Page 120 of Less
“What? Oh—we're not here together or anything.”
Brielle nearly drops her fork.
“Gee, thanks for the enthusiasm, pal.”
He flushes bright red.
“That's not what I meant.”
“Relax,” she teases.
Then she turns toward me.
“So, it’s uh getting late,” she says, and her eyes are sparkling with mischief, “I'm sure you don't feel like trying on costumes after all this. Want help cleaning up?”
“No, no. You're good. I got it,” I whisper, but I’m not looking at her or Nick anymore.
“Yeah,” Less murmurs. “Leave it.”
His dark eyes meet mine.
And suddenly I forget what we were talking about.
Good Lord.
How is it possible to want one person this much all the time?
Brielle smirks.
“Okay then. Message received.”
As we walk them to the door, Less asks casually, “So how'd the story end for you, Nick? With Marion, I mean?”
“Oh, actually, Amanda’s little rebellion got us both fired,” Nick answers.
“What?”
“Yep. But honestly?”
He looks at me then, his face solemn and serious.
“Best thing that ever happened to me.”
Less raises an eyebrow.
“Yeah?”
Nick nods.
“Made me go back to school, rethink what I wanted to do.”
“And now?”
“Costume design.”
“Nice.”
“Yeah. Not bad for the mayo kid,” Brielle says.
