Page 4 of Waste Some Time
That would be Sydney’s worst nightmare.
But no. He didn’t seem to have any idea that she and Katie knew each other.
She was safe.
For now.
Sydney assessed Katie’s expression and saw that amusement dancing at the corners of her lips again. Like she was going to enjoy making Sydney squirm in this conversation. Just like…
Nope. Sydney wasn’t going to think about that. Not with her brother standing right next to them. He couldn’t actually read her thoughts, but she still didn’t want to risk giving something away if she let her thoughts wander back to that night.
“Aw, that’s a shame,” Sydney said before Katie could change her mind. Maybe she could still do some damage control. “Already have other plans?”
Please, please, please take the hint, Sydney begged silently.
“Yeah, hot date,” Katie said, setting off something inside Sydney that was dangerously close to jealousy. A painfully long moment later, Katie lowered her voice to a husky tenor and added, “A hot date with my cat.”
The twinge of tension Sydney felt at the mention of the words “date” washed away, and she smiled at Katie. She seemed like a cat person. She already knew she worked with animals at the aquarium. Cat person wasn’t a stretch.
“I told her she can do that any night. She only gets the fourth Savoie sibling when the stars align. I’m at least insisting Katie has to come over later when all four of us are together this week.”
“All four of us might be a bit much for anyone,” Sydney said with a forced laugh.
She tried to convey appreciation through her eyes, but she couldn’t read Katie at all. The confidently coy woman from the other night was still in there, but Sydney was also picking up a touch of hesitation today.
“The holidays are exhausting,” Sydney said, putting a hand on Stephen’s arm. “Don’t give her a hard time.”
“Fine.” Stephen held out a finger to wag it at his best friend. “But I’m demanding a rain check. Sydney’s in town a few days, so the three of us can hang out later. But I’m holding you to that rain check.”
Katie gave a tight, resigned smile. “Rain check it is, then.”
Great. Now Sydney had time to mentally prepare for this.
Or obsess about it for however long until they did this all over again.
Sydney had planned last week perfectly. She’d arrived a couple of days earlier than she told her family. She’d stayed with an old friend and gone to a house party with them.
Sure, she went out with friends back in San Diego, but as big as that city was, she didn’t feel anonymous there. In New Orleans, she had a history, but not a future.
Maybe.
But for certain, if she hooked up with someone here, she never had to see them again after the holidays. Picking her brother’s best friend for her first hookup with a woman hadn’t been part of that plan.
Katie gave them both a wave, then walked in the opposite direction. Sydney watched the back of her black leather jacket as the distance increased between them.
“So what’s on your to-do list this week before you head back to bland town?”
“San Diego isn’t bland, and you know it. It’s not New Orleans, but nothing is.” Sydney shrugged. “And I don’t have a to-do list.”
“Youalwayshave a list.”
“Not this time.” She bumped her arm against his. “You get to tell me what I should do this time.”
Stephen froze in the middle of the sidewalk, causing a man walking behind them to nearly run into him. The man hurled a few choice words at Stephen, while her brother ignored him and stared open-mouthed at Sydney. “Who are you, and what did you do with my sister?”
“What? I’m winging it. Trying to be more like you while I’m here.”
The truth was, she didn’t know who she was trying to be like. Stephen was right. She certainly wasn’t being herself.
