Page 54 of Break My Heart
‘So you like her,’ Nash says to me. ‘But she’s your competitor. That complicates matters. How’s that gonna work?’
‘It’s not. I’m not dating her. I’m just helping her out. We played pool yesterday and I agreed to fix stuff at her apartment if I lost.’
‘And if Sawyer won, he was having her over for dinner,’ Nick says.
‘Sounds like a date,’ Nash says.
I sigh. ‘It wasn’t a date. We just had dinner. Can we talk about something else? Nash, how are the wedding plans coming?’
‘Not sure. I’m staying out of it.’ He leans back in his chair, smiling at Nick. ‘Did Sawyer just admit to having this girl over for dinner?’
‘Yeah, and he didn’t even win the bet, which means the dinner was definitely a date.’ Nick looks at me. ‘So how’d it go? It was last night, right?’
‘Yes, and it wasn’t a freaking date.’ I get up. ‘I need to go.’
‘Just let me finish wrapping these up,’ Mom says as she tears some plastic wrap from the roll.
‘You’re bringing her Mom’s pastries?’ Nick says. ‘Must be serious.’
‘Would you stop?’ I bring my coffee cup to the sink. ‘You know I don’t want a girlfriend, and if I did, it sure as hell wouldn’t be Gina Slater.’
‘Sawyer, don’t be like that,’ Mom says, putting the pastries in a sack. ‘Gina seems like a very nice girl and you two have a lot incommon. I don’t know why you wouldn’t at least consider dating her.’
‘Because she’s taking all my customers! That’s why.’
‘Matt said your place was packed last night,’ Nick says. ‘He and Tessa went there for a drink and said they couldn’t even get a seat.’
‘It’s because of the special. It ended last night. Now that it’s over, we’ll see if anyone shows up.’
‘So how was the dinner?’ Nick asks. ‘Did you guys get along?’
‘Yes. It’s not like I hate her. I just don’t get why she had to open a brewery. Why couldn’t she open some other business?’
‘Did you ask her?’ Nick asks.
‘Yeah, and she said she just likes making beer. She worked at a microbrewery back in Green Bay, learned about brewing, and decided to open her own place.’
‘You should stop being so hard on her,’ Mom says, handing me the sack of pastries. ‘It’s not easy to pick up your life and start somewhere new where you don’t know anyone. You should take her around town, introduce her to some people.’
‘She meets plenty of people working at G’s. She doesn’t need me to introduce her to people.’
‘Nash?’ Callie, his fiancé, pokes her head in the kitchen. She’s wearing a bathrobe and looks like she’s about to get sick. ‘Could you get me some crackers?’
‘Sure, babe.’ He hurries to get up.
‘Oh, honey.’ My mom races over to her. ‘Morning sickness?’
Callie nods and holds her stomach.
‘Let’s get you back to the bedroom.’ My mom takes Callie’s arm and leads her down the hall.
‘I don’t know why they call it morning sickness,’ Nash says,getting the crackers from the cupboard. ‘It lasts all damn day. I wish I could help her more, but there’s only so much I can do.’ He looks back at Nick. ‘Stock up on crackers and bread. It’s the only thing that seems to help with the nausea.’ He takes off, down the hall to the guest room.
I look at Nick. ‘Lyndsay’s pregnant?’
‘No.’ He smiles. ‘Nash is just preparing me for when it happens.’
‘When’s it happening?’
