Page 38 of Enemies with my Bestie’s Brother
“You really think so?” I ask, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
She nods and squeezes my hand.
“I definitely do,” she says.
“Thank you for telling me all of this,” I pull her into a hug before pulling away and looking at her. “You’re still talking to my mom?”
“Of course, we talk every week.”
I roll my eyes and sigh, although talking to my mom every week is exactly the sort of thing that Penny would do.
While Penny goes to the kitchen and dials up her favorite Chinese place, what she said runs through my head. Maybe it is time for me to get out of Keene. Not just get out of Keene, but move my business here.
The reality is that I have been growing accustomed to being in San Francisco, and I’m starting to like it. The only thing is how that affects my relationship with Grayson — or the possibility of my relationship with Grayson, I suppose.
The seeds are there, since he told me upfront that he wants a relationship. Is that what I want, to be in a relationship with Grayson? Being around him is easy in a way that things never have been before. We have the same interests, and even though he doesn’t really understand my business, he’s perfectly supportive of it. Maybe a relationship with Grayson is what I need.
Penny comes back from the kitchen, the food having been ordered. She turns to me and smiles excitedly.
“So, do you feel better? Are you ready to pick a movie? I want to do it just like college, with both of us writing a suggestion on a piece of paper and then drawing it out of a cup!”
I smile at the memories of doing that throughout our college career. There’s something special about spending time with your best friend.
“Okay, let’s do it. Do you have a pen and paper?” I look around the living room, seeing nothing but furniture and baby toys.
“Parker probably does in his office. I’ll grab those, and you grab a cup from the kitchen. Better yet, grab a bowl. It will be easier.”
As she pads down the hallway toward Parker’s office, I bounce off the couch and head to the kitchen to grab a bowl. I’ll tell Penny soon, and then I’ll finally be able to spend time with her without feeling massive amounts of guilt. She comes back with a memo pad and two pens. She rips out one of the small sheets of paper and then rips that in half.
“Alright, you write down your suggestion, and I’ll write down mine. No peeking!” she says as she turns away.
I laugh and roll my eyes at the childishness of it. As if anyone who wants their own movie to be picked would peek. I fold mine up and turn back around a few seconds before Penny does. We both deposit our suggestions into the bowl. Penny mixes them up and covers the bowl before shaking it vigorously. A loud guffaw escapes me at the expression on her face: eyes crossed from sheer concentration, brow furrowed, and the tip of her tongue poking out. She winks at me, and I suddenly realized that she purposely sported the goofy look to cheer me up. Finally, she holds the bowl out to me, and I delicately take a piece of paper out. I unfold it and find my handwriting staring back at me.
“It’s The Vow,” I say as I wave the paper in the air. “I swear I didn’t cheat by pulling my own suggestion.”
Penny narrows her eyes at me as she pulls the other paper out of the bowl, unfolds it, and lays it down on the counter. Written smack in the middle is The Vow. I’m about to comment when the doorbell rings, indicating that the Chinese food we ordered has arrived.
I guess that no matter what’s happening in either Penny's or my life, we can still both be on the same wavelength.
Chapter Seventeen
Grayson
LandonandIaretoiling away in my office, shooting off emails to AI developers and watching course seminars on the best ways to market in this particular tech sector. We’ve already amassed countless investors that are counting on us to make this branch a success. The AI component was Landon’s idea, and we’ve hired some of the best tech developers in the industry. Since my specialty is marketing, that’s what I’ve been enlisted to do for the company.
I’m finding it hard to focus, though, since my mind is dominated by thoughts of Whitney. Not just the way it feels when her soft lips meet mine, or the delicate tone of her voice, but the rash decision I made the other night involving her.
“Alright, out with it. What the hell is distracting you from work?” Landon asks suddenly, turning in his chair to look at me.
“Nothing. I’m working!”
The video on the screen in front of me has ended, and I wonder how long ago it stopped playing.
“You’ve been sitting in front of a video that ended ten minutes ago, Grayson. So, just tell me the truth.”
He looks at me with a hint of impatience, and I know that my being distracted is getting on his nerves. It’s understandable why, of course. This business is important, and has a lot of money and investors riding on it. If there was ever a time when I shouldn’t be getting distracted, this is it.
“It’s just Whitney,” I tell him honestly, hoping that’s enough to sate his interest.
