The Almost Truth Read Online Free PDF Page B

the empty one, or do you want me to stand here holding this all day?”
    His voice jolted me out of my surprise. “What are you doing here?” I looked around to make sure no one had noticed him. I yanked the empty urn out of the holder so Brendan could put the full one in its place. He hefted it into the holder as if it weighed nothing.
    “Most people would just say thank you,” Brendan said. “I’m here because you left me a bunch of messages last night saying you wanted me.”
    I rolled my eyes. “I didn’t say anything about wanting you. I said I wanted to talk, and I only left one message.”
    “You made at least two other calls. I saw your number come up.” Brendan backed up so one of the ladies could reach the coffee urn. “Here, allow me.” He poured a cup and passed it gallantly to her. She took it, flushing, her other hand fiddling with her pearls.
    I waited until she walked away. “If you saw my number, why didn’t you pick up?”
    “You know what they say: Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” He ran his finger gently down the side of my face. I whacked it away.
    “You’re going to get me in trouble.”
    Brendan laughed. Being in trouble was a natural state to him. “So what? You’re going to quit in a few weeks anyway. Why not go out with a bang? How about I throw you up on the dessert table and we go at it in front of this crowd? I bet these ladies have a freaky side.” Brendan took a step closer, as if he were about to hoist me up on top of the cheesecake slices.
    “I might not be quitting. That’s what I need to talk to you about.”
    Brendan’s face dropped the smirk. “Is everything okay?”
    I caught the eye of Mr. Stein, the banquet manager. He was standing in the doorway to the kitchen. “Shit. I have to go. I’m off in an hour. Meet me at the cove?”
    “Of course.” Brendan grabbed my elbow before I walked away. “I would have called back right away if I knew you needed me. You know that, right?”
    “I know.” I grabbed the empty urn and headed back to the kitchen before Mr. Stein was motivated to give me his standard lecture on the importance of having a good work ethic, and that he didn’t get promoted to manager by chitchatting with his friends while on the clock.
    Brendan could frustrate me faster than any person alive, but I never doubted for a minute that he would be there for me. I couldn’t remember a time when he wasn’t in my life. Our dads had met in jail. Now, there was a charming story we could tell the grandkids if we ever married. Brendan had been my friend since we were toddlers, which is why I never should have slept with him.
    Brendan had many challenges in his life, but the two advantages he had in his favor were that he was tremendously good-looking and that he obviously had that whole “bad boy” charm going for him. He wasn’t shy about using either of these to get what he wanted. By eleventh grade he’d slept with not only every girl in our class, but also most of the summer girls who visited the hotel. It was the combination of his dark curly hair, which he let grow a bit wild, his half smile that showed his chipped front tooth, and his ability to smooth talk anyone with the sound of his voice that worked like magic.
    I was most likely the only one who didn’t sleep with him because of his charm. I slept with him because he could make me laugh, and because I didn’t want to go to college as a virgin. I didn’t want to be a virgin, but I wasn’t desperate enough to sleepwith anyone else in our class or some random summer guest. They say the first time is fairly dismal, so it made sense to get it over with someone I liked, and I wouldn’t look back on with horror. Plus, there was the advantage that with all his practice, Brendan would know what he was doing. What had surprised me was that Brendan didn’t immediately agree. I’d had to talk him into the plan.
    Brendan had insisted that if we were going to do it, it had to be somewhere