Be Good A New Adult Romance (RE12)(9)

“I love your townhouse. I feel at home there. And there aren’t too many places I feel that way.” I didn’t want to admit there was actually no place where I felt at home except for Brett’s townhouse.

Brett’s eyes were smiling. “Good, I’m glad. I was hoping you’d like it.” He leaned over and gave me another kiss. Then he whispered, “And I was hoping you’d want to spend more time with me there. Much more time.”

I gulped as panic set in. That was the second time he’d hinted at something more serious between us. I didn’t know how to respond. No guy I ever dated (if you could even call it dating, more like hooking up) mentioned a future together and I never expected it. Things with Brett were so new to me, and definitely unexpected, but I liked it.

Brett showed me the rest of the garden and told me some interesting things about flowers—like calla lilies are a symbol of beauty and sunflowers are a token of pure love. Very few things beyond celebrity gossip had ever captured my attention but hearing the enthusiasm in Brett’s voice as he talked about plants actually made me interested in learning more about them.

“I have someplace else to take you,” Brett walked toward the car. “It’s a place where I spend a lot of time, so I hope you like it as much as I do.”

“I’m sure I will.” Even though I was never sure about anyone or anything, my curiosity was piqued.

Our next stop was a Farmer’s Market. We had Farmer’s Markets in Phoenix but I had never been to one. The main reason was because I never cooked and had no reason to buy food that wasn’t already prepared and purchased from a drive-through window. Plus, my mother always said Farmer’s Markets were for poor people and refused to set foot near them. Not that she didn’t jump on the health food band wagon occasionally but then she’d shop at trendy yuppie stores like Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s.

Brett looked at me with an odd expression, as if he was trying to read my mind. He did that quite a bit. The scary part was, he was usually able to deduce what I was thinking.

“Ever been to a Farmer’s Market before?” he asked as we hopped out of the car.

“This will be a first for me,” I admitted.

“A Farmer’s Market virgin,” he teased. “I would have never known.”

I had to laugh at that one. “No one has ever put me and virgin in the same sentence.”

The Farmer’s Market was huge and a bit overwhelming. The vendors looked much more upscale than I was expecting and based on some of the prices I saw, my mom’s assertion that Farmer’s Markets were for poor people was clearly wrong. At least, that wasn’t the case here. I could never afford to shop at a place like that on a regular basis. My budget barely allowed for the dollar meal deals at my favorite fast food joint.

Brett grabbed my hand and pulled me towards a vendor selling fresh seafood. “See anything you like?”

I shrugged. I hated to admit my experience with eating ocean creatures was limited.

“The tilapia looks really good,” Brett said as he pointed to it. So does the salmon. Do you have a preference?”

“Either sounds great.” Based on my previous experiences with his cooking, I had a feeling anything he made would be wonderful. Not that I was picky. I lived on fast food and often wondered if even calling it food was a misnomer.

Brett purchased the tilapia then he pulled me over to a vegetable vendor. I watched as he carefully inspected each of the vegetables. He even sniffed a few of them. The vendors seemed to recognize him, which shouldn’t have been a surprise, since he said he frequented the place. It didn’t faze me too much until we got to a bakery, where he planned on purchasing a bread loaf to make garlic bread. The look on the Bakery Girl’s face when she saw Brett sent a twinge of jealously through my body. Her plain face immediately lit up when she saw him. She was short but slender and had mousy, shoulder length hair brown hair. The more I looked at her, the more she reminded me of Rebecca “Sweater Vest” Stiller. She was wearing a polo shirt and khaki shorts, definitely preppy, which made me think that she probably also had a sweater vest lurking somewhere in her closet.

Brett gave me a strange look and I realized I was gripping his hand just a little too tightly. I gave what I knew was a fake smile and loosened my grip a bit. Brett still had concern in his eyes and I knew he’d ask me about it later. I quickly realized he was the type, who talked about things and didn’t let things just slide, which was definitely not something I was used to. My family members were masters of evasion and silence. We bottled our thoughts and feelings inside and we didn’t express them. And the guys I dated seemed very happy I was the type who didn’t want to discuss everything. My lack of communication was a plus.

