Page 46 of The Perfect Steal

With Brynn coming over, we’d be working on schoolwork, which was helping my future of getting out of this town and giving me someone to talk to about it and other things.

I ran up and took a shower before putting on a pair of basketball shorts and a gray t-shirt. With the list of what we had to accomplish for the assignment in front of me, I waited, not sure what to do.

I turned on a football game in the background, trying to keep myself busy until she came. If she came.

Was Brynn the type to flake out? She didn’t live too far away from Colt, and it took me about five to seven minutes to get to his house.

Maybe she was taking a shower after work?

Shaking my head, I laughed. “You need to chill out, Nate,” I said out loud.

Was I just excited to talk to her again because we had more in common? Or was I a little jealous that Colt had blown me off to hang out with Hazel again?

I didn’t need to lose my best friend right now, but it didn’t seem like Hazel had too much interest in him other than being good friends.

The doorbell finally rang, and I jogged over to open the door.

“Hey,” I said, waving Brynn inside.

“Sorry, I took a shower before I came over.” She looked me up and down and grinned, looking relieved about something.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, wondering if I’d spilled something on my shirt without knowing.

She shook her head. “I’m just glad you’re not wearing jeans. It was a debate for me, but I picked comfy. Looks like you did too.”

I laughed and shut the door, catching a whiff of vanilla she must have applied after the shower.

“Where should we start?” she asked, her eyes taking in the large foyer with the grand staircase running from the upstairs.

I gestured to the hallway. “We can work in the kitchen. There’s more space there than at my desk upstairs.”

In the kitchen, I pulled a pencil and a small notepad from the desk next to the fridge and stepped over to the large breakfast nook table we had.My mom didn’t usually let us eat in the dining room unless we were having a bunch of guests over, so this felt more normal anyway.

We took a seat next to each other, and I watched as Brynn unzipped her backpack and then pulled out her laptop. She dug around, pulling out a notebook and a small pouch filled with pens and pencils. She also had a hydro flask she set next to the laptop.

“Looks like you brought your whole house,” I joked, motioning to all the stuff.

She gave me a close-lipped smile and shrugged. “Not the whole house, but a good chunk of it.” A tinge of red crept into her cheeks. Her wet hair was down, or I probably would have seen the red on the tips of her ears as well.

“What do we need to do?” I asked, deferring to her since she had more time in the class and looked like she’d prepared to go to battle with the food menu.

“What are some things you like to eat? Like, what would you have for a normal dinner here at home?” Brynn waved around the kitchen as if something might magically appear for dinner.

“We don’t eat much here. My mom doesn’t cook, and we’re usually running in different directions. But we have a lady who shops for all our groceries, and we go out to eat a lot.”

Brynn twisted her lips to the side. “Okay, what’s your favorite food to order out?”

“I’m a pizza fan, and I love a good hamburger. Turkey sandwiches, any kind of breakfast food. They’re all good.”

When she smiled and glanced down at her notebook, I wondered what she was thinking.I watched as her perfect penmanship wrote down what I’d said in one column, waiting to see what she put in her column.

“What are some of your favorite dinners?” I asked, suddenly curious.

Brynn’s eyes took on a far-off look, and she smiled wide before the look disappeared.

“Well, back when my mom used to cook regularly, there were all sorts of things I loved. Her lasagna. This homemade Malibu chicken she makes, with the special yellow sauce.” She looked like she was reliving some great memories. And then she saw me and clamped her lips shut, giving me a small smile.

“You don’t have to stop. That sounds amazing.” I liked it when she opened up and talked about herself. I’d only ever seen her listening when our friend groups had hung out before. “Were you able to—I mean, has anything changed there?”

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