Bran was too preoccupied to wonder why James seemed to accept his sudden change of heart, but the bottom line was that she wouldn't be hounding him about it anymore. "Alright. Let her know that I can handle Erik and she doesn't have to worry about it."
He meant that part of it, at least. Clearly she didn't want to be around him, just like Christine didn't want to be around Erik, but unlike his counterpart he wasn't going to force himself on her. He couldn't possibly accept her lies as truth and pretend that everything was fine now that he knew she probably counted down the minutes until she could get away from him again. "It was my pleasure." Although he wasn't polite, he was used to giving the impression that he was; which meant that he stood when James did. "Lotte's lucky to have a friend like you." What it must be like, to have a friend - Bran had conditioned himself to believe that he didn't need or want one, but sometimes the lie would slip just for a moment. It never lasted long, though, and even now the feeling was gone as quickly as it had arrived.