I’m not dumb. I know my mom wants to shop tomorrow to get me alone and ask me about Bryce. She’s been eyeing me with a knowing look since walking in the door the first night. Even my dad winks at me when we make eye contact. Sheila and Dave have been especially sweet and loving. When I went into my self-imposed exile from home, I forced myself to think of them taking sides with Holli, but now that I know the truth about their feelings of obligation to the baby and not her, I feel bad for not contacting them when moving to Virginia.
“You wanna watch a movie?” Nate asks Bryce and me. I nod, but Bryce’s phone rings and he leaves the room to answer. My ears immediately perk up, but it’s none of my business.
“Finally, I have you alone for a few minutes.” My brother scoots closer.
“You had me alone the first day here.”
“Yeah, but after you ditched me on the slope and Bryce found you back here, there’s always been someone around.”
“Well, what’s up?”
“Are you okay? I mean, with Bryce being here and being around him for the first time in so long, are you holding up?”
“Absolutely. I finally let it all go. The emotions of a young girl took over, and I allowed them to guide my decisions for far too long. It’s fine. I’m fine. Promise.”
“I’m really sorry I didn’t tell you about the break-up. We all thought it was best that you didn’t know at first. Then, I decided to see what Bryce was going to do. It was his life.”
“What do you mean, we all thought it was best?”
“Dev, you may have thought it was slick to up and change your college and life plans in the blink of an eye, but it was also transparent. It took me a little longer to catch on, and then I wanted to fucking kill him, but he had enough shit to deal with. I gave Mom and Dad updates in case they wanted to share how bad it was with you, but they didn’t. You finally started showing signs of letting him go and moving on. Mom said she felt like she was betraying you, but she didn’t want to bring false hope until Bryce cut all ties.
“When he came back to campus after last summer, he was a changed man: determined, driven. He told me exactly what his revelation was about you, and he apologized. Then he told me how he felt. That’s why I encouraged you to talk to him but otherwise stayed out of it. He knew he fucked up. Even though he’s my best friend and I knew he was going crazy trying to talk to you, my loyalties were with you. He asked me numerous times to intervene, but I refused. This whole trip with his family was his idea. I tried to discourage it, not knowing your reaction, but Mom told me to leave it alone. It was time to see how things would go.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, wow. Mom is a romantic at heart and wants hearts and flowers everywhere. I’m pretty sure the world isn’t filled with unicorns and rainbows, but she still believes. The last few days, a piece of the old Devon returned, but it’s new and improved.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you’ve grown, but yet, you’re still young at heart and goofy.”
He stops talking when Bryce walks back in, and they decide on a movie. The couch is a huge sectional, so each guy takes an end and stretches out while I lie in the middle. Several times, I’m startled and jump, kicking Bryce in the ribs. After the third time, he grabs my ankles and puts my feet in his lap. It doesn’t take long before I fall asleep.
“Babe, wake up. I have to move.”
“Hmmm.”
“Devon, seriously, your dad will be up soon. I need to go to my room.”
I snuggle further into the warm arms that are wrapped around me and sigh. Then I go stiff. What is that poking into my hip?
“Yeah, babe, that’s one of the reasons I need to go to my own room. If your dad sees us and then sees my hard-on, he’ll kill me.”
I move away slowly and look up to see Bryce’s face only inches from mine. There’s no time to react before he leans in and brushes his lips against mine then jumps up and disappears.
I roll back over and wonder if it was a dream.
Chapter 4
As I suspected, shopping with my mom was a set-up. As soon as we were far away enough from Sheila, she drilled me. I didn’t give her every detail of our conversation on the plane, but I did tell her the most important parts. Then I told her about Quinn’s advice.
She told me basically the same thing Nate did and then surprised me by tearing up.
“What the hell, Mom?”
“Baby, I don’t know all the details, but I hope you can open your heart again. Maybe this time there will be a different ending.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”