Page 53 of Come to Me
"But oatmeal is so..."
"Jesus Christ. Did I miss some kind of memo where all the cool kids decided to hate on oatmeal eternally?"
She nods. "You haven't been cool in a long time." She takes a long sip of her coffee, formulating some response. "So are you really okay?"
"I really am."
She sighs, her shoulders relaxing as her lips curve into a smile. "Then I'll stop."
"Good." I take another long sip of my coffee, trying to taste every note of the flavor. To think about something besides this conversation.
Laurie is always protective, but this isn't like her. There has to be some reason...
There can only be one reason for this.
Luke.
He must have put her up to this. I bite my lip. I'm sure he meant well, but I'm sick of it. I'm sick of everyone looking at me like I'm about to break.
"Laurie," I start.
She must hear a warning note in my tone because she immediately starts to babble, trying to fill up space.
"You know there are male performers in the show. I think they're gay, but they're still hot."
I'm not being deterred that easily.
"It's not like you to bring up my eating."
She doesn't know where to look.
"Oh, well, you know... I was concerned."
"You were or Luke was?" I push.
She slides her cup around the table, looking down.
"We both were."
"You two were talking about me?"
"I ran into him."
"Where?"
She clears her throat. "He stopped by to say hello."
"'Hello and can you spy on my girlfriend'?"
She doesn't answer that. Which is an answer.
"He's worried about you."
"He should talk to me."
I can't believe he did that.
Laurie brings her attention to me, her expression irritated. "Don't take this the wrong way, but do you actually let him talk to you?"
