Page 18 of Without You

Brody

Well, that was a perfect way to start my day. Even with the interruption from my phone ringing because normally I’ve been at the shop for at least an hour so my guys were checking in, it was the best kind of surprise to walk into the coffee shop and see Katie standing there.

She’s so damn pretty it makes me crazy. I knew I needed to be at the shop but I didn’t care at the time. I wanted to look at her and listen to her and share coffee and that weird triangle biscuit thing that I didn’t really like nearly as much as I let on but it was worth eating it to be in her presence.

“’Bout fucking time!” Johnny shouts at me from under the hood of the car he’s working on. He doesn’t even raise his head, but he’s a grease monkey like me. He knows the sound of my pickup. “Sleep in, B?”

“Yeah. You know me. Always sleeping late.”

He stands up straight and wipes his hands on a rag that was draped over the open hood.

He lifts a chin. “Then what?”

“Had something to do. You my mother or something?” I flip him off and smirk as I walk into my office.

He gives me a weird look which kind of makes sense because he and I know way too much about each other. I know more about his bowel movements and how often he jacks off than I should, that’s for damn sure.

I’ve barely sat down when he barges in, leans against the doorway, and crosses his arms but doesn’t say a word. I look up and he raises an eyebrow.

“You’re such a nosy asshole, you know that?”

He shrugs. “And?”

I drop my head back and look at the ceiling, spin my chair to face him, and shift my gaze to him. “Stopped for a coffee.”

“And?” he repeats.

“Saw Katie,” I say, grinning, picking up a pen and clicking it several times in a row.

He goes from annoyed with his boss to happy for his best friend in an instant. “Oh, really?”

Johnny shuts the door and has a seat across from me, rubbing his hands together like an excited teenage girl who just heard some juicy gossip. I don’t hide my eye roll.

“Tell me everything.”

“There’s nothing to tell.”

“Bullshit,” he says, crossing his arms over his chest.

“No lie. I ran into her at the coffee shop. We sat together and drank coffee and that’s it.”

“Since when do you go to the coffee shop?” he asks, raising his eyebrow at me.

“Since I saw her walk into the coffee shop and decided I desperately needed another cup of coffee this morning,” I reply honestly, raising my own eyebrow.

He throws his head back laughing.

“You going for it?”

I shrug. “Not sure. She’s beautiful and I always liked her, but yeah, it would be a little weird, right?”

“Weird how? Because of Hannah?”

“She was a bridesmaid in Hannah’s wedding,” I remind him. “She was there the night that I stormed in and pulled a “Friends in Low Places”that no one will ever forget. Katie probably thinks I’m a piece of shit.”

“Did she act like it this morning when you were drinking coffee for however long?”

“Well, no,” I admit. “Actually, she said the only reason she was a bridesmaid was because Hannah needed more bodies up there with her. I got the feeling there isn’t a ton of friendship left between the two.”

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