Not that I’ve looked, but he does. An annoyingly nice butt.
“She likes . . . get this . . . romantic comedies.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
I study him, truly study him. “Breaker, they’re so cliché.”
“For a reason,” he says. “They bring joy to people. I know Kelsey and Lottie are obsessed with them. They’ve changed my mind. I can see the appeal. Something about having hope at the end of a story, knowing that it’s all going to end well, makes you feel all warm and cozy inside.”
I set my phone down, cross my arms over my chest, and ask, “What have you done with my best friend? You hate romantic comedies.”
He hops off the counter and says, “People can change, Lia. It’s okay. The world won’t fall apart.” He smirks and then pulls me into a hug. “Are you jealous I’m going out with this girl tonight?”
“What?” I pull away. “Why on earth would I be jealous?”
He lets me go just as a knock sounds on the door. The food is here.
“Because you’re supposed to be the only woman in my life, right?”
“Well, yes. Of course.”
He laughs and presses a quick kiss to my head before grabbing the food. “Don’t worry, Lia, you’ll always be my best friend.” He turns toward me and then adds, “But you can’t offer me benefits, and a guy has needs.” His smirk makes me believe he’s joking.
I push at his bare chest. “Ew, gross. Don’t be that guy.”
“Lia, I’ve always been that guy, but you just don’t see it because you’d give me shit.”
He sets the food out on the table, and I say, “So you think you’ll like her? Go out with her?” I lean in and whisper. “Have sex?”
“Jumping the gun a bit, but I’m open. And I mean, she’s really pretty. Who knows, maybe I’ll be taking her as my date to your wedding. Maybe she’ll catch the bouquet, maybe I’ll catch the garter, and we’ll have a whirlwind romance where Bertha, Bernard, and Barabbas aren’t just a thought but a reality.”
“All because of Brian. Could you imagine?”
“Honestly, I can’t, but I’m just going with the flow at this point.”
“And why exactly?” I ask, popping open the container to my pancakes.
He looks up at me from where he’s unfolding his burrito from the foil. “Because I want to make sure you’re happy, Lia. I know how stressed you are about all of this, and if I can ease some of that stress, then I’m going to do that for you.”
“You don’t have to ease the stress by going out with Birdy.”
“It’s one date, and it’s more for Brian than anything.”
I eye him suspiciously. “And when have you ever started doing things for Brian?”
“Since he’s going to be your husband and . . . and I don’t want to lose you,” he says quietly.
I pause, my head tilting to the side. Is he serious? When I study him for a moment and take in the way his shoulders curve inward and the dip in his posture, I can tell he is. “What? Breaker, you’re not going to lose me.”
He sets his burrito down and faces me. “Lia, we have to be real about this. In five weeks, things are really going to change. You’re no longer going to live next to me. You’re going to be occupied with your new life, and sure, I know you won’t forget me, but I don’t want there to be any reason for there to be distance between us other than actual distance. I don’t want to give Brian a reason to put a wedge between us.”
“I wouldn’t let him,” I say.
“I know, but if I don’t get along with him, that could hurt your marriage. There could be resentment, so yeah, I’m going to do something for him. Sure, because I know if I do this little thing for him, I won’t run the risk of not getting to hang out with you.” Breaker’s busy, so we don’t get to see each other daily. But so far, since I’ve been going out with Brian, there hasn’t been much disruption to how much time we spend with each other. But the idea that we won’t just be able to walk a few steps out our front doors to get to each other is startling.
“Do you really think life will change that much? I mean . . . you could always move close.” I smile. “Your brothers live across the street. That could be us.”
He tilts his head to the side. “Are you . . . asking me to follow you?”
His teasing tone causes me to roll my eyes. I pick up the syrup that came with my pancakes and drench them. “Not if you’re going to be obnoxious about it, but yes, it doesn’t have to be a straight cut-off when I get married. Brian understands our relationship, and who knows, if things work out with Birdy, maybe we can continue to go on double dates. And on those double dates, we can annoy them with our history by talking about all the college fun we had while they just sit there and stare at us.”