Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 88742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Both Brick and I look at Mamie. She’s leaning against the door, putting on this whole routine. I mean, I can tell it’s a routine because this is just what she does, but I can’t tell if Brick knows as well.
“So,” Mamie spits out pointedly. “Tammy’s told me a few things about you, Mr. Barrister.”
“Oh, she has, has she?” he smiles, looking at me for a few seconds, and then his attention reverts back to my wacky best friend. “I hope it was all good.”
“I’m not at liberty to say. I do have a couple of questions, by the way.”
I give Mamie a look because there is no time for her to do this entire Spanish Inquisition routine. She sees me and makes a face, but looks ready to give in.
“Fine, a single question since we are running short on time. Do you think you’re a good person?”
Brick looks rather surprised by Mamie’s question but maintains his composure.
“That’s a pretty loaded question. Um, I’m not sure. I guess that’s more a question other people have to answer about me for there to be a fully formed answer, but I like to think I try my best to be good. Hopefully, I am succeeding.”
“Okay, okay,” Mamie rubs her chin as she contemplates Brick’s answer. She finally looks over at me and sighs. “Well, it’s been nice, but I’ve got my own date to get ready for, so it might be best if you guys hit the road.”
Mamie reopens the door and gives ample room for Brick and I to exit. I shake my head at her shenanigans before grabbing my overnight bag and then Brick’s arm. I motion for him to walk out the door with me. He exits the apartment a bit ahead of me. As I’m walking across the threshold, Mamie grabs my bicep, holding me back.
“He’s quite the catch,” she excitedly whispers in my ear before smiling and letting go of my arm. She waves goodbye to the two of us and closes her door, leaving Brick and I to go about our date.
I wouldn’t be surprised if she was looking through the peephole, though.
Brick and I go downstairs, headed to his car. On the way, he keeps stealing glances at me, which makes me feel all fidgety.
“What is it?” I ask. There shouldn’t be any lipstick on my teeth or weird stuff in my hair. I made sure to triple-check for that in the bathroom. I could have missed something, though.
“You’re just so pretty, is all.”
“You’re not too bad yourself.” We finally arrive at his car, and Brick holds open the door for me.
“Wait,” I remember. “I drove here. I’m parked not too far away.” I point to my car, which is just a couple parking spots away.
“Don’t worry about it. I can have someone pick your car up, and it’ll be at my place before you have to leave tomorrow morning.” I sometimes forget – and then am quickly reminded – that Brick has enough money to get whatever he wants.
“I don’t want to cause too much trouble.”
“Trust me, it’s really not a big deal.” Brick holds out his hand, and I drop my keys in his hand. His strong fingers close around them as he motions for me to take my seat. I do so, and less than a minute later, he’s sitting beside me.
“So we’re going to your place?” I knew that’s where we were ending up, but I didn’t know that’s where we were headed right away.
“Yeah. Is that okay?”
“Mm-hmm,” I nod.
“Good.” Brick starts the car and pulls out of the parking lot. The first few minutes of driving are silent until Brick clears his throat. “So, do you think I passed your friend’s test? Mamie, is it?”
“I think so,” I smile. I haven’t had a lot of romance in my life. Besides Brick, there was my last boyfriend of multiple years and a few sporadic dates. Mamie’s always been kind of lukewarm regarding those other guys. It’s not like she openly hated or disliked them, but she never showed the kind of enthusiasm she did tonight after meeting someone I was interested in. These all feel like really good signs.
“Not going to lie, I was worried she wasn’t going to like me. I mean, she’s your best friend. I think her approval is needed, right?”
“Yeah, it’s nice that she likes you.” Brick chuckles a little and keeps on driving. All this talk about getting ‘approval’ has me thinking about my parents. It’s kind of the elephant in the room. It’s still a little early to bring that subject up again, but if we continue seeing one another, we’ll have to address it some point.
For now, I’m happy to be in this little bubble we’re creating for ourselves.
The drive over to Brick’s isn’t a long one. We talk about nothing in particular. I try to get him to reveal what our date night is, but his lips are sealed. We’re about to have it, and he’s still being secretive.