Page 7 of Just for the Plot

“Oh…I know.”

Rolling my eyes, I turn back to my phone to see her typing out a response.

“Who are you talking to?” Nolan presses.

“Just a friend.”

“Uh-huh.” I can feel his eyes burning into me. “You’re a fucking liar, dude. I don’t smile like that when you text me.”

“Clearly you don’t love me enough,” I answer just as my phone buzzes.

Bower:Well, you see, I might be moving.

Bennett:To where? Almond Bay? Gabby will freak out if you finally move closer to her.

Bower:Funny, I will be moving closer to a Brinkman, just not her.

I can feel all the blood drain from my face and straight to my goddamn dick. My neck heats up and I sit taller in my seat.

Bennett:Wait, are you moving to San Francisco?

Bower:I am.

“Holy fuck,” I say, sitting all the way up now.

“What?” Nolan asks, mouth full of burrito.

“My gi—uh, my sister’s friend is moving here.”

“Uh-huh, and why is that a holy fuck moment?” He wiggles his brows at me, and honestly, what’s the use?

If I’m going to spill the beans, might as well be to someone who isnot attached to the situation at all. And fuck, to get this off my chest will feel good.

“Because I’ve had the biggest fucking crush on her ever since I met her and no woman compares to her. Ever. I’ve tried to shake her from my thoughts, from the way she’s branded herself in my fucking soul, but it hasn’t worked. She’s perfect, everything about her. If she gets a place here, it means I can finally make a move, a move that I’ve been waiting to make for so goddamn long that it actually hurts.”

Nolan blinks, studies me, and then takes a bite of his burrito. “Right on, man.”

Right on? That’s all he has to say to my confession? To a secret I’ve been safeguarding for so long?

Probably because that’s Nolan.

Now if this was OC I was telling, it would be a completely different reaction.

Chuckling, I go back to my messages with Bower, trying to play it cool even though I’m as giddy as a fucking kid on Christmas morning.

Bennett:That’s awesome. When do you get here?

Bower:Well, Adalade—the woman I work for—wants to be in the city by next week. She just bought a Victorian in Pac-Heights and all of her things are being moved there in two days, which means I have to be in San Fran in one day to make sure I’m at the new place for arrival. Which means this girl needs to find a place and soon.

One day.

One fucking day.

My smile stretches from ear to ear.

Bennett:You can always stay with me until you find a place.

Please say yes, please say yes.