Page 32 of Two Guys, a Girl, and a Tripod

“Ok, fine.Onething and it’s not even bad. You're an introvert. That's not a hanging offense.” I push, “So what’s your actual flaw, here?” A shadow passes across his face. It’s fleeting, barely noticeable. I’m dying to ask what it means, but I refrain. It's way too early to trauma dump.

“I think I’ll let that remain a mystery.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Ready?” Alexis saves Brody from answering, notepad out and pen at the ready. She’s going to make us order now, whether we’re ready or not.

“Er, yeah,” Brody stammers. He meets my gaze and gestures to me. “After you.”

I politely give my order, looking up at Alexis who seems not to hate me anymore. Her expression isn’t quite as icy as before. She jots down a few words and looks at Brody.

I watch his expression as he orders his chicken dish, trying to penetrate his mind and figure out what it is he wants to hide. I’m not getting the warning bells I would expect from that kind of exchange, so maybe it’s only somethinghethinks is bad. Maybe it’s not even a flaw in my eyes. Maybe he has a big dick and he’s worried it’ll scare me.

Alexis disappears again and in the awkward silence that ensues, I go for another sip of my beer. Brody matches my movement, staring at me over the glass with those deep, green eyes.

I could get lost in those eyes.

I could get into trouble for those eyes.

My phone rattles in my purse and I have to tear myself away. It’s Natalie’s emergency call. I’m usually the one calling her for it, even though she ignores ninety-nine percent of them.

“Do you mind?” I ask though I have already decided to silence it. “It could be work.”

“By all means.” He knows. He has to know. He has sisters and how many women have used this sort of tactic on him? Depending on the answer to that question,thatcould be his flaw.

I smile when I see the screen and confirm that it’s Natalie. With a quick tap, I silence the vibrations and slip the phone back into my purse. I want to see where this goes.

“Not work?” asks Brody when I turn back to face him.

“Nope, just my friend. I’ll call her back later.”

“Wait, you grew up here?” I ask in shock. He doesn’t seem like an LA native, but I guess I don’t know what LA natives are like. “I thought that was a myth! People only ever movetoLA, they’re notfromhere.” Brody laughs, the corners of his eyes crinkling.

“Yeah, I grew up here,” he says, a little out of breath. He downs what’s left of his beer. “My roommate and I went to the same middle and high school. We moved in together a few years ago.”

“I’ve been here 6 months and I hate it. How do you do it?”

Brody shrugs and looks around for Alexis, I assume to order another beer. I finished mine several minutes ago and have been sipping on my ice water, hoping to avoid a hangover in the morning. When he catches the server’s eye, he holds up his glass to save her the trip to the table and I see her nod.

“I don’t know,” he says in answer to my question. “I just… I just like it here.”

“You don’t have seasons,” I point out.

“True, but I travel when I want seasons.”

“How do you get through a dry, boring Christmas with no snow?”

“There are plenty of places in the world with no snow at Christmas. Hell, the entire southern hemisphere.” He’s right.

“Ok, but it, like, never rains here.”

“I don’t want to live in the rainforest,” he counters. “Or Florida.”

“Well, who does? It’s Florida.”

“You get it.”

“But…LA,” I say again with an exaggerated shiver. Brody chuckles.

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