Chapter Thirty-One

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The connecting flight from Minneapolis to Phoenix was worse than my first leg thanks to a full airplane. I ended up back in the middle again and was restless the entire flight, annoying the people on either side of me.

No one hindered my attempt to grab my bag from the luggage carousel, something that should have made me happy but was depressing instead, and I set out for the exit once I had both pieces of luggage.

The hundred degree heat hit me the second the doors opened and I welcome the dry air into my lungs. I’d barely stepped onto the sidewalk when I heard my name being called.

I turned my head and found Bri easily, despite the fact that she was only a few inches over five-feet. She was standing next to her small Toyota with a grin on her face. Her golden-blonde hair was shorter than it’d been when I left, now barely falling to her chin, and it had electric blue streaks highlighted throughout.

“Finally!” She launched herself at me once I was close enough and we hugged so tight that I was amazed either of us could breathe. We stood like that for a moment and she shook her head when we pulled apart. “Were you pumping iron over the past two months? You have some muscle action going on here.”

“You’d never survive summer camp, Bri. It’s way too physical for you.”

She laughed and popped the trunk so I could put my bags in. “I don’t doubt that. The only physical exertion I need is sex, otherwise count me out.”

“Uh huh,” I replied as I slid into the passenger seat. “If you didn’t have that magical metabolism and you couldn’t eat whatever you wanted without gaining an ounce, you’d be singing a different tune. I still hate you and your siblings for it. It will wear off eventually, you know.”

She pat her flat stomach lovingly and shrugged. “True. Until I see my sisters’ start to wear off, I’m going to keep up my ban on exercise. Now, we need comfort food so you can tell me what the hell happened. At least tell me the good stuff while I drive.”

We stopped to grab lunch and I told her about Hannah and the other girls. She grumbled that she hated Hannah already because she sounded so amazing and made threats that I could never replace her as my best friend. It wasn’t until we had food in front of us that I told her about Drew.

Briana stared at me from across the booth, her mouth gaped open and a forgotten fry in her hand. She finally shook her head in disbelief and dropped the fry.

“Wow.”

I laughed bitterly. “Yeah.”

My best friend shook her head again causing her hair to bounce slightly. Her pale blue eyes focused on me and her brows furrowed, cluing me into the fact that she holding back.

“Just say it, Bri.”

“I just don’t get it,” she replied, shrugging her shoulders. “I mean, I understand being upset because he lied but it sounds like he tried to tell you quite a few times, Shay. And, so what if he and Kira were a thing eight years ago? Are you expecting him to stay alone for the rest of his life?”

I groaned and shook my head. “Of course not but I’m her freakin’ sister, Briana. Hell, I could be her twin or, better yet, her clone. How would I ever know if he loved me for me and not as a substitute for that love he lost?”

“How do we ever know if anyone loves us for the right reasons?” she countered with a serious expression. “Where would I be if I had your lack of trust? I probably wouldn’t be wearing this ring right now, would I?”

As she gestured to the gorgeous engagement ring she was wearing, I knew exactly what she meant. Briana had met her fiancé during our freshman year of college. Marco Romano came from a very traditional and strict Italian family. Briana Gibson, on the other hand, came from a family that had a wonderful mesh of German, Scottish, and Irish roots and they made their own rules and traditions. Her blonde haired and blue-eyed parents had produced four blonde haired and blue-eyed children that didn’t fit into any WASPy social circles. Where Marco’s family was full of devout Catholics, Briana’s was about as far from religious as one could be. It was a very mismatched union in the Romano’s eyes.

After a year of dating, Marco admitted to Bri that he’d only asked her out as a way to piss off his parents. He was rebelling against the way they wanted him to live and Briana had been the perfect candidate for the job. He never meant to fall in love with her but did and he felt like he owed her the truth.

When he told her, she’d been crushed and broken up with him. It had taken almost six months for Briana to believe Marco when he said he was completely head over heels in love with her, although it had been blatantly obvious to anyone who saw them together. They finally rekindled their relationship and he proposed to her just a few months before.

“It’s not the same,” I mumbled, pushing my plate away petulantly. “You guys had a lot of history under your belts to act as proof of your love. Besides, it took you months to trust him again.”

“And Drew won’t even get that chance because you’ve cut him out of your life completely. I think you’re going to regret this, Lee, and I really wish you’d rethink it.” She sighed and I knew that she wasn’t going to press anymore. “I’m glad you’re home.”

“So am I.” I managed a small smile and waved off Bri when she tried to take the check from the server. “I got this. Thanks for picking me up.”

After I’d placed some cash onto the table, we both stood and Briana linked her arm through mine before dropping her head against my shoulder. “I missed your face. It was lonely at home so I’ve spent a lot of time at Marco’s. He’s probably sick of me.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “I doubt that. Besides, it’s good practice for when you’re married, right?”

