Page 136 of You First
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Her best friend raised a brow at her. “But first, you have to change. That sweater looks absolutely ridiculous on you.”
Meredith laughed.
“And a shower. I think a shower is in order,” Brooke added, her look of mock concern making Meredith laugh harder.
Brooke reached across the table and snatched Meredith’s phone.
“Hey, what are you doing?” she asked, lunging after it.
“Never mind,” she said, pulling it out of her reach. “I’ll take it from here. You just go get ready.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Brooke:This is Brooke. I’ve commandeered Meredith’s phone. She’ll be there later. DON’T HURT HER!
Gray read the text with a rush of euphoria — followed immediately by a plunge of fear. She was coming back, but he still couldn’t speak to her. And he didn’t know when he ever would.Ifhe ever would. He’d essentially asked her to come visit him when all he could do was stare at her and send her text messages.
Gray:Hurting her is the last thing I want.
And then his impatience got the better of him.
Gray:Later, when?
Brooke:Jeez. I TOLD her if you were into her before, you’d be into her now.
Brooke was right. Even without any memories of her before yesterday, Gray was into her and wanted no way out. He thought back on his old girlfriends. Memories of them seemed whole and vivid, but he felt nothing like the pull that drew him toward Meredith Ryan. Evidently, his conscious mind might not remember her, but Gray felt sure that other parts of his being absolutely did.
Brooke:Dude, it’s not even 8 AM. Give a girl a break. She rolls out of bed looking gorgeous, but everyone can take it up a notch.
This made him smile. He had no doubt Meredith rolled out of bed looking gorgeous. He wondered if he’d already had the good fortune to witness that firsthand. His next thought concerned his own appearance. He guessed he looked like someone who’d crept out of the grave.
Bax walked in then carrying a CC’s tray and a promising bundle of paper sacks. Gray let out a groan of thanks.
“I don’t know if this is allowed, but I don’t think it’ll kill you,” he said, thrusting a blessed grande latte at him. Gray snatched it from his brother and savored the rich aroma. He took a restorative sip, and his stomach growled in response. “I got a chocolate croissant, a blueberry muffin, and a slice of banana nut bread. What do you want?”
“Aww.” Gray grunted.
Bax raised an eyebrow. “You can’t have them all. Two out of three. One’s mine.”
It was too difficult to say that he wanted the croissant and the banana bread, so he gestured for Bax to come closer and open the bags.
Again, his brother rolled his eyes. “Really? You’re gesticulating now? How is that any less embarrassing than trying to talk?”
Gray hated to admit it, but Bax had a point. Still, his brother must have been above torturing him further because he opened the bags and allowed Gray to grab his top two picks. The first bite of the banana nut bread was spine-tingling. He was so hungry, he had the second half of the slice in his mouth before the first was down his throat.
A look of bemused disgust overtook his brother’s face. “It’s like I don’t even know you.”
Swallowing the last of the bread, Gray reached for his phone.
Gray:When you go two days without eating, then we’ll talk.
Then he took a swig of coffee and started in on the chocolate croissant. The banana nut bread had taken off just enough of the edge so that he could at least attack the pastry with individual bites instead of shoving the whole thing in his mouth.
Bax watched him with something like pity. He took the remaining blueberry muffin, broke it in half, and handed one side to Gray.
“Here. That was just sad.”
