Will hesitated. Just because they’d grabbed dinner a couple times while he was in Manhattan or she was in Boston didn’t exactly make them confidantes.
Still, a little female advice wouldn’t hurt.
Jenna let out the tiniest of sighs. “Oooooh boy. Listen, I have two brothers—one being a twin—and way too many ex-boyfriends. I know when a guy has woman troubles. Out with it.”
But before Will could open his mouth, there was god-awful noise coming from his backdoor.
“Um. Is that ‘Jingle Bells’?” Jenna asked in confusion.
Will couldn’t hide his smile, even as he told himself to be annoyed.
Apparently a certain neighbor had spotted Jenna.
“Yeah, that’s ‘Jingle Bells,’” he said. “Or at least it’s trying to be.”
“….OH WHAT FUN, IT IS TO RIDE…”
“Ignore it,” Will said, his smile turning into a full-out grin. “It’ll be more entertaining this way.”
He felt a surge of relief that he’d pulled the blinds on the glass door earlier. Brynn wouldn’t be able to see in, and it would drive her absolutely up the wall.
An obnoxious tapping noise began along with the Christmas carol, although it wasn’t even remotely in rhythm, and Will happily took another sip of beer. This was great. Perfect, even.
Jenna, apparently, had other ideas. She was on her high heels and moving toward the back door before he could stop her.
“For God’s sake, someone should put that hyena creature out of its misery.” She jerked open the back door, and it was quickly apparent that the hyena comparison was strangely apt.
He’d seen wild Brynn, he’d seen stuffy Brynn, he’d seen fancy Brynn…
But he’d never before seen disheveled Brynn.
And she was breathtaking.
Her clothes didn’t match, only one tennis shoe was tied, and there wasn’t a speck of makeup on her face. Adding in the fact that there was just the tiniest line of blonde roots starting to peek through the new dark. Something he’d thought he wouldn’t see until the apocalypse.
“Whatcha doin’ here, neighbor?” he drawled.
Brynn’s intense scrutiny of Jenna made it pretty clear what she was doing there, but he wanted to poke at her all the same. Clearly, he should have considered this route earlier. Will hadn’t invited Jenna to stay with him with the intent of giving Brynn a jolt, but he should have. There was nothing like another woman to spur a female into action.
; And he’d been waiting a full week for something to spur Brynn.
He’d assumed it would be her hormones. But…jealousy worked too.
Without warning, Brynn turned wild blue eyes on him, and had he not been sitting down, he would have taken a step backward.
“Oh, you know, just came for some coffee,” she said in a slightly manic voice.
He gave a cocky smile, even as he watched her warily. “Sure, help yourself.”
But Brynn had already spun back toward Jenna as she stuck out a hand. “I’m Brynn. Will’s…”
She broke off completely, and Will hated that he was practically holding his breath to hear what she filled that gap with. Boyfriend? Lover? Friend?
“I know who you are,” Jenna said in her usual husky voice. “We’re practically related.”
Brynn’s head snapped back a little in surprise, and her study of Jenna was more curious than confrontational.