Chapter Nine

“We should go out tonight,” Spencer said, dropping onto a chaise on the front porch, facing the ocean view.

Sullivan occupied the mate of the chaise, his fingers flying over the keyboard of his laptop perched in his lap. He absently pushed up his glasses and then looked at his twin. “Huh? Did you say something?”

“You need to hydrate, man!” Spencer said, mock dramatically, handing Sullivan a beer then taking a pull of his own. “Drink!”

Sullivan accepted the proffered bottle, took a sip and then grimaced. “Good god, is this that low carb beer you were talking about?”

Spencer nodded. “Just picked it up from Trader Joe’s.”

“Uh huh.”

“It’s not too bad,” Spencer said thoughtfully, taking another drink.

“It’s not too good, either,” Sullivan retorted. “I think I’d rather drink a good beer and just have less of them. Do we have any of that Czech beer left?”

Spencer shook his head no. “No, but I know where we can get some.”

“Where?” Sullivan asked warily.

“Let’s go out,” Spencer volunteered. “We could go to Luxe, get some drinks, do some dancing, check out some pretty girls… drink good Czech beer…”

Sullivan shook his head without hesitation. “I have to work.”

“No, you don’t,” Spencer countered. “There’s this thing called ‘after work’, and there’s also this thing called ‘fun’. You might have heard of it. You used to know what that was.”

“I’m just not feeling the bar scene, bro,” Sullivan said.

“You need to get back out there,” Spencer said, taking another pull from his bottle. “Seriously.”

“You just want a wingman around while you hit on girls,” Sullivan said, thinking to back to past nightclub experiences with his more outgoing, more flirtatious twin.

Sullivan was the steady, shy one – he left all the nightclub girls and one night stands to his brother.

There was a reason he’d met Jewel in line at a bank, not in line at some overdressed nightclub.

“No. Well, yes, but that’s not the only reason,” Spencer said. “You can’t just hide here forever. You need to get back out there, get over the heartache or whatever you claim it is that you’re still nursing for that crap ex girlfriend of yours.

“Fiancee.”

“Whatever. You need to get over the ‘pain’, dude.”

Sullivan glared at his brother. “You think I’m making it up?”

“I think it’s been long enough, and she’s not worth the emotional time you’re spending on her. You guys are over, have been for a while now, and you need to get over it,” Spencer said, his tone softening. “Seriously, man. She was never worth it, and you deserve better.”

“And you think I’m going to find this ‘better’ at Luxe?” Sullivan asked skeptically.

“Hell no,” Spencer laughed. “But I think you can have some fun at Luxe until you do.”

Spencer gave him a wide grin, and Sullivan couldn’t help but grin back at his brother. “Thanks, but no thanks,” he said, clinking bottles with his twin and taking a long drink. “But go. Have fun. I promise I’ll go out with you another night. Just not… tonight.”

Spencer sighed heavily, staring out at the Pacific, listening to the sound of clicking keys on the laptop beside him and the crying of seagulls above him. Luxe was only fun when you had someone to hang out with, he thought dejectedly.

Looks like it would be another night of hanging out in the new house, Spencer thought. Maybe he would even read a few pages of a book…

Books made him think of Lucy, and he wondered how her new ‘food plan’ was progressing. He knew she had it in her – she just needed a cheerleader, and that cheerleader was him.

He had every confidence that she could do this.

She was a great girl – she just needed that little push, and he was going to give it to her.

**

“No offense, Luce, but this isn’t… great,” Brandt said, trying to be gentle.

“No, it’s not great. In fact, it’s crap,” Lucy lamented, picking up her half eaten dinner plate and taking it to the sink to rinse. “No butter, no oil, no salt… what kind of person lives this way?!”

Brandt laughed. “Healthier ones than us, apparently,” he said, bringing his own plate over. “C’mon, let’s sit outside and talk about something other than food.”

They settled outside, Lucy pulling a light cardigan around herself against the growing chill in the air. “I’m sorry,” she said after they were both settled and silent for a moment.

Brandt turned to her. “What on earth for?”

“For dominating every conversation lately with talk of calories and food and diets and exercise and my trainer. I promise, I’ll return to sanity and normal, grown up conversation as soon as I get this damn plan stuck in my head and it becomes a ‘lifestyle’ instead of a ‘diet’, as Spencer says. For right now, it’s just sort of at the forefront of everything in my entire existence. And I know that’s boring – I’m sorry.”

Brandt reached over and squeezed her hand. “You don’t have to apologize. This is important stuff. But so is discussing last week’s episode of Project Runway…”

Lucy settled back and smiled, gazing at the crashing waves as she and Brandt rambled about reality television, the return of skinny jeans, the current fascination with all things Hunger Games and peace in the Middle East.

For the millionth time, she sent up a prayer of thanks and appreciation to any and all available gods for giving her such a great best friend; one that had gotten her through so much, and still gave her support, laughter and a roof over her head every day.

“Sooo…” she said with a grin. “Tell me about Mr. Whole Foods. What happened?”

Brandt’s face lit up. “His name is Josh, and he’s crazy cute. He works at the Aquarium – how cute is that? – and he’s single. We went to dinner, and we’re going to get together this weekend for… well, who knows what, but who cares. He’s really great. I don’t know much about him, but I know he’s great. He looks great, if nothing else.”

“I’m so glad,” Lucy enthused. “You need a great one after the last one.”

Brandt huffed. “Don’t remind me.”

They sat in companionable silence for a while before Brandt spoke again. “Luce?”

“Yeah,” she asked, her eyes on the night sky.

“I’m hungry.”

“Oh god, me too,” she said, jumping from her chair. “Let’s go find some real food!”

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