Page 48 of Waiting to Love You

It’s the weekend, and Crawdaddy’s is the place to be. Especially for a twenty-something-year-old girl wanting to blow off steam.

“I have no idea,” he grumbles before dropping back down in his seat. “If you don’t want to celebrate, I get it. But could you kindly get out of my way so I can finish my game?”

I step out of the way. “When are you going to tell me the story behind you two? Look, I’m not stupid. I know there’s more to the story between you two than her just being your friend's baby sister.”

Brady stares into my eyes, and I know that look. He’s fighting demons of his own, ones that no one can help him overcome.

“Soon,” is the only answer he gives me before turning back toward the television, signaling the end of our conversation.

“I’ll text Walker and ask if they can meet us there at six. Sound good?”

Brady nods his head in response. Hopefully, he’ll work through his issues before we head out tonight.

I head toward the front door, deciding to leave and give him some space for a little while.

“Where you headed?” Brady calls as I turn the knob.

“To see Bristol. She can’t ignore me if I’m right in front of her face,” I say over my shoulder, pulling the door shut behind me.

As I make my way down the stairs toward my truck, I glance at my watch. It’s lunchtime, and what better way to show someone that you’re thinking about them than bringing them food? Remembering from our conversation how much she loves the sourdough melt from Culver’s, I stop there and grab us both some food, then head toward the center of town.

Since it’s a Saturday afternoon, I know Bristol shouldn’t have too many classes today, but she has been working since early this morning. Instead of having a relaxing Saturday to herself, she’s helping everyone else to relax instead. If my memory serves me right, she and the girls should be at the yoga or dance studio, since they’re all between classes. Here’s hoping she’s happy to see me.

I pull into a parking spot between the two studios and play a quick game of eeny-meeny-miny-moe before deciding to try the yoga studio first. I grab both our meals, then decide against bringing mine inside. I have no idea how busy she is today. The point of bringing her lunch is to let her know I’m thinking about her, not to get another date out of it. I mean, if it happens in the process, I won’t complain, but that’s not why I’m here.

I stride toward the door, pulling it open and stepping inside. The lobby of the yoga studio’s walls are painted a muted green and are covered in different pictures of women in different poses and one of Bristol smiling brightly at the camera surrounded by her students. Relaxing music playing softly filters through the door of the studio that’s propped open. But instead of being greeted with a hello as I come in the door, I’m met with complete silence.

Audrey, Selina, and Bristol all stare in my direction, no one moving or saying a word. I have no idea what these three were discussing before I came in, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that it has something to do with me.

My eyes zero in on Bristol, noticing the dark circles under her eyes, and her hair is piled high in a messy bun on the top of her head. She has on a baggy T-shirt that engulfs her body, hanging past her butt, and another pair of those tempting yoga pants complete the outfit.

“Hey, beautiful,” I say, waving to the other ladies as I stride toward Bristol.

“Hey yourself,” she replies, her eyes looking everywhere but at me, and takes a step to the side, putting the small welcome desk between us.

I try to give her a reassuring smile as I come closer, but she wraps her arms around her waist, her shoulders pulling inward like she’s closing herself off to me. Something is definitely off with her, but what is it? I try to think of anything I could’ve said or done during our last conversation to make her react this way to me when the realization hits me.

I asked her about our relationship status. I promised her I would give her time to sort out her feelings for me, but instead, I pushed her to decide what we were without even knowing what I was doing. It seemed like a natural enough question to ask, but I guess I was wrong, and now she’s pulling away from me.

I give her a reassuring smile as I come to a stop right in front of her, holding the bag of food out in front of me like a peace offering. “I figured you would be ready for some lunch.”

I wait a few moments for her to respond, but she says nothing, and she doesn’t take the food from me. I set the bag on the counter before walking around and giving her a hug.

“Sorry to barge in like this, but I missed you.”

Audrey and Selina sigh softly, but Bristol’s entire body stiffens as I wrap my arms around her before she steps away from me.

“I missed you, too,” she whispers, grabbing the bag off the counter and peaking inside. “You remembered.”

“Of course, I did. I remember everything you’ve told me about you.”

Tears stream down her cheeks as she clutches the bag tightly in her hands and pushes past me, rushing toward the back of the studio.

I rub the back of my neck, looking over at the other two ladies for some help. “What did I do wrong?”

“She’s just having a hard time right now,” Audrey says, leaning forward and resting her arms on the reception desk.

“Is that code for I just made things worse without knowing?” I shake my head as I take a seat in a chair under the large glass windows in the front of the studio. “I just wanted to let her know I was thinking about her.”

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