Page 31 of How to Deal

“I’ll still be with you. Bryan is on the night shift until his residency ends,” Casey tells me, as if I should have known this. Which I did. “You know I can’t stay alone at night by myself.”

A year ago, Casey was at home alone when a man broke into their apartment about six miles from here. She was unharmed, and the guy freaked out and left when he realized Casey was home, but still, it was an invasion, and she never stayed there alone anymore.

I can’t blame her because I would be the exact same way. The idea of someone coming into your home, unwelcomed with malicious intent, is just plain scary.

“Yes, I know,” I finally admit. “Maybe you can pay half my rent then since you’re staying here.” I’m joking, but Casey looks appalled.

“No.”

“That’s mean. You should at least offer since you’re here so often.”

She rolls her eyes. “You don’t make Oliver pay half the rent.”

Oliver’s ears perk up at the mention of his name, but he doesn’t move from his position on my towel. “He’s a puppy.”

Casey starts laughing, covering her mouth with her hand. “I still can’t believe Zane named his puppy Prada.”

“I can. Remember the goldfish he had last year and he named it Gucci?”

“How could I forget? He cried when it died.”

He really did.

Casey and I are down there about ten minutes, talking about the bachelorette party when I see Tathan walking toward the gate with a towel in hand and his swim shorts on.

I glare at Casey. “You tagged us in the hot tub, didn’t you?”

She nods, smiling so wide her eyes squint.

Setting my wine down, I splash water in her face. “You’re an asshole.”

Casey says nothing more as Tathan approaches. “Hello, ladies.”

I want to drown myself. And then have him resuscitate me back to life.

“I’m getting married in two weeks,” Casey announces, trying to get her foot in the door when Tathan emerges himself waist deep in the water next to me.

Tathan nods, smiling politely at her, but says nothing to her directly.

I suppose in a sense he’s polite, but there’s a certain amount of shyness present when he’s around a group of people. It’s almost like he’s a completely different person, guarded and unsure.

“Are you excited?” he asks Casey, making an attempt at conversation when I don’t say anything to him.

“I am.” And that sends Casey into a conversation I’m not sure Tathan is prepared for. “We met when we were fifteen, and I can’t wait to finally be married to him. He’s in the middle of his internship at Deer Valley Hospital where’s he’s going to be a surgeon.”

Tathan nods to everything she’s saying as she goes into detail about the proposal and everything she has left to do.

He knows exactly what she’s getting at when she says, “I’m still searching for a photographer.”

A good amount of silence follows that statement, and he smiles, understanding what she’s waiting for.

Only it doesn’t come.

He says nothing to her, but smiles and takes a drink of his beer he brought down with him.

Maybe he’s playing hard to get, I might never know, but I laugh despite what happens.

Oliver, who’s beside me licking my wine glass knocks it over when Casey’s phone starts ringing.

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