Page 7 of That Touch

“Speaking of the kids, does Grandma Celeste have them today?”

Amelia nods her head. “Yeah, she insisted on taking both of them. I fully expect to get a call soon though. Walker is entering his screaming-for-no-reason phase and nothing will make him stop.”

“Oof, don’t miss those days.” Brook shakes her head.

“What about you, Brook? Life been crazy for you lately?”

“Always. I feel like if I’m not at work or taking care of Cecelia, Tyler and I are humping like rabbits trying to make baby number two.” She holds up her fingers, her dark glasses hiding her eyes as Amelia and I laugh.

“Oh, poor you, having endless sex with your hot husband every night.” I make a crying face, teasing but a little jealous at just how lonely I am.

“No sex on your horizon, I take it?” Amelia props herself up to look at me.

“Nope, still just Vinny and me all alone.”

“Vinny?” Brooklyn asks, confused.

“My vibrator, Vinny. I felt like I had to give him a name given how close we’ve gotten over the last year.”

“You poor thing. There are no prospects?”

“No . . . I mean, I guess there’s one, but he’s not exactly picking up what I’m laying down, if you know what I mean.”

“Ugh, you mean Ranger still has his head up his ass?” Brooklyn shakes her head.

“Yup. We actually hung out the other night. We ran into each other at the cemetery and then went to dinner. It was nice, and it kind of felt like how things used to be between us.”

“The last time we talked, you mentioned that he seems different?” Amelia asks.

I nod. “Maybe I’m just reading into things, but he just seems distant and more . . . annoyed.”

“Annoyed?”

“Yeah, I dunno, but again, I’m probably just being too sensitive. Feels like he’s either too busy for me these days, or when I do try to innocently flirt with him, he rolls his eyes or brushes me off. That was our little thing over the last few years. We’ve always had this flirty back-and-forth thing.”

“Do you think . . .” Brooklyn hesitates and I lift my glasses to look up at her, “he might be seeing someone?”

“Oh.” My stomach drops. I hadn’t even considered that. “Uh, maybe? I guess I didn’t think about that. But I swear it’s been going on for over a year now. He started acting differently when he found out about Neal and me, which is so weird, because he knows I’ve dated over the years. He has too.”

“Interesting.” Amelia rubs her chin dramatically like she’s stroking an invisible beard. “Was there something different about Neal specifically that maybe bothered him?”

“Who knows?” I shake my head in exasperation. “At this point, I’m not sure what else I can do other than drop to my knees. I’ve been flirty, and I even invited him to come back to my place for a ‘drink.’” I use air quotes. “I’ve put the vibe out there—all the signs—and he’s clearly not reading them.”

“Wait, you invited him back to your place and he turned you down?” Brooklyn rips off her sunglasses with a flourish. “That man is either an idiot or he’s seeing someone, babe.”

“Or,” I sigh, “he just isn’t into me.”

“Are you kidding me?” She points her sunglasses at me. “You look like a damn pinup lying out here right now. You make me look like a 12-year-old boy, so I highly doubt that.”

I can’t help but laugh. “It’s not about looks, Brook, you know that. Mostly, I think it’s the Dean thing. If I had to guess, he thinks I’m only into him because I miss Dean, which isn’t the case at all. Who knows? I was hopeful that if he came over the other night, we could finally talk about all of it, but he’s clearly not ready and that’s okay.”

“Is it, though?” Amelia leans forward and grabs my hand. “You deserve to express how you feel to him and it doesn’t have to be on his timetable.”

“I know, but I worry it’ll ruin things for him if he doesn’t feel the same way,” I confess.

“Would it ruin the friendship for you?” she asks.

I shake my head. “No, and honestly, I would rather have closure. I don’t think there’s anything that can fracture our friendship. We’ve been through so much together, and I think this is just a rough patch,” I say, attempting to remain positive and see the silver lining even if I’m struggling.

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