Gabby made an ewwwww noise.
“I’m using protection,” I said.
“When do we get to meet him?” Gabby asked.
“It’s seriously just a hookup thing.”
It wasn’t.
Well, not entirely. I guess technically if it was just a hookup thing, we wouldn’t talk like we had last night. The time had gone by so fast, I didn’t even notice how late it had gotten, and I’d only hung up with him because Neil came home, and I saw the light flick on in the office.
I really liked talking to Daniel. It was easy, and he made me laugh. Surprisingly enough, we had more in common than I thought.
Gabby made a left into a gas station. “I need to use the restroom. Anyone want coffee?”
Jessica got unbuckled. “I’ll go.”
My phone started to vibrate. Bri was calling.
“I’ll wait in the car,” I said, answering it. “Hey.”
“I just got stood up. Again,” she said. “Do you think they’re showing up, seeing me, and then bailing? Or are they not coming at all? I can’t decide if I’d rather be so hideous I’m causing them to flee, or so boring they literally forgot we had a date.”
“You’re not boring or hideous,” I said, watching Gabby and Jessica go into the gas station. “It’s their loss.”
“Is it? Because I feel like contouring my cheekbones on my day off is sort of my loss. Do you want to meet for dinner? So my outfit isn’t a total waste?”
“I can’t,” I said. “I’m doing that weekend thing with Gabby and Jessica.”
She groaned. “Crap. I forgot about that.”
“Why don’t you come down? If the place is booked, we can share my bed.”
She scoffed. “Uh, pass. There’s only so much of Gabby’s complaining and Jessica’s eye rolling I can take. It’s fine. I’ll just go see Benny or something.”
“How is he?” I asked. Her little brother was having some pretty serious health issues.
“It’s starting to affect his kidney function.”
My lips curved down. Benny was only twenty-six—younger than Daniel, and Daniel was a baby. Too young to be this sick.
Benny’s deteriorating health was hitting Bri pretty hard. It was like she felt she needed to fix it because she was the doctor in the family, which was totally unfair.
“This isn’t your fault, Bri.”
Benny had excellent care, and his condition was progressing anyway. Sometimes medicine was like that. There was only so much you could do.
“So what’s up with the guy?” she asked, changing the subject.
I shrugged. “Not much. I talked to him last night.”
“Oh yeah? Phone sex stuff?”
“No. Just talked. Nothing serious. I left him on read for like a week. I was so overwhelmed with the whole Neil squatting in my basement thing I kept forgetting to call him back.”
“Are you going down there again?”
“Eventually. Maybe next weekend?”
“Okay. Well, just remember not to name his penis. Once you name it, you get attached.”
I laughed. Gabby and Jessica were coming out of the gas station. “I gotta go,” I said, still cracking up.
“All right, call me later.”
The girls got in the SUV, and Gabby turned back onto the road. We drove for thirty minutes, Gabby and Jessica talking about the new hot pool guy everyone was hiring and some Butter Braid fund-raiser Gabby’s kids were in. I wasn’t really paying attention. I had one earphone in listening to audiobook samples Daniel had recommended.
“Ugh, gas station coffee is so gross,” Gabby said, dropping her cup into the drink holder. “I don’t even know why I bother.”
Jessica sighed loudly. “Maybe you can get something better when we get there. So where exactly are we going again?”
“Oh, my God, you guys are gonna love this place I found,” Gabby said, making a right near a cornfield. “It’s on the Root River. They have this epic bike trail. It used to be a railroad track and they paved it. We can rent bikes in town. Kayaks too.”
I pulled out my earbud and leaned over to look out the windshield. “The Root River? I thought we were going to Red Wing.”
“We were. I’d already booked a different place, but I canceled it for this one when it popped up. It’s this small town, it’s super cute. Grant County. It’s this bed-and-breakfast I’ve had my eye on. I got an email saying it was opening for the spring.”