Page 28 of Unlikely You

“If you abuse that, I will block your number.”

Tucking the card into my shorts, I nodded. “Understood.”

Sensing it was time to make my getaway, I scurried back to the table to find my family waiting for me. Mom and Dad were smiling at each other, Ellie looked like she was bursting to ask me a million questions, and even Ember was staring at me instead of her phone.

My face went fifteen different shades of red and I couldn’t look anyone in the eye.

I held up one finger. “Not a word. Not a single word.”

Grabbing my bag with as much dignity as I could manage, I checked the table one last time before I headed for the door that led to the parking garage that was attached to the marketplace. My family trailed me, talking in hushed voices that weren’t all that hushed.

The second everyone was in the van with the doors closed, they all started talking at me at once.

“I asked her to lunch!” I said above the commotion. “I just asked her to lunch! That’s it! Not a date. It’s not anything. She barely agreed to it. That’s it.”

My parents shared a fond look and Ellie buzzed in the seat in front of me. I knew she was going to seek me out later and grill me until I told her, but she’d do it when it was just the two of us.

“You should go for it,” Ember said as she started out the window. The sky was gloomy, and rain was expected tonight. I hoped it would storm. I loved sleeping when it rained. The sounds always lulled me into the deepest sleep.

I took the card Bren had given me out of my pocket and stared at the number she’d written down in her sprawling handwriting.

Deciding to go for it, I typed out a quick message.

Testing, testing, 1 2 3. This is Honey Holloway. Over.

The message was obnoxious, and I could just picture how it would make her eyes narrow to read it. Getting a reaction out of Bren was my new favorite hobby. I couldn’t wait until I had her attention for an entire meal.

Her response didn’t come until we’d arrived back home, and I’d gone into the kitchen to start dinner to avoid any further questions about the Bren situation.

I know who you are. You told me your middle name, remember?

Right. I’d babbled it that night at Sapph.

Do you have a middle name? Is Bren your full first name?

She was totally going to block me and refuse to go to lunch if I wasn’t careful.

My full first name is Brenna. I hate it.Her response was surprising. I’d expected her to tell me to fuck off.

“Are you talking to Bren?” Ellie whispered as she sidled up to me.

I looked around, but my parents were checking the bees and the animals and shutting the farm down for the night.

Ember was in the living room on her phone.

“Yes,” I whispered back. “Where should we go for lunch?”

Ellie thought about that for a few moments. “If it’s sunny out, you should go to the pier and get something you can eat outside. If it’s raining, you should go someplace nice with good burgers and onion rings. No one can get mad or be unhappy if you have onion rings.”

Choking back a laugh, I tried to focus on the tomatoes I was slicing for the salad. “That’s really good advice, thanks.”

“I’m gonna go say goodnight to the ducks,” she said and was out the door before I could remind her to put her shoes on.

Brenna doesn’t really suit you anywayI sent back to Bren.

I know. That’s why I don’t use it.Her message was defensive, and I could tell there was a history of strife around her first name.

You can call yourself whatever you want. But I like Bren.It worked for her.

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