Page 8 of Somebody To Love

Brock looked around and frowned. He seriously didn’t know that she was talking to him. Wow, he was hot and not full of himself. I figured he must be taken or gay, or a combination of both.

“You do look like a model,” I offered, finally finding my voice.

He looked embarrassed by my words, which I found so charming. And then that’s when I noticed I was still holding on to his hand. Oops, I thought to myself, and promptly pulled my hand away.

Now that his hand was free, he rubbed his hand through his hair and said, “Not a model. Far from it. I’m a librarian.”

Instantly, he piqued my interest with that mention alone. Wasn’t I just saying to myself that I was done dealing with silly, flighty men? And look what had practically landed my lap: An Adonis with the world’s most boring career.

I bet he wouldn’t be caught dead running around a stage wearing only boxer shorts while doing weird interpretive dances. I bet he didn’t breathe fire or know any magic tricks. In short, he was the opposite of every guy I’d dated or had wanted to date.

I felt it was a sign from the universe, so I quickly turned on the charm.

“So you’re into water sports? What would you recommend for newbies?”

He pondered the question for a second and then turned that brilliant smile on me, “Kayaking is my favorite. I used to whitewater raft in college, though, so I’m partial to that too, but wouldn’t recommend that to beginners.”

“So you’re into white water rafting? Did you go to school around here?”

“South Carolina.”

“I could hear the tinge of a Southern accent.”

“Really? I grew up in California.”

“Ha ha,” Meredith said dryly, clearly enjoying my failure at flirting.

I shot her a look and said, “Well, see you around. I think we’ll try canoeing,” as I pulled my niece away.

“Oh man, I wanted to go water skiing.”

“Can you even ski?” I said turning away from Brock.

She ignored my question and shot me a look of pity. “You didn’t even tell him your name,” Meredith whispered loudly. “How are you going to get him to date you if he doesn’t even know your name?”

The last sentence was said in a rather loud whisper, and l just wanted to disappear. Maybe bringing Meredith wasn’t the best idea.

“Meredith, shhhh—”

Meredith rolled her eyes and turned back to where Brock was standing, untying one of the docked boats. “She’s Piper, by the way. That’s her name. Piper. I think it’s a pretty cool name,” Meredith said to Brock who just looked at her and then me in confusion. “And she’s not my mom. She’s my aunt. And she’s single. Just in case you were wondering. Like she doesn’t have a boyfriend at all. She’s super single.”

For the second time in two minutes, I just wanted to disappear.

And as if the embarrassment wasn’t enough, Meredith continued, “Why don’t you come with us, Brock? You can show us how to do this canoeing thing. I’m Meredith, by the way.”

Brock looked taken aback. I guess a child’s forwardness wasn’t something he had experienced before.

I immediately shot Meredith a look. “What?” she said, pretending to be innocent. “Don’t you think he’s cute?” she said in a stage whisper.

I hooked an arm around her shoulders and told Brock we would see him around.

“You’re infuriating,” I said with a laugh when we far enough away so that he couldn’t hear us.

“If by infuriating, you mean super useful, then yep.” She looked over her shoulder, peered at him and said, “So do you think he’s married?”

I knew there was no way that Dana would have discussed my love life, or lack thereof, with Meredith, but there was always a chance she might have overheard something about Jerry being married. After all, I had called Dana and Carter to complain about how much of a loser I was. Maybe Meredith had heard a little bit of my plight. I’m not sure how much more embarrassing life could get.

I sighed and replied, “I don’t know.”