“True.”

We got into her car and drove out where our apartment was in Tempe. Bri parked in her reserved spot and met me at the trunk of my car. As she pulled my suitcase out of the trunk, she groaned under its weight.

“Jesus. I forgot how much crap you packed.”

I laughed and reached for my duffel bag. A small smile hit my lips when I remembered Drew grabbing it the first day I was in Maine. “Everyone had smart ass comments to make about how much I packed.”

Our apartment was on the first floor and it was a blast of familiarity when we walked inside. It was a small space, with a tiny kitchen connected to the living room, two small bedrooms, and just one bathroom but it had worked for us for the past two years.

“Want to watch a movie?” Bri plopped down onto our couch and tucked her legs underneath her. “I grabbed three different ones in celebration of your homecoming. I figured we could have a lazy Sunday afternoon”

“As long as they are rated as least PG-13 or higher. I’ve watched way too many PG movies over the past two and half months. I need cussing and sex scenes.”

“Perfect.” She stood and grabbed some discs from the coffee table. “I have the new Eleanor Gray movie and it supposedly has a lot of angst and plenty of sex. There’s also some comedy with The Rock, so we have eye candy, too.”

It took us twice as much time to get through the first movie because one of us kept pausing it to chat with the other or remember some sort of tidbit that had to be shared. We had just finished the movie when Marco showed up. I opened the front door and the six-foot-tall Italian dreamboat instantly swept me into his arms, hugging me to him tightly.

“We missed you, Butler.”

I chuckled and hugged him back. “I missed you guys, too.”

“Well.” He stepped back and evaluated me with a quick nod. “You look unscathed. How was camp?”

Briana laughed when I let out a long sigh. “I’ve been interrogating her all afternoon. Maybe you should go run while there’s daylight left and I’ll order some pizza for dinner. I’ll fill Marco in, too. It might be nice to have a man’s point of view.”

“Okay.” I pinched his shoulder and went to my bedroom to throw on some running clothes. Once I was ready, I waved at them both and headed out the door.

Running at home was not like running at camp. I was reminded of all of the differences just minutes into my run. Gone was the safe, serene environment I’d been in and I was transported back to reality. A reality where I’d forgotten my earbuds, water bottle, and pepper spray. The city noise was distracting, and the hundred degree weather had me feeling like death after just a mile. I was also leered at by several college-aged guys and ended up taking a shortcut back home way sooner than I wanted to.

Running in the dark at camp where bears lurked in the trees felt safer than running in the broad daylight at home. Getting readjusted was going to take some time.

My tank top was drenched in sweat and I was panting like an overexerted dog when I walked through our apartment door. I didn’t speak to Marco or Briana as I headed right for the kitchen to chug some cold water.

“Hot out?” Briana asked, a grin on her face, and I just glared at her as I held my cool glass to my forehead.

“I forgot to take my water with me. And my pepper spray.”

“Damn, Shay.” Marco shook his head and leveled me with a serious look. “You’re not in Maine anymore. You need to be more careful.”

I smiled at my best friend’s fiancé. “I love you, too, Marco.”

After I showered off grime from running and traveling, I headed back out to the living room where both of my friends were waiting expectantly with a box of pizza on the coffee table. Marco was sitting on the middle cushion and he pat the spot opposite of Bri. He immediately wrapped his arm around me when I sat down, pulling me closer to his side.

“Do you love this guy, Shaylee?”

“Wow,” I muttered, burrowing myself into his chest a little more. I was really lucky that Briana was okay with me cuddling up to her boyfriend. “Right to the point, aren’t you?”

“I told you she’d be evasive,” Bri remarked from his other side and I reached out blindly until I was able to poke her thigh.

“Shut up, Gibson. I just don’t know how to answer that. I mean, I thought I did but…” I paused and stared at the shoes Marco was wearing. “I do. I love him. And that just makes me even angrier.” I sat up so I could look at both of my friends. “I feel stupid, like when I found out my mom had cheated on my dad. She let him love her, let me love them as my parents, and it turns out she was lying about something life changing.”

“You feel like they all deceived you,” Briana said simply and I nodded my head.

“Yeah.”

“Well, we can’t fault you for that.” Marco ruffled my wet hair. “But you forgave your parents, specifically your mother, eventually, right? Because you love her.”

“Mom and Drew are not the same, Marco. One person gave me life and another person gave me a few good weeks.”

He smiled and reached for the remote control. “Don’t downplay what you had with this guy, Shay.”

As he started the second movie, giving me an out from the conversation, I leaned back and stared at the screen. Even The Rock couldn’t distract me from my thoughts, though. Not for the first time since the night I’d found out, I wondered if I’d made a mistake.