Laura came into my office mid-day Monday with two large bags of food that smelled delicious and greasy. My stomach growled loudly, telling me to quit working and take a few minutes to eat.
“You are a life saver. Thank you for lunch.”
“It was my turn to treat. Besides, I figured if I bribed you with a bacon cheeseburger you might finally tell me about the hot mayor.”
“I don’t know what you want me to tell you.”
“Is he a good kisser?”
“Yes.”
“How good?”
I sighed. “Are we really having this conversation?”
“Absolutely. I need to live vicariously through you. I broke up with Bill this weekend.”
“Whoa. Why are we talking about Wyatt when you broke up with Bill?”
I examined my friend closely. She didn’t look upset, more just disappointed. She and Bill were together for years. I knew she had to be upset about their breakup.
“Because Bill and I have been over for a long time. You and Wyatt are much more exciting.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Laura shrugged. “I told him I’ve been thinking about training to be an infusion nurse and he didn’t care. Not that he wanted me to make the decision, just that he really didn’t care at all. I realized that I didn’t care what his opinion was, and I just knew we were done.”
“What did he say?”
She sighed. “Nothing. I said I think we should go our separate ways and he just shrugged and said okay. Then went back to watching TV.”
“Where did you stay?”
“At the apartment. He went to stay with a friend.”
“Is he moving out?”
“I guess. We really haven’t talked.”
Her sad tone just about killed me. A mix between upset and resigned to being alone. I knew that tone. I’d used it enough in my life.
“Well, if you need a place to stay, let me know.”
“You don’t need me hanging around and cramping your style. You have a hot new man.”
I groaned. “He is not mine. And you wouldn’t be cramping my style. Wyatt and I are friends.”
“Friends who kiss?”
“You can’t tell me you’ve never had a friend with benefits.”
“Are you sleeping with him?” she blurted, a grin lifting her lips.
“No! Of course not!”
Laura cocked her head to the side. “Why do you say it like that? He’s gorgeous. Why wouldn’t you want to sleep with him?”
“It’s not that. I just haven’t thought about it.”
“I think that’s all I thought about all weekend.”
“Ew! I didn’t need to know that!”
Laura cackled, her dark eyes brightening. “I’m starting to question your interest in sex if you don’t want to sleep with him.”
I shrugged. “I barely know him. And we’re friends.”
“So you said.”
I rolled my eyes at her, and she smirked.
“Anyway… We get along. I don’t want to ruin it by bringing sex into it.”
“But kissing is okay?”
“I don’t know. He started that. I just didn’t resist it.”
“Do you like him?”
“Of course.”
“As something other than a friend?”
“Ugh. I don’t know. He’s good looking and really nice and our goals align, but our goals align to make us both prime candidates for staying single.”
“There’s nothing to say you can’t have some fun without it getting too serious.”
“I know. And that might happen. You know how I am. If a patient calls in the middle of the night, I’m going to answer. A lot of guys don’t get that kind of dedication.”
“He seems like the kind who would.”
I nodded. “Yes, but that doesn’t mean he’ll always like it.”
“Pey, you don’t always like it.”
I laughed. “True. Regardless of all that, Wyatt and I are just friends for now. If that changes, it changes. But for now, friends is all either of us is willing to offer.”
“And kisses.”
I smiled. “Yes. And kisses.”
“Is he a slow and sweet kisser or a take control kisser?”
“Um, a little of both.”
“Ooh, those are my favorites. Where they let you think you’re in control and then they devour you?”
“That’s what he did the other night. After he came by here, we went shopping. When he dropped me off, he teased me with a kiss, then dove in like he had to kiss me in order to survive.”
“Sloppy? No, I already know. He’s not a sloppy kisser. Perfect amount of tongue, too. Mmm, I’m so jealous.”
“I don’t know about the tongue. He hasn’t tried that yet.”
“No tongue? Is he a boy scout?”
I laughed. “Probably. He’s about as perfect as a guy can get.”
“You do have a thing for him.”
I shook my head, but she was right. I just didn’t want to admit it yet. “No, I don’t. I can see why women fall all over themselves for him though.”
“You’re falling, too. Don’t fool yourself.”
“Whatever. So, tell me more about changing to infusion. It sounds like you’re getting more serious about it.”
Thankfully, Laura took the bait.
“I’ve been reading more and more about it. There is a certification, but it’s not something I’d need before I started working as an infusion nurse. There are different ways I could do it. Home health care is an option, but I think I’d rather be in a facility.”
“A hospital?”
She shook her head. “There are a lot of doctor’s offices that offer infusion services right there. I’ve looked at a few of them.”
“But?”
She laughed. “I hate that you know me so well.”
I grinned.
