Take Out Chef

One year later... (part 2)

The first thing I did when I finished my shift was to call Bryan. He answered me after the third ring.

"Forget about the three months of laundry! You'll have to do it for a whole year!"

Oh boy. "That bad, huh?"

"It was utter hell, Jess."

I reached my car and leaned over it as I asked him, "What happened?"

"Well, I reached Amy's home. Her parents were away for the weekend, so of course your brother and her had the house to themselves." I could totally see him shaking his head at his. "Anyway, I called Seth after I parked the car and he came outside as soon as I got out of the car. I'd never seen him so pale and so bloody worried. Amy was crying on the living room and I had no freaking idea what to do. So I took them to the ER."

My eyes widened. "What! You took them to the hospital?"

"What was I supposed to do? Have a sex education talk with them?"

I tried not to laugh at this, but picturing Seth, Amy and Bryan at the ER was kind of hilarious. I deserved that year of laundry, for sure.

"And?"

Bryan snorted. "You're trying not to laugh, aren't you?" He tried to sound serious, but I knew he was smiling too. His voice sounded amused as well.

A giggle left my lips. "I'm sorry!"

"Whatever."

"So, what happened! You're so bad retelling stuff!"

That made Bryan laugh. "Excuse me for not being a tattletale!"

"Oh my God, just keep going!" I rolled my eyes playfully.

"That's pretty much it. They both talked to some doctors and Amy was much more calmed when she left the hospital."

I frowned. "Wait. What did you tell the doctors?"

"Exactly what happened."

I burst out laughing. "Seth probably died of embarrassment!"

"Well, I know for sure that I won't have a problem winning our video games. Actually, I'm not sure if we'll see him around much. He wouldn't look at me in the eyes when I dropped him off."

I laughed harder. "Thank you so much for doing this, Bryan."

"Yeah, yeah. You owe me."

"I sure do," I shook my head.

"Jess, just come home."

My lips tugged up and my heart fluttered. "Okay. I'm on my way."

Bryan was right, we didn't see Seth for the next three weeks. Even after I invited him over every Friday. Nothing made him change his mind.

"Is he still not coming?" Bryan asked as he entered our kitchen that Friday night. He undid his chef coat and placed it over the backrest of the chair. I shook my head as he stepped closer to me. "Should I talk to him?"

I passed my arms around him. "I think you should, otherwise he won't come over ever again."

Bryan's gaze was soft as he leaned closer and kissed me. "Okay, I will," he said as he pulled away and brushed my cheek with the back of his hand. "But only if you wash my coat."

"What!" I stepped away from him. "Are you for real? I've been doing this for three weeks!"

"You still got a lot more weeks to cover, love."

I narrowed my eyes and crossed my arms. "You're exploiting me."

He laughed. "I'll make you a deal. I'll cook dinner and call your brother while you go put that coat in the washer machine."