Page 32 of The Best Friend Problem
“You are a goddess. I am not worthy of your friendship.”
“True.” She laughed, handing over the bag and stepping inside. “But you got it anyway.”
Lucky him.
“Hey, Bruiser,” Pru cooed to his small dog, who was currently attacking her leg with puppy kisses. “How you doing, girl?”
Pru bent down as he closed the door behind her. Bruiser hopped into her arms, the dog’s tiny wet nose sniffing like crazy. Probably smelled the food on Pru’s coat. He had no idea where his small pup put the endless stream of food she consumed.
“Want to watch something while we eat?”
“Um, actually, can we talk first?”
He nearly dropped the food but managed to keep hold of the bag and deposit it on the coffee table. Can we talk was never followed by anything good. From anyone. He turned to see Pru standing just inside his apartment, a slight frown marring her face.
“Is something wrong?”
She hugged his dog tight to her. Bruiser had nudged her face into Pru’s midsection, sniffing around like the woman had bacon in her pockets or something. Crazy dog, didn’t she know he had all the food?
“No, I mean, yes. I mean…maybe?”
How could something be maybe wrong?
“Come here.” He held out his hand, and she came willingly into his embrace. Bruiser yipped when he accidently squeezed too tight, squishing the tiny dog between them. “Sorry, Bru baby.”
He pulled back to stare down at Pru’s worried face. For one moment, her familiar features morphed into the face of the poor woman who’d died in the crash. He shook his head, banishing the image. It happened sometimes. When he experienced a traumatic scene, the images popped up at unexpected times. He was still decompressing. Death, even the death of a stranger, left an impact.
As hard as it was for him, he knew it was a million times worse for the poor woman’s family. The exact reason he didn’t want a family of his own. He’d seen the devastation losing a loved one caused first hand. But Pru wasn’t dead on the pavement somewhere. She was fine. Here, in his apartment. Worried about something, but not dead.
“No matter what it is, everything will be okay.”
“I know.” She took a deep breath, stepping back. “Have some food first. Then we’ll talk.”
Right, like he’d be able to eat one bite now knowing something was bothering her. But bodily functions sometimes trumped nerves, and somehow Finn found himself devouring the delicious meal in less than ten minutes. Pru had her usual beef and bean burrito, which she ate while sneakily feeding bits of meat to Bruiser, who had yet to leave the woman’s lap.
“You want a drink?”
She held up her bag, pulling her water bottle out from the side pouch. “I’m good.”
“Okay, so what did you want to talk about?”
“Right, um, hold on.”
She dug through her purse, rifling about in the cavernous depths. He wondered what she could be searching for. For all he knew, she had a full cheesecake in there. He’d dug through that thing before in search of gum. He never found the gum, though he had found bandages, pens, a notepad with various numbers and calculations on it, a half-eaten granola bar, hand sanitizer, one of Bruiser’s chew toys, and a couple of tampons, which he first mistook for candy.
She laughed for a solid ten minutes when he asked if he could have one. He didn’t think he’d ever live down that embarrassment. But in his defense, he grew up with four brothers. How was he supposed to know what a tiny, packaged to-go feminine product looked like?
“Crap!” she exclaimed, but the curse was muffled by the bag. “Where is it? I had it all written down.”
She’d written down what she wanted to say to him? It must be important.
“I can’t be losing my mind already—it’s only been a few days.”
“Pru.” He placed a hand on her shoulder, pausing her frantic searching. “Just tell me what’s up.”
Abandoning her bag of mysteries, she glanced up, determination replacing the panic. There was his Pru.
Nothing could faze her for long. Not even losing whatever well-planned speech she’d prepared for him. Though why she thought she needed to plan out what she wanted to say was beyond him. They were best friends. She could say whatever she wanted. No planning required.
