Page 61 of Back to You

Brandon thought about that a minute. It was actually difficult for him to make friends usually. Probably due to his overall air of “leave me alone.” There was nothing wrong with meeting new people, even if he wasn’t looking for anything romantic.

“Sure.”

CHAPTER 14

“WHO IS MAX?” Michelle said, staring suspiciously at his phone.

“Guy I met in the kitten room the other day. Hey, I meant to ask, how about we do a fundraiser once a week? I can bake however many loaves of that chocolate bread people are so crazy about, and we donate the proceeds to the humane shelter.”

“That sounds good. Why is Max texting you?”

Brandon looked up from his notes. “Huh?”

“This Max guy, he’s texting you.”

Brandon grabbed his phone and saw the new text.

Max: Great to meet you the other day! Want to grab a coffee and hang out one night this week?

“Oh yeah, he mentioned meeting up sometime. I’ll text him later.”

“Are you going on a date with some random you just met?”

Brandon eyed his sister. “If I was, I suspect you would have opinions on that.”

“Well … you did just break up with Ethan. I thought you weren’t ready to date.”

“It’s not a date. He did ask me out, but I told him I wasn’t interested, and he asked if we could be friends. I’m not averse to making new friends.”

“Since when?” Michelle said.

“Since I’m bored.”

“Was he cute?”

Brandon had to stop and think about it. “I mean, I guess? Kind of twinkish, not really my type. But he seemed nice, and he loves animals, so how bad can he be?”

“So you’re not interested?” Michelle said.

“No. Look, it’s going to be a long time before I’m ready to date again, assuming I ever am. I still love Ethan too much for that.” He stared down at his notes, unseeing. “Fucking hell, will this ever not hurt like this?”

Michelle draped an arm across his back in an unusual show of affection. “It will, B. One day, it won’t be so bad. I’m sure of it.”

“But yeah,” he said with a sniffle. “No dating, just a potential friend.”

“Sounds good. If he can befriend your grumpy ass, he might be good people.”

Later that evening, Brandon walked into his apartment and greeted the always-starving Barnabus.

“I got you, don’t worry.”

After feeding the cat and changing his clothes, Brandon was halfway through his dinner when he remembered Max’s text. Whoops.

Brandon: Hey man, sorry I didn’t text you earlier, I was at work.

Max: No problem. So, any interest in meeting up?

Brandon: You sure you’re cool with just meeting up as friends?

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