“There’s one that I really like. It’s new, but it’s amazing. There’s a team of five doctors who all have slightly different specialties, but all are experienced with many different types of cancer. They’re up in the Thousand Islands, kind of isolated so they do a lot of procedures right there.”
“It sounds like an interesting place,” I said cautiously. I knew Laura could get an idea in her head and run with it, then have it fizzle out and nothing ever happen. She sounded really excited about the infusion center, but I hated the idea of losing her.
“I think it is. And I know you think I’m insane, but-”
“No, Laura, I don’t. If this is something you want to do, then go for it. I’d never hold you back, you know that.”
She nodded. “I do. I really appreciate it.”
“You just have to promise you’ll come back and visit once in a while.”
She grinned. “Definitely.”
Laura didn’t mention anything else about leaving, but it was on my mind when I walked into Bite Me! with Vicki the next day. So much so that I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going and ran smack into Sawyer.
“Whoa! You okay?”
I laughed and rolled my eyes at myself. “Yes. Sorry. Got a lot on my mind.”
“Everything okay?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Just thinking about a friend.”
“Someone here?”
I shook my head. “At work.”
“Is she hot?”
“Excuse me?”
He shrugged. “If she’s hot, you shouldn’t be holding out on me.”
I laughed. “Are you really that big of a pig?”
“Nah. I just like to mess with you. But if she’s hot, you definitely should bring her.”
“She just broke up with her boyfriend of two years.”
He shook his head and backed away. “Too much baggage for me.”
“Speaking of baggage, aren’t you leaving soon?”
He smiled and nodded. “I am. Just after New Year’s.”
“Uh oh. Did you tell Wyatt you’re going to miss the winter festival?”
“What about the winter festival?” Wyatt asked, joining us. He winked at me but didn’t make a move to hug or kiss me. It felt like we were keeping our… relationship, I guess, from our friends.
“Peyton was asking if you knew I was going to miss the winter festival.”
“No way, you are? I thought you were leaving the end of January.”
Sawyer shook his head. “Beginning of January.”
“Damn. I thought you were going to take pictures for us.”
“Shit. I did tell you I would do that, didn’t I? Alright, let me look. I’ll try to move some things around.”
“Do you have something lined up already?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yeah. There’s this full service wedding thing. They were looking for a photographer. The pay is pretty good and I’ll have a lot of free time to go out and explore the island. I can still do some freelance stuff, but this gives me the opportunity to be more picky about what I do.”
“I never pictured you as a wedding photographer,” Wyatt teased.
“Ha ha. Shut up, asshole. It’ll pay my bills.”
“Do you have an apartment rented? Or a house?”
He shook his head. “Houses are pricey. The lady I’m going to be working for set me up with a place to stay, so I have a room to rent in someone’s house for a few months. I figure that will be long enough to figure out exactly where I want to be.”
“You’ve been there before, right?” I asked.
Sawyer nodded. “Yep. Most beautiful place on Earth.”
“I still can’t believe you’re leaving next month,” Tara said, joining our conversation. Tara was dating Sawyer’s brother, Noah.
“You’ll be happy to be rid of me.”
She shook her head. “No, I won’t. I’ll actually miss you.”
“Well, once I have my own place, you guys can come out and visit. Maybe you can even book a wedding through the company.”
“What’s it called again?”
“Opposites Attract.”
“Really?” I asked.
Sawyer nodded.
“Clever. I like that.”
“If you can stay for a few extra weeks, we should have a party for you before you go,” Tara said.
“No,” Sawyer protested. “You don’t need to do that.”
“Oh, please,” I said. “It’ll give everyone an excuse to drink. I think we should definitely do it.”
“Well, happy I could be a reason to drink.”
“Oh, honey,” Tara said, her tone deadly serious. “You’ve been an excuse for me to drink many, many times.”
“You’re so funny, Tara,” Sawyer said, shaking his head.
Tara thought it was hilarious.
I agreed with her.
“What’s going on over here?” Noah asked, wrapping his arms around Tara’s waist.
“I was telling Noah he’d be a great reason to drink. We want to have a going away party for him.”
Noah nodded. “Damn. We should. I know he’d love that.”
Sawyer groaned. “You guys are all ridiculous.”
“We just know how much you like being the center of attention.”
“That’s why I’m behind the camera and not in front of it.”
“Exactly.”
“Hey everyone!” I shouted, silencing the entire room. “We’re having a going away party for Sawyer after the winter festival. He said he really wants to be the center of attention.”
“Damn, Peyton, really? I thought I liked you.”
I grinned and blew him a kiss. “You know you love me. You’re going to miss me.”
“You know what?” he said. “I am going to miss you. All of you. I never thought I’d want to be here full time, but the closer it gets to leaving, the harder I think it’s going to be.”
“Then we’ll all have to come visit you. And you have to come back sometime.”
He nodded. “I will.”