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"You do!” he shouts. “I mean, I knew you had a crush on her back in high school, but that was, like 10 years ago, man."
I dump the onions into the melted butter with more force than necessary. "I do not have a crush on her. Drop it."
Cole just laughs. "This is going to be so much fun."
I turn to face my brother. "Cole, I swear on everything, if you make tonight awkward, I'm going to smother you with a pillow in your sleep."
He just laughs again, patting me on the shoulder. "Mom would be mad if you did. Besides, I don't think you'll need my help making things awkward. You’ll do a fine job of that all on your own."
"I hate you," I mutter, trying to ignore the nerves in my belly.
“No, you don’t,” he says with utter confidence. “You love me.”
I work on sauteing the onions and try to block out Cole’s taunts. Great. The one person I know who’s horrible at keeping secrets knows that I like Harlow. It’s just a matter of time before it gets out and the whole town knows. I might as well tell Miss Dottie or hang a sign on the giant, peach-shaped water tower. My stomach clenches painfully at that thought of Harlow finding out. The last thing I need is for her to feel sorry for me. Or worse, give me that ‘we can be friends’ speech. Not that I wouldn’t respect her wishes if she did. It would just be incredibly awkward every time we ran into each other. And I’d have to avoid outings where she might be there. I sigh as I add the chicken to the pan. I’m inventing scenarios that don’t exist. I need to focus on one thing at a time. Right now, that means dinner. I turn to face my brother.
“Cole, I need you to behave tonight,” I say.
He rolls his eyes. “I always do.”
“I’m serious,” I say. “Harlow and I are just friends, so please don’t do anything to make her uncomfortable.”
He grins. “It’s you I want to make uncomfortable.”
I don’t smile. “I’m serious. You don’t think teasing me about liking her would make her uncomfortable, too?”
“Ha!” Cole says. “So, you admit you like her?”
I roll my eyes. “It doesn’t matter because we’re just friends. Besides, I don’t want Ella to hear your teasing and think there’s something happening that isn’t. She might want a mom, but I won’t get her hopes up like that.”
Cole’s smile fades and he looks serious for the first time since I came home. He nods. “You’re right,” he says. “I won’t do that to Ella or to Harlow.”
Relieved, I smile. “Thank you.”
“Good thing they’re not here yet,” he says, grinning again. “So, I can enjoy messing with you a little longer.”
I turn back to the stove. “I really do hate you.”
Harlow arrives just as I’m finishing up dinner. I swallow down my nerves and greet her at the door with a smile. She looks beautiful, as always. She’s changed from the clothes she was wearing earlier into a black, sleeveless top that dips low in the back and a pair of jeans that hug her curves just right. It’s a casual outfit, but it still manages to be eye-catching. Though I have a feeling Harlow would be attractive even if she were wearing a burlap sack.
“Thank you for the invitation,” she says.
“Of course. I’m happy you came.”
I wince inwardly. Why does everything I say sound stilted and awkward? I wish I had some of Cole’s smoothness or Luke’s charm. Instead, I’m just awkward and shy and I can’t seem to get out of my own head long enough to have a conversation. It’s no wonder I haven’t had a date in almost a year.
Harlow wrinkles her nose. “This is awkward, isn’t it?”
I let out a laugh, relieved that she said what I was just thinking. “A little.”
“Whew,” she says. “I thought it was just me.”
“It’s definitely not you,” I say, still laughing. “The awkwardness is all me.”
She laughs. “Not true. I’m plenty awkward all on my own. Trust me. Besides, it’s just dinner. It doesn’t need to be awkward if we don’t make it awkward.”
I nod. “You're right. Speaking of dinner.”
The oven timer begins beeping, signaling that it’s time for me to take the food out of the oven. I gesture toward the kitchen.
