Page 37 of Blue Jeans in Low Beams

Launching into the whole story, from my awkward admission in the pickup truck confessional to Milo surprising me with the best date ever. I tell her all about how much fun we had, how the night played out with the plot of the mystery, and how good the food was. I don’t leave anything out. Mell hangs on my every word, like a little kid during story hour, ready to find out if the handsome prince swoops in at just the right time to save the princess.

I even come clean about the kiss, not bothering to hold back the parts about my knees going weak and how when I close my eyes, I can still feel his scruff against my lips.

“What about that scruff on the inside of your thighs,” Mell quips.

“MaryEllen!”

She laughs hysterically, clapping as if she’s giving herself a high five. “Brenna, I don’t know why you think these are pity dates, because they aren’t. Pity dates do not include kissing. Nor do they include cuddles. I knew there was something to that boob squeeze at the bar.”

“It wasn’t like that,” I dismiss. “These were not those kinds of cuddles. They were…brotherly cuddles.”

I think. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want them to be brotherly cuddles. I would have more than welcomed Milo trying to cop a feel while we watched dinosaurs chase down Sam Neill. But I know better. And need to stop myself before I let my heart get too entangled.

“Brotherly cuddles?” Mell repeats, her voice incredulous. “There is no such thing. Because you would not cuddle on the couch like that with Brandt. And before you lie to me and say sure you would, I’m gonna stop you. Because no, you would not. You two don’t have that same kind of weird, touchy-feely thing going on like Ross and Monica.”

“You are the only person I know who watched Friends and thinks that Ross and Monica were too touchy-feely with each other,” I say with a laugh.

“They are. They’re supposed to be siblings, and no one touches their sibling like that. It’s creepy. Which is how I know that Milo cuddling you is not out of pity.”

She loops back to her point swiftly and succinctly, giving me a look that tells me she knows it too. I want her to be right. I do. So, so bad. But I need to be careful. He agreed to give me what I’ve never had—a second date. Nothing more, nothing less. And my focus needs to be on this test. On knowing things like using Ertapenem for an intra-abdominal abscess with a culture producing E. coli.

“Maybe.”

“Maybe? Maybe? Brenna, Milo Hayes kissed you!” she screeches.

“Shhhh! Keep your voice down. Both his mother and sister are here. I don’t need either of them hearing any of this.”

Because that’s exactly how this gets out of hand.

“Because you don’t want to admit that you liked it.”

“Of course I liked it. Milo Hayes kissed me. Milo Hayes!”

Mell snickers. “Guess the fireworks won’t be the only thing to bang this year.”

“Mell!”

I shove her, but she’s already lost in a fit of giggles. It’s infectious, my own laughter right behind it. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think we were thirteen again, sneaking into the romance section to look for the spicy parts.

We laugh for I don’t know how long, and it feels good. My soul needed this. Needed the deep belly laugh that only comes from a best friend.

When we finally collect ourselves, wiping away the tears and sucking in deep breaths, I feel better than I did walking in here. I haven’t studied a lick, but maybe now my head is clear enough to make room for some knowledge.

“I need to get back, and you need to learn things,” Mell says, pushing up and giving me a hug. “But we should hang at Pour Decisions this weekend.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to watch the two of you in action. It was very entertaining the last time. And that was before he asked you out. Who knows what will go down this time. And maybe I can help you make some poor decisions.”

I roll my eyes, pushing her away. Mell cackles, wiggling her fingers as she backs out of the room. Turning back to my practice test, I shake out my arms, getting my mind back in the game. Mell was right; I need to learn things. However, she was wrong too.

Because no matter what happens, Milo Hayes is not a poor decision.

12

MILO

Death by meeting.