It took a moment for Bakery Girl to register that Brett was holding my hand and when she did, she looked like a balloon that was suddenly deflated.

“Hey, Penny,” Brett said cheerfully. He either hadn’t noticed the change in her demeanor or he was trying to ignore it.

Penny started blinking rapidly as if she was holding back tears. “I didn’t know you had a girlfriend,” she managed to mutter as her voice cracked. She definitely had a thing for Brett. I could feel myself gripping his hand even tighter. This time, though, he gave my hand a reassuring squeeze.

I wasn’t sure if Brett was going to correct Penny and tell her I wasn’t actually his girlfriend but I didn’t want him to. I had never wanted to be called anyone’s girlfriend before but at that moment, there was nothing I wanted more. I wasn’t sure if it was actually Penny or the fact that she was so much like his ex that bothered me more but I felt insecure and jealous, which were definitely new feelings for me. As sad as it sounds, I had never cared enough about a guy to be concerned if he was with another girl, even right there in front of me. But for some reason the thought of Brett being with anyone else made me sick to my stomach.

“This is Anna,” Brett said in response to Penny. I could feel a pang of disappointment that he didn’t confirm that I was his girlfriend. Not that I actually was his girlfriend but I guess a part of me wanted to be.

I expected Penny to make some kind of snide comment or eye me with disdain, which is what most girls did. (I was, after all, a slut.) I was surprised when she just gave a quiet hi that seemed laced with sadness.

“The usual?” she asked Brett.

He shook his head. “I’m making garlic bread tonight.”

Penny swallowed. It seemed to register that Brett was going to be cooking me dinner. She started blinking again, fighting back tears. She quickly turned around.

“I have just the thing,” she mumbled as she grabbed a long loaf of freshly baked bread. “I think you’ll really like this.” She handed the loaf to Brett.

“How much?” Brett asked.

“Five dollars.” I could see she was avoiding eye contact with Brett by looking at the ground.

“Is everything okay,” Brett asked as he handed her the money. He seemed oblivious to the fact that Penny obviously adored him and that he’d totally crushed her by introducing me to her.

I could see Penny swallow again then she looked up at Brett with wet, puppy dog eyes. “Anna’s beautiful.” She said it as if I wasn’t even there.

“Thanks,” Brett replied. He turned and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “I think she is, too.”

I could see Penny’s eyes dart to me then back to Brett. I thought she might lose it, instead she said, “Enjoy the bread,” as her voice cracked again.

Brett just smiled in response as he pulled me away. “One more stop before we head home.” He pulled me toward a vendor selling fresh cut flowers. He picked out a small bouquet and paid for it. Then he handed it to me.

“A beautiful bouquet for my beautiful woman,” I could feel my withered heart perk up and glow.

“Daisies are a symbol of loyal love,” he explained as we walked towards to car.

“I never knew that.” I wondered if that meant he loved me.

“I’m a wealth of useless information.”

Once we were back in the car and on the road, just as I expected, he brought up Penny for discussion.

“Do you want to talk about what happened at the bakery?” The way he said it I knew it wasn’t a question. Brett expected us to discuss the incident but phrased it as a question to be polite. He was the master of good-manners. I was the opposite of polite, if there was such a thing. I was rude and crude, or so I had been told (Flaws 86 and 72).

I already knew Brett was the type of person, who liked to process things. He talked about his thoughts and feelings with ease. I was the type, who drank to numb my feelings so I didn’t have to deal with them.

When I didn’t immediately respond, Brett said, “Why did you grip my hand so tightly when you saw Penny?”

I knew I was going to have to admit I had been snooping on his Facebook page and I knew he and Sweater Vest had been engaged. And I wanted to know why he had never told me.