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Walking down the street with Drew Maddox was fascinating.
Male or female, stares just flew to him. His height and physique commanded attention from well down the block, and he wasn’t even the type who looked a little better from afar. He actually got mercilessly hotter as you got closer – I’d dealt with the experience myself coming out of the subway – and I could actually see some girls struggling to tear their eyes off of him.
Nah, I feel you, I thought as one girl flashed me a sheepish smile for instinctively checking him out.
“What?” Drew turned to me when he heard my giggle.
“Nothing. This girl was trying really hard to stop staring at you out of respect for me, and I thought it was polite and kind of sweet. Almost makes me want to tell her that this is all a sham and to check you out as hard as she wants.”
Drew shot a look at me and stared for several seconds.
“You’re insane.”
“Insane? Geez. Kind of a strong choice of words, don’t you think?”
“You just made friends with a complete stranger in your head.”
“Uh, no, I related to her and we had a friendly, non-verbal exchange,” I corrected.
“For two seconds. With a complete stranger,” Drew reiterated. I squinted up at him.
“Look, I know that someone who doesn’t even trust his own friends wouldn’t get this, but it’s not completely wild for girls who don’t know each other to bond quickly over something. Do you know how many best friends I’ve made in the bathrooms of bars?” I asked, knowing well that I was losing him at this point. “No one holds your hair while you’re puking in the bathroom of a bar like a girl you’ve never met before in your life. It’s just part of the unspoken sisterhood among us women. Just because you don’t know doesn’t mean it hasn’t been true for centuries.”
Drew narrowed his eyes at me, looking confused to the point of irritation.
“You know, I thought this day might end up being tolerable but then again, maybe not.”
I laughed, a bit too entertained by what big, bad Drew Maddox looked like completely weirded out by me. I couldn’t out-muscle or out-snark him, but clearly I could out-sunshine him, so there was that.
Though admittedly
, within minutes, I was out of sunshine myself.
“Crap,” I cursed when we stopped in front of the “Closed for Renovation” sign hanging on the door of Louisa’s.
Our lunch spot was closed, and Drew Maddox was hangry.
“Damn it. Dammit, dammit, dammit,” I cursed again ten minutes later while waiting outside the deli where Drew was grabbing some “hold me over” food. Leaning against the window, I shot an apologetic text to Iain about the change of plans. He had seemed very nice and cordial when I met him in the city yesterday, and upon noticing my fidgety nerves, managed to make me laugh by assuring me that I’d have plenty of space to hide in Drew’s triplex should Drew get too annoying. But he was also professional to the point of being intimidating, and I was afraid he was going to hate me for failing to pick a restaurant that was, at the very least, open.
“Oh my gosh… Evie?”
I had just sent the text when I heard the familiar, clear-as-a-bell voice in front of me. Blinking up in the sun, I gasped.
“Oh my God – Hillary. Hi!”
We laughed as we threw our arms around each other and went straight into talking about her new restaurant – the one with the menu I designed – and how the big opening was in just over a week.
“I can’t believe it’s finally happening!” Hillary laughed, pressing her manicured hands on her makeup-free face. Save for special occasions, Hillary never wore an ounce of it. Since college, she’d rocked that all-natural, girl-next-door, Chapstick-is-my-makeup beauty that I only wished I could pull off. “Evie, I am so excited for the masses to taste that amazing menu of yours. I literally haven’t slept since last week! You’re still coming to the friends and family opening, right?”
“Yes! Of course. How could I not?”
Her blue eyes were still bright though her smile somewhat faltered.
“Oh, because… I heard about you and Mike. And I’m so sorry. I know you were having a really rough time adjusting.” She thrust a hand into her perfect hair. “God, what is even wrong with me? I’m just rambling on and on about my life when you just had your heart completely obliterated.”
“Oh.” Her blunt phrasing surprised me. “Oh… no, don’t worry about it. I’m actually doing much better these days.”
“Good! I mean, yeah, look at you! You’re out of the house, you’re looking great,” she said enthusiastically, gesturing at my dress. “Where are you even off to?”
