“Don’t worry, Ren. She did the same thing to me. It’s her way of getting our minds off the cancer.”
I lean back and blow out a breath, then smile at her. “You’re a cool chick. Not many people can shock me.”
“Part of my charm. My parents are constantly rolling their eyes.”
“You do seem like a handful.”
“I’m blunt and spicy. It makes for more fun.”
“I bet,” I agree.
She chews on her lip and stares at me intently, her face now unreadable. Then she speaks. “I think I know what you should do after law school. Do you like sports?”
I shoot her my best ‘are you kidding’ look.
“You should do the fancy law school thing, but afterwards come out and be a sports agent with the legal knowledge. You can manage Nicky’s career when he goes pro after college. But you have to make sure he gets drafted somewhere awesome, preferably close to home. He can kick some of his teammates your way. We live in Miami, so there are tons of athletes here. You can build a business close to us.”
Her statement surprises me again. She knows of Nick’s dream to be a professional football player? He’s very quiet about his goal, especially since he’s missing his freshman season because of the fucking cancer. I look over to him, seeing he’s now biting on his thumbnail, watching me.
But her idea sends a jolt of excitement through me. She’s laid out exactly what I want to do.
“I think you may have carved my career path,” I tell her and place my hand on Nick’s knee. “Your girlfriend is pretty smart.”
“Eww! Stop with the girlfriend thing. He’s not my type.” She sighs. “I’m into older guys.”
This time when she wiggles her eyebrows, I get her teasing and laugh with them.
We spend the next two hours joking around and playing poker. When I run out of money, I have to give my hat to Lizbeth as payment. She seems satisfied until she starts to pale, and sweat breaks out on her forehead. Nick leans over and looks in her bag then cusses under his breath.
“She needs a Coke,” he tells me. “She loves Coke.”
I jump up, ready to do whatever it takes to make her feel better.
“Shaw,” she says weakly. I turn back and suck in a breath at her now exhausted appearance. “I want a nickname, too.”
Without a beat, it comes to me. “Bizzy. You’ll be Bizzy.”
She nods and closes her eyes. Nick gives a small smile. “I l
ike Bizzy. She’ll be our Bizzy, forever.”
I walk to the cafeteria with a heavy heart. My brother has had two days with this precious girl and has already shared his deepest dreams. I’ve spent a little over two hours with her, and she has suggested a path that will shape my entire life.
She’s sweet, funny, spunky, and gorgeous. The way Nick looks at her tells me this girl is going to be in his life forever, which means she’ll be in all our lives. She made him smile and laugh during this shitty time. She made me relax when I thought it was impossible. Just being in the room with her brought me happiness. She has a natural effervescence that eases anyone lucky enough to be in her presence.
A smile tugs on my lips as I think about her calling me sexy. She’s dangerous. If I was five years younger, I’d be crawling at her feet.
One thing’s for sure; Lizbeth “Bizzy” Hastings has left an imprint on my heart.
Bizzy
I should kill Nicky for neglecting to mention his oldest brother was the most gorgeous man to walk this planet. One look at him and my entire insides started to flutter.
It’s love… instant love.
Or infatuation. That’s probably it. Infatuation.
He’s probably got a girlfriend. A man like him can’t be single, and regardless of my age, I’ll never stand a chance with a man like Shaw. He’ll always remember meeting me during a chemo treatment when I’m bald and sick.