Muffins and Mediums by Rosie Pease

Author:Rosie Pease [Pease, Rosie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Paisley Press Books

Chapter 28

Erin and I settled on the couch, plates full of pizza, a box of garlic knots, and cheese fries sitting on the coffee table in front of us, and tea at the ready. My nighttime usual, and the anti-bloating blend I’d mentioned to Erin earlier. Saffy lay behind us, paying Erin little mind. It had to have been Bryan that she’d reacted to so strongly the other day, though I still had no idea why.

Usually I wouldn’t eat something so greasy in the living room, but tonight was an exception. I wanted Erin to feel comfortable when we talked. The kitchen table would have been too formal, too serious—and while it was serious, I didn’t want her to feel cornered or think I was lecturing her. If she’d pushed friends away for Travis the way Bryan said she had, then she’d have no problem doing so with me.

I blew across my pizza slice. The last thing I wanted was to burn my mouth on the first bite. “So how did you end up with Travis, anyhow? You went to school here together, but you weren’t together then.”

Already starting in on her tea, she nodded, then swallowed. “It started during a long weekend in college, actually. We didn’t go to the same school, but we ended up at the same happy hour in New York City. Total coincidence. Bumped into each other, quite literally. It was nice to see a familiar face a few hours away from home, even if he barely remembered who I was at first. We weren’t friends in high school, although I knew who he was. Everyone did. We had a couple of classes together over the years, so I jogged his memory a bit.”

“But didn’t you all go to elementary school together? You, him, Bryan, Lily?”

“Believe it or not, but Heartwood Hollow has sometimes been big enough to require one and a half classes of the same grade.” She cracked a grin. “We didn’t always have the same teachers even back then. Add in the kids from Bug Creek for high school and those who transferred in from other towns for the vocational tech programs, and it was easy to lose track of people.”

“So did you two hit it off right away or . . .”

“Yeah.” Her grin turned wistful. “As soon as he remembered me, he asked me out for coffee. Said it was nice to connect with someone from home. I felt the same. Coffee turned into dinner. That turned into dinner the next night. Lunch that weekend.” She took a bite of pizza, the cheese pulling away in one long string. “It was just a quick subway ride between our campuses, so whenever we ended up with more than an hour to hang out, we did. Then when his roommate moved out for the summer, Travis asked me if I wanted to move in since we were both going to be there for internships. I jumped at the chance to not stay in the dorm.

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