Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake (A Brush with Love, #2)(11)

“We miss youuuuuu,” Lizzie squawked. “Move back to Philly immediately, please.”

Harper had moved to New York a year ago after graduation for an oral surgery residency. She was so brilliant, Lizzie sometimes wondered how Harper’s tiny body could support such a giant brain.

“We miss you too!” Harper said, shooting a sweet glance at Dan. They were so in love, it was almost disgusting. “But hold on, let me get Thu-Thu in here,” Harper added. Thu was the final piece of their best friend quartet. Whip-smart and sarcastic as hell, she was living in Los Angeles as she finished up her orthodontics residency. After a few seconds of fiddling, Thu’s face filled the bottom half of the screen.

“Harper, did you tell them yet?” Thu asked by way of greeting.

“No, I thought I’d let you do the honors.”

Thu looked into the screen, her gorgeous smile brighter than normal. “We’re visiting!”

“What!” Indira and Lizzie screeched in unison. “Both of you?”

“Yup,” Thu said, popping the p sound at the end. “Harpy and I have been coordinating, and we’ve found a weekend we can both get home to Philadelphia. Dan’s coming too,” she added.

“When?” Lizzie asked, happy tears poking at her eyeballs. She loved her friends more than anything and was too excited to function.

“A few weeks. We’ll forward you our travel itineraries and stuff,” Harper said. “It won’t be a long trip, but at least we’ll get some time together.”

Indira made a squeal of excitement. While this wouldn’t be the first time they’d all gotten together since Harper, Thu, and Indira had graduated, visits occurred less often than any of them would like.

“Do you need to stay with us?” Indira asked.

“I’ll be staying with Alex,” Thu said, referring to her boyfriend who was still in dental school in Philadelphia.

“Dan and I will get a hotel,” Harper said, reaching up to press her hand to Dan’s cheek, his head still resting on her shoulder.

“Need some privacy for all that wild fuckin’?” Lizzie said. Harper turned beet red and slapped her palm over her face, but Dan laughed, his mouth breaking open into a crooked grin.

“God, I’ve missed you, Lizzie,” he said, once he’d gotten his laughter under control.

They chatted for a few more minutes before a low-battery warning popped up on Indira’s phone.

“Shit, my phone’s about to die,” Indira said. “I better run. But I can’t wait to see you guys.”

“Same,” Lizzie said, giving Thu, Harper, and Dan a big smile and wave before Indira ended the call.

“The battery life on my phone sucks. Can I have my portable charger back?” Indira asked, turning to Lizzie.

Lizzie’s eyes widened and her mouth pinched as she tried to remember where she’d put the battery pack that Indira had loaned her.

Indira’s shoulders slumped. “Don’t tell me you lost it. That thing was like forty bucks.”

“I didn’t lose it,” Lizzie rushed out, even though she’d probably lost it. “Hold on, let me check my purse.”

Lizzie moved to the floor by the front door where she’d dropped her bag when she got home the night before. After riffling through it and enjoying a soft tickle of pleasure as she saw the remaining condoms in her bag, memories of the fun with Rake purring through her, she realized the charger wasn’t in there.

She bear-crawled to her room next, digging under piles of clothes and random papers. Indira let out a long sigh, leaning in the doorway.

“You lost it.”

“No, no, no,” Lizzie said, rising to stand but tripping over a discarded bra on the floor. “I think I left it at work.” Shame tickled its nails down her back at the disbelieving look Indira shot her.

“You think?”

“I know,” Lizzie lied. But she couldn’t handle being looked at like that. Not a look of anger. Not even annoyance. Just resigned pity at Messy Lizzie. Always Losing Things Lizzie. Unreliable Lizzie. “I’ll go get it right now.”

Indira plastered on a half-hearted smile. “It’s okay, dude. I gotta run anyway. Just … I don’t know. Try to find it if you can.”

“Okay wait, hold on.” Lizzie sprinted to the kitchen, pulling out a tin of her luscious raspberry almond biscotti she kept stocked for moments like this. She grabbed a handful, then slid across the floor in front of Indira, pushing one of the biscotti into her mouth and pressing the rest into Indira’s hand.

“Please don’t be mad at me,” Lizzie said as Indira chewed with a look of shock.

Indira swallowed then narrowed her eyes. “Damn you, Lizzie. You know I can’t even be annoyed at you when you make something that tastes that good.” She popped a second bite of biscotti into her mouth and groaned.

“I know what I’m about, toots,” Lizzie said, spanking Indira on the butt and pushing her out the door.

As soon as Indira was gone, Lizzie’s smile dropped and she hung her head, indescribably frustrated at herself. She was always like this. Forgetting the tiny details that ended up making life so much harder on everyone else. Her mother had never made a secret how much of a burden her scatterbrained nature was to everyone else, and it seemed to be a debilitating trait she was carrying well into adulthood.