Page 22 of Wrecked

She stretches her legs out. Her black Converse sneakers almost reach my feet. “You are the biggest prude-slut I’ve ever met.”

“That doesn’t even make sense.”

Flipping her curls behind her shoulder, she says, “Sure it does. You’re the world’s biggest tease. You’re kinda sexy and slutty, but as soon as a guy approaches, you give him the cold shoulder.”

I lower my clipboard. “I might be kinda slutty, but that’s just an act. However, for the record, I am a whole lot of sexy.” I emphasize with a hand wave up and down my body. “Maybe if I were approached by a guy who had more than a hey-baby line, I’d give him the time of day. I want the cheeseburger, you know?”

“I don’t, but I know you’ll enlighten me.”

“The man who invented the hamburger was smart. The man who invented the cheeseburger—”

“Was a genius,” she finishes for me. “I don’t think McConaughey was referring to his love life when he said that.”

“I don’t want just any guy. I want the guy. A man who stands out in a crowd. He doesn’t care what others think and isn’t afraid to be funny or cry. He’s also daring. Maybe even a little dangerous.”

“Your cheeseburger?”

“My cheeseburger.” I let out a dreamy sigh. “Doesn’t matter. I don’t have time for a relationship.”

“It’s not McConaughey’s yet…”

“We’re down to weeks now. McConaughey’s is the love of my life, so there is just no room for a guy right now.”

“That’s sad.”

“It’s called commitment.”

“You need to commit some time to those roots.” Using her pointer finger, she makes a swirling motion toward the top of my head.

“You’ve got some sort of ombre thing going on without even trying.”

“Ombre’s still in, right? Some people pay big bucks to purposely have dark roots and lightened ends.”

She rolls her eyes. “You’ve got a little more time until you go from chic to shabby.”

I pick up a couple of strands and look at my split ends. “The budget is low these days.”

“Good thing your best friend is a hairstylist.” She’s referring to herself. Suzanne works at a salon on Main Street. “We need to touch that up. Pronto.”

“What are we touching up?” A male voice is heard as a figure pops in the doorway, making us jump.

My hand flies to my chest and then swats my brother in his. “Way to scare a girl!”

Luke rubs his chest. “Damn, woman, not a nice way to greet your date.”

Suzanne rises from the crate. “You won’t go out with anyone in town, but you’ll date your brother?”

Luke makes a face of disgust, and I roll my eyes at her.

“Baby brother is taking me to lunch.”

Suzanne folds her arms in front of her. “Really? Where?”

I turn to Luke. “Yeah, where are we going?”

He leans against the doorframe and smiles. “There’s this really great place in town. Serves awesome wings, and we can watch the game from the table while they serve us free beer.”

My shoulders fall. “We’re eating here, aren’t we?”