Page 30 of Yours, Always
She took a deep breath to brace herself as she pulled open the door to The Olde Town Eatery, their usual lunch locale, knowing Annabelle would already be there. One look and she’d know.
“Hi, Pru,” Annabelle said distractedly as she glanced up from her laptop on the table. “I’m just going to—” The frantic key clacks stopped abruptly as Annabelle did a double take after seeing Prudence’s face. “Woah.” She slammed the laptop lid closed. “Something happened. Tell me everything.” She knew.
Prudence grimaced as she pulled out the diner chair and sat with a defeated sigh. “What gave me away?” she questioned her friend.
“You look like a cross between a satisfied hummingbird and a…” Annabelle scanned her up and down. “…scared hummingbird?” she finished with a questioning shrug. “And this has nothing to do with Mrs. Crenshaw’s cat this time.” She tented her fingers and raised her eyebrows, slowly sitting back in her chair when Prudence failed to explain, well, anything.
As moments stretched on, Annabelle’s leveling gaze caused Prudence’s face to slowly heat until she was sure it was the same red as her hair, before she finally burst out, “I made out with Greyson last night.” She covered her face with her hands. “It was so hot, and I can’t stop thinking about it,” she said, her voice muffled through her fingers. “Like, I’m still melting on the inside when I think about it, hot.”
Annabelle gave a low chuckle. “Well, it’s about damn time, Pru.”
Prudence pulled her hands away from her face. “What?”
“You guys are meant to be. A couple. Friends to lovers to soulmates.”
Prudence sat shaking her head, frowning. “What am I missing? We arefriends. We’ve always been just friends—”
“Yeah,” Annabelle interrupted, “friends who want to bang each other’s brains out.”
Prudence felt her face heat to yet another alarming shade of red as the waiter arrived at their table just in time to overhear this last statement. Not giving any indication other than a slight uptick of his lip that he’d heard Annabelle’s words, the waiter plowed on with reciting the daily special.
“We’ll take two of those and two glasses of red wine,” Annabelle decided, noting the waiter’s name. “Thanks, Jason.” She handed him the menus before he walked away. “He must be new.”
“Hold on, sister. This is all strange for me. And it’s onlynoon. I can’t have a glass of wine.”
“Really? I think having a make-out sesh with your ‘good buddy’”—Prudence rolled her eyes at Annabelle’s use of air quotes—“then having to explain it to me is reason enough to have a glass.” Annabelle paused. “I see the way you look at Greyson. You might not have acknowledged it to yourself yet, but you definitely have feelings for him.”
“Feelings of friendship!”
“Why are you fighting this?” Annabelle asked. “I know an HEA when I see one, and you two are destined for a great HEA.”
“Yes, I know, I know, you’re a novelist masquerading as a journalist.” They fell into silence. “But,” Prudence said softly, “this is not how I envisioned my happily ever after.”
Annabelle laughed. “Most people’s happily ever after would include being with someone who wanted to bang their brains out.”
Prudence closed her eyes and tipped her face to the ceiling in embarrassment as Jason came back with the glasses of wine just in timeto hear Annabelle’s last statement. Again.
She blew out her breath at Jason’s hasty exit. “You can’t possibly forget that Greyson’s personal life has been anything but. We all know the details of almost every starlet he’s dated since he’d been in L.A. Like, intimate details.”
“Yes, but who does he call to share his life with?” Annabelle leaned forward. “You. You’re the one he always goes to, the one that he always comes back to when those relationships inevitably fail. And vice versa, I believe. How long can you two actually go without talking to each other?” she questioned, the look on Prudence’s face was probably answer enough. She shrugged, leaning back and taking a sip of wine. “You two have been orbiting each other since you hit puberty, just waiting for the time to come when you can finally collide.”
“You forget, that kind of collision can knock someone so off course they can never find their way back.”
“Well”—Annabelle laughed—“it’s still pretty apparent that you want to bang each other’s brains out. Your own big bang can still happen, and it will be extraordinary.”
Prudence shifted lower in her seat as she noticed Jason standing next to their table. Because of course he was.
“Jason,” Annabelle chided, “you’re making quite a habit of this.”
He deposited their entrees, but grinned as he walked away, much to Prudence’s eternal chagrin.
They briefly sat in silence as they ate before Prudence spoke. “Chuck is taking me bowling tonight. I have to tell him.”
“Oh, poor Chuck, he never stood a chance.”
“That’s not fair. I could have never imagined this happening. Chuck and I have been together long enough that we’re both comfortable with how things are. There’s no reason he should’ve thought that an old friend could come between us,” Prudence said even as she remembered their conversation at the clinic. “And thereisnothing between us! It wasonekiss that won’t be repeated.”
Annabelle gave Prudence a smirk. “Kisses that are as hot as you’re saying yours were are always repeated.” She pointed with her fork for emphasis. “Always. You can’t cool that kind flame, you just have to keep adding fuel to the fire. There’s too much history with Greyson not to see where this takes you.”