So Much More (Book One in the Enough Series)

6. Awkward

Eden

"You cut your date short, so you could come to hang out with me?" Brynn stared at me as if I had three heads.

"What? We had planned our girls' night before this!" I groaned as I pulled my jeans on.

"You are crazy." She laughed. "Going to the Mexican restaurant and shoving our faces full of queso before wandering around the mall, grabbing cinnamon rolls to bring home to eat while watching some cheesy movie. . all of that sounded better than being out; with your man?" She rolled her eyes.

"He's not my man," I responded. "It's new, still really new."

"Ok, so if I go with this new thing, again I repeat, how is all of our stuff better than being out with him?" Brynn continued. I threw my head back in laughter at her persistence.

"We didn't cut it short; we had our date."

"I guess I should just feel loved." Brynn laughed.

"Exactly. Now, can we go eat our weight in queso?"

*

"Tate will be going out of town next week for work; we should have more of these dates while he's away." Brynn talked as we sat with our massive bowl of dip, waiting for our entrees. "Or maybe I'll go hang with some of the other girls and let you and your boy toy have some alone time." She wiggled her eyebrows.

"Oh my gosh, you're shameless." I shoveled a heap of cheese into my mouth.

"I'm just excited you're dating again! I told Tate, I said find a single guy because I know there has to be some at that office, and let's hook a girl up!" I rolled my eyes as Brynn continued to speak. "When he said he talked to the architect heading up the stadium project, I knew it'd be great!"

"You knew he'd be great based on his job?" I couldn't help but laugh.

"Well, that and I know Tate is a good judge of character." She shrugged, looking over toward the entrance of the restaurant. "There's some hotties coming in now." She mumbled. I turned casually to see what or who she was looking at and, to my surprise, saw Reed with two other men.

"That's him!" I squeaked. "That's Reed," I whisper shouted.

"What? Which one?" Brynn's eyes grew wide with excitement.

"In the middle, grey shirt and hat." I was internally freaking out. Not that I didn't want to see Reed again, I just wasn't quite sure I was ready for the whole Brynn meeting Reed experience, and what if he wasn't ready for me to meet his friends? It was all so awkward.

"They're about to walk right by us." She hissed at me as I was starting to slouch down in hiding. "Why are you hiding? Quit being such a dork." She snorted.

"You just snorted, and I'm the dork?"

Fitting for my luck, the hostess sat the three men at the table next to us. I held my breath, waiting for Reed to look over. When he did, his face went pale and his eyes wide in surprise. I couldn't quite discern what emotion he was feeling, he didn't look happy to see me, and I had to admit that hurt.

"Eden," Reed spoke first.

"Reed." I managed to get out.

"This must be Brynn." He nodded toward my friend, who was watching with amusement.

"Yes. Brynn, this is Reed; Reed, this is my best friend, Brynn." I motioned back and forth between the two of them. I waited to see if he had planned to introduce me to the two men joining him, both of whom were staring at Brynn and myself.

"Is this her?" The dark-haired man asked with a huge smile on his face. Reed ran his hand through his hair, holding his cap up. It was obvious he was nervous. The other man across from them with dirty blonde hair looked us up and down before standing and reaching out his hand.

"I'm Nick. This is my friend Bennett, and you obviously know Reed. My apologies for his poor manners." Brynn shook his hand first before I followed suit. Nick then motioned to the hostess, and before I knew it, they were pushing their table into ours. Reed ended up next to me, with Bennett on his right. Brynn across from me, with Nick next to her. "Drinks are on me tonight." He smiled. I didn't get the best feeling from him, he came across as a bit of a slime ball, but perhaps I was being too judgemental. I was thrown off by Reed's distant behavior.

"Sounds good to me!" Brynn laughed, quickly ordering a margarita. "We're both taken, though, just so ya know. Not gonna lead a man on." I slid my hand over my face, trying to hide the embarrassment.

"Ah, that's too bad. Not a surprise, two beautiful women; it only makes sense you'd be spoken for. But, where are those silly men this evening?" Nick continued with the smooth talk.

"Where is yours, Eden?" Brynn grinned, nudging me under the table.

"I'm sorry, I need to use the restroom." I grabbed my purse and beelined for the bathroom. The whole situation had me feeling overwhelmed and, honestly, a little heartbroken. Reed hadn't said anything else to me; he seemingly ignored me. Only a few hours ago, he was kissing my face off, and now, it was as if he was ashamed of me.

I squeezed into a stall, standing for a moment, fighting the tears that threatened to sneak out. I felt like such an idiot. Was I overreacting? I hadn't dated in a minute, and perhaps I was just out of practice. This was an unexpected run-in; why should he be fawning over me? 'Jesus Eden, get it together!' I yelled at myself.

"Eden?" I heard Brynn's voice as the sound of the restaurant grew louder and then quiet again upon her entrance.

"In here." I quietly responded.

"Are you okay? What's going on?" I could see her leaning up against the wall through the tiny slat in the stall door. I took a deep breath, unlocked the stall, and stepped out.

"Nothing." I tried to brush her off.

"I've known you long enough to know that something's up." She put her hand on her tiny excuse of a hip. "What is it?" Brynn asked, reaching for me.

"I'm just being silly. Overthinking as usual." I rinsed my hands in the sink, looking at my reflection and Brynn standing behind me.  Her face told me she didn't buy it, but she seemed to understand that I didn't want to get into it right now.

"Well, stop overthinking, and let's enjoy our meal.  You get boyfriend time and best friend time; how lucky are you?" she sassed.

"He's not my boyfriend."  I groaned.

"Not yet."  She laughed. "I know, I know.  It's new". She mocked me in a sing-song voice.

"I do not sound like that."

"Yes, you kind of do."

"You're the worst; you know that?"  I growled at her, following behind her as we exited the bathroom.

"You love me, and you know it."  She waved her hand in the air with a laugh.

"Actually, I'm starting to question if I do."  I couldn't help but laugh.  Leave it to Brynn to come in and distract me from my overthinking.  She didn't even know the full issue, but she made me feel better with her silliness.  I wouldn't dare tell her that I did love her, despite her awful impression of me.