leg of the trip.”

A smile flashed on her lips then fell away. “Mom’s been messaging a cousin in Cork. They plan on spending a few days with them. She said they got to meet up with our old neighbors, the Klugenbergs, when they flew into Amsterdam.”

Trey nodded but didn’t reply. The only thing he remembered about the Klugenbergs was their daughter, Heidi, and he hadn’t thought of her in decades.

His sister chopped a cucumber and changed the subject. “Was that your neighbor you were talking to in the office?”

“We aren’t going to talk about her.” Trey filled Stinky’s bowl, who ignored it.

Brie’s eyes lit, she slipped a piece of carrot to the waiting skunk, then leveled her green eyes on him. “She’s pretty. I see why you have the hots for her.”

“No. I said we aren’t doing this. You didn’t come here to make dinner or talk about my sexy neighbor.”

“Ah ha.” She pointed at him with the knife. “You do think she’s sexy.”

“Well, duh. I’d have to be blind not to notice. But I want to know what’s going on with you.”

She shrugged it off, but the tension in her upper body held her spine ramrod straight.

“You have a 4.0 and are at the top of your class. Two days ago, when we had lunch, you told me you were breezing through your classes. So, what’s going on?”

She sighed, and it took all the stiffness with it. “Adam and I broke up.”

Ah, her long time, on again off again no-good boyfriend. “Should I be sad? Because I’m not. You can do better.”

“You could at least pretend to be sad for me.” Her voice snapped.

“Honey, you know I want to see you happy.” Happy, but not with an ex-jock turned junkie.

“I know. He started using again.” Her eyes glistened.

This time Trey stiffened. “And you?”

Her head snapped up. “No!”