Page 32 of Before We Were Us

Reaching out I link my finger with hers and hold her hand in the center of the table. “Outside of Connor all three of them are my best friends. We lost my dad more than ten years ago and he was a family man, to his core. We were raised to love and love hard, stand behind each other no matter what, and if one of us falls we better be there to pick each other up.”

“That sounds nice.”

“What about you and Sebastian, you seem close.”

“We clash,” she confesses but smiles when she does. “My mother says it’s because we are both extremely stubborn but in reality it’s because he thinks he is my father and doesn’t realize he doesn’t have a say in my life. It’s annoying, we fight and argue but at the end of the day we love each other. We always come out the other side, somehow smiling.”

“A brother always wants to protect his sister or sisters from the bad guys.” I know I’ve been pretty harsh over the years with Jenna and Naomi. I may have been younger but it never stopped me from trying to take control.

I’ve put both of their husbands through hell until they proved they were worthy.

“Your mom must love having all of you at her place each week.”

“She does,” I confess. “She refuses to downsize, still living in the same big house that she lived in with my father. It's still filled with all of his things even after all this time, his favorite chair still in the living room, his flannels hanging in the closet.”

“That’s amazing,” Brynn says in awe.

“He was her one and only.”

“That’s what my dad says about my mother.” Her eyes shine with tears. “It’s incredible to witness that kind of love. Two people too enthralled by the other that they would rather live their lives alone than to ever replace them after they were gone.”

I look across the table at her, seeing her lost in her thoughts.

Now could be the time that I chose to tell her all the things lingering in the back of her mind. Things that could change the way she feels about me, but I can’t seem to form the right words. I’m not even sure how to start, or where. I will, I know I have to, but I need a little more time.

Our waitress reappears and after we place our orders we get lost in conversation of Marco and Taylor and how the three of them met. I share stories of Connor and his disastrous dating life which makes her laugh. “Okay so he doesn’t necessarily date, it's more of a drive-by with him,” I offer and her eyes widen. “His antics are comical and I still find it hard to figure out how any woman can actually fall for the shit he pulls.”

We laugh to the point of tears and it's the first time in a week that I feel completely at ease. Being in the company of Brynn is like coming up for air after being buried beneath the rubble. Years I’ve spent wondering where I’d gone wrong. But right now, being here with her, nothing has ever felt more right.

I could do this, with Brynn, every day forever and I still think it wouldn’t be enough. Hearing her laugh is like playing the perfect song, that one song that makes you feel so deep that you could play it on repeat and it never gets old.

When I pay our check and we stand, I place my palm against the small of her back and lead her through the restaurant toward the exit.

As we step outside I pull her off to the side and offer her the kiss I’d been waiting to give her since we set down to eat. For the last hour and a half I’d be aching to feel her lips on mine.

“So, about next week.” I lean back, but still manage to keep her body pressed tightly to mine. Lifting my hand, I tuck her hair back so I can see her beautiful face. “I’d love to have you meet the rest of my crazy family.”

She smiles.

“What do you say? Would you join me for a family dinner at my mother’s?”

“I’d love to meet them.” She lifts her body up flush with mine, wrapping her arms around my neck. Her lips pressing to mine she laughs when I nibble on her lower lip.

“You make me feel so many things,” I confess without an ounce of hesitation. “So many things,” I add, kissing her once more. I didn’t plan for her, never went looking but somehow I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time and there she was.

With my hand linked with hers, we start to walk toward the sidewalk when I look up and feel like my heart lurches slamming forward and then falls to my feet.

There standing before me is Chrissy and a group of her friends.

It’s too late to escape, too late to hide Brynn from their venom as I notice the way her eyes light up when she sees us standing there before her.

“Hello, husband.” She offers me a smile before placing her hand on my arm, leaning in to press a kiss to my cheek. I feel like I am frozen in place. “Who’s your friend?”

twenty

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Brynnlee

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