She looked up and smiled. “Good morning. Do you wanna make me a bagel, too, please?”
He shrugged and grabbed another one from the refrigerator. “Sure. One teaspoon of low-fat cream cheese, right?”
“Yeah, you’re getting good at this.”
“Thanks. I still don’t understand why you think you need to watch your weight, Miss Skinny.”
“You’re a guy. You don’t understand these things,” she replied, closing the newspaper and putting it down.
“I guess that could be why. So what are you up to tonight? I’ve barely seen you in the past month, since you’ve been so busy with Jesse.” His voice held a tinge of jealousy, but she didn’t notice as she answered, or if she did, she didn’t acknowledge it.
“Yeah, he and I have been hanging out a lot lately. Things between us are going really well. We’re taking it slow, and I’m liking it,” she stated. “I don’t know what I’m going to do when he’s in New York this weekend.”
“What’s he going there for, again?”
“He’s visiting his cousin, who just had a baby. He asked me to go along, but I’m not really ready to meet his family, I don’t think. That’s a big step in a relationship. It’s admitting you’re actually in a relationship, and I don’t wanna do that just yet.”
“Well, don’t let him rush you.” He paused. “Maybe you and I should spend some quality time together this weekend. I’ve been so bored without you to hang out with, and I’m too dorky to get a date.”
She laughed. “Okay, Nickolas Carter, Mr. Heart-throb, the cute blond Backstreet Boy.” He smiled, and for a moment, she had a relapse of her crush on him, but she quickly shrugged it off. “So what do you wanna do this weekend?”
He thought for a moment before an idea entered his mind. “We should go to Orlando and visit Brian. You said you wanted to meet him, and he wants to meet you.”
“That sounds like a lot of fun. When do you wanna go? Tomorrow morning?” she asked.
“Let me call him and find out of that’s okay.” He picked up the phone and dialed Brian’s number.
Leighanne picked up. “Hello?”
“Hey, Leigh, it’s Nick. Can I talk to B-rok, please?”
“Sure, Nick, just a second.”
After a few moments, Brian’s southern drawl was heard on the other end. “Hey, Frack, what’s up?”
“What are you doing tomorrow?”
“Nothing that I know of.”
“Do you mind if I drop by with Michelle? Her boyfriend’s out of town for the weekend, so we’re spending time together.”
“That’d be great. I’d love to meet her.”
“Good. So it’s a plan?”
“Yeah, what time will you be here?”
“Tomorrow morning some time.”
“Sounds great. I’ll see you then!”
They hung up, and Nick gave Michelle the thumbs up. “What time do you wanna leave?”
“Around eight.”
“All right. It’s a date.”