Page 92 of From Best Friend to Bride
‘Leave me alone, then.’
He’d never said that to me before. Not when we’d been studying for exams and I begged for his help with maths, even though he had far more complicated things to be learning. Not when I’d whipped his ass into shape after the first time he broke up with Charlotte. Not when Uncle Eric had died and neither of us knew what the hell to do.
Had I done something unknowingly? Maybe I really had groped him in my sleep, although he probably would have woken me up and told me off if that was the case. Besides, he knew about my koala-ing when I slept, and he could always kick me out of the room.
I bet he secretly liked it.
I didn’t think there was anything else I could do to him in my sleep, and I’d barely crossed paths with him yesterday, so I couldn’t have done anything.
Was that it? Did he not see me enough yesterday?
No.
We weren’t that co-dependent.
Ugh.
“If you clean that glass any more than you already have, you’re going to start reshaping it,” Lucy said, twirling her straw in her glass so the ice knocked around.
I stared flatly at her. “Why are you here and not at work?”
“Hospital appointment,” she said brightly and delved into her bag. “Wanna see your niece?”
“Does she look like a raisin in this one, too?”
“Hmm, more like those little aliens that used to live in the goo. Remember those? In the little eggs?”
I tilted my head to the side. “Where we were sure they’d make babies if we put two of them in one goo together?”
“That’s it.” She snapped her fingers. “Yeah, she looks a bit like that. Her head seems wildly disproportionate to her little body.”
Nobody could fault her honesty, that was for sure.
I took the little printout she gave me and stared at the grainy black and white picture for a minute. “Aw, you’re right. She kind of does.”
Lucy beamed as if I’d given her a great compliment. “Do you know where Nana is? Is she at yours?”
“Mine?”
She blinked at me like I was stupid.
I felt stupid.
What was she talking about?
“Hawthorne House, my lady,” Lucy said snarkily, using the same tone she’d used when she caught me rifling through her wardrobe when we were teens. “Where you live? Lady Coventry? Ring any bells?”
Wow.
Was it me, or was everyone being mean to me today?
I took a quick step back, hugging the glass and tea towel to my body. “Why is everyone being mean to me today?” I muttered before I could stop.
She stopped. “Sorry. My back really hurts today; she’s sitting super awkwardly.” She shifted and winced as if to prove her point. “I didn’t mean to snap at you.”
“That’s what Fred said,” I grumbled, putting the glass on the shelf. “Maybe I’m the problem. I’m just going to go back to bed.”
“Who’s being mean to my favourite girl?” Si asked, appearing from the back with a towel slung over his shoulder. “Need me to kick someone out?”
