Free Single, Available, and Completely Attached by Michelle Brewer

recognized something he’d missed earlier.
    It wasn’t just that Anna was embarrassed…
    If Drew didn’t know better, he would almost believe that, in some way, he’d hurt her feelings.
    When he walked into his apartment twenty minutes later, he knew he’d made a decision.
    With a sigh, he threw himself down onto his couch and pulled his cell phone from his pocket.   He opened a new text message and typed quickly.
     
     
    How do I make Anna hate me…less?
     
     
    Within moments, his phone rang and he groaned, knowing he should have expected it.   “What happened now?”
    Drew sighed, wondering why his friend always assumed he was to blame.  
    “I don’t know.”   The truth was , he really just wasn’t sure what he should tell him.   Obviously, that whole part about Anna throwing herself at him should probably be left out of the conversation.   “She’s mad.”
    Jeff sighed impatiently.   “Could you elaborate a little?”  
    No, Jeff, I really can’t.   Drew leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees.   “I don’t know.   I ran into her at some club this weekend—”
    “She was at a club?”
    “She was with her sister.”  
    “Oh, great—you know, I knew Alice had something to do with this— ”   Jeff broke off and Drew imagined him massaging his temples or pinching the bridge of his nose.   “Go on.”
    “I don’t know, she was pretty drunk, and some guy was trying to take her home.   So I—gallantly, I may add—stepped in.”
    “So you made her feel like a child.”
    “No, I—”
    “Anna hates being treated like she doesn’t know what she’s doing.   In her mind, she’s been able to take care of herself since she was five.”   Drew rolled his eyes as he threw himself back into the couch.   “Then what?”
    “What?   Nothing.”   He heard the guilt in his voice and knew that Jeff wouldn’t miss it.   He was a lawyer, after all.  
    “Just tell me, Whitman.”   Drew felt a panic rise up inside him as he frantically considered what to say.   Finally, he settled on a censored version of the truth.
    “It was nothing, Jeff.   I took her home.   She cried.   It was embarrassing for both of us.”  
    “Did you say something again?”  
    “No, I didn’t do anything this time, I promise.   She was just…sad.”   An image of her standing in front of him with tears in her eyes as they stood just outside her door crossed through his mind and he tried to ignore the way, even now, he longed to make her feel even just a little better.
    “So on top of making her feel like a child, you went and made her feel vulnerable, too.”   Jeff interrupted his thoughts.
    “Hey— I didn’t do anything except what you asked me to do.   So if you want me to keep this stupid thing going, then you’re going to have to cut me a little slack here and help me.”   His tone was sharper than he’d intended.   It wasn’t that he was angry with Jeff—more so, that he was angry with himself.  
    Because he knew that he was involved now—and even if he wanted to, Drew wasn’t going to be able to walk away from Anna until he knew she was happy again.
    Or at least on the right track.   Clearly, she had terrible taste in men.
    Jeff sighed again.   “Start by apologizing.”
    “Then what?”   Drew had the feeling he should be asking Jeff to send this to him in text form.
    “I don’t know, maybe try talking to her.”
    “About what?”   If Drew had to hear Jeff sigh one more time, he decided he would throw the phone against the wall.
    “I don’t know, Drew.   Whatever you guys talked about before.”   It seemed like such a long time ago, Drew had almost forgotten that he’d known her before Jeff had.  
    “She’s different now.”   He scratched at his head, trying to recall what he had long made himself forget.   He couldn’t talk to her about concerts or classes anymore—she was a grown up.   She had a job—
    And just like that, he knew where