Page 50 of Edge of Unbroken

I nod but clamp my mouth shut because even though Drew does hang out with us occasionally, he’s not a true “insider.” He doesn’t know what happened to Ronan, where he is and why. And I’m not about to disclose that.

He moves his hand to my leg as if to get my attention. “Hey, you know I’m your friend, right? You can talk to me about stuff. I’m here for you.” He gives my leg a little squeeze, then withdraws his hand.

“I appreciate it, Drew, but…” I trail off, searching for the right words. He raises his eyebrows but doesn’t look at me, focusing instead on the road. “It’s not my place to talk about what happened to Ran. He’s… he’s really private, and—”

Drew expels a dismissive huff. “Not so private when he hooks up with every other girl at school.” I feel a sting in my chest. My face must give me away because Drew does a quick double take. “I’m sorry. That came out wrong. I didn’t mean to upset you. I just…”

“You don’t like Ran,” I say dryly.

There’s no doubt that Ronan and Drew don’t have the warmest feelings toward each other.

“No, it’s not that. He’s… Ran’s a great forward and, I mean, he’s obviously got the brains and the looks,” Drew relents with a sigh. “He just…”

“He what?”

Drew hesitates. “Well, he kind of stole a girl from me.”

I knit my eyebrows together. As far as I know, Ronan has only ever had casual sex before me—with the exception of his relationship when he lived in Montana, I guess—so this information is surprising. I don’t know why Ronan would have withheld something like this from me.

“What do you mean he stole a girl from you?”

“Okay, maybestoleisn’t exactly the right word,” Drew says. “He… I was talking to this girl a couple of years ago—Cami. I was really into her. We had gone on a couple of dates but then… but then Ronan hooked up with her at one of Shane’s parties. And that was the end of Cami and me,” he finishes with a stony expression.

I don’t speak for a moment, allowing Drew’s words to sink in as I nod to myself. “That’s… yeah, that sucks.”

“Yep.”

“But did Ran know about you and Cami?” I would have to admit that, if Ronan knew and still did what he did, thatwouldbe a shitty thing.

Drew shrugs. “No idea. Maybe not. It doesn’t matter. It happened years ago, so…”

“It obviously still matters to you, or you wouldn’t hold this grudge, right?”

Drew shrugs again.

“Drew, I bet Ran didn’t even know about your feelings for Cami. Ran’s such a good guy. I know he’d never want to hurt anyone. If he really did what you say he did, I’m sure he didn’t do it knowing your history with her.”

“You really only see the good in people, Cat.” Drew chuckles, but falls silent again quickly. “I like that about you.”

“That’s because Ran reallyisgood.”

“Okay, whatever you say,” Drew says and turns into a small parking lot.

I recognize the restaurant immediately. It’s that little Italian place Ronan took me to for lunch on his birthday, before we decided to “give this a shot,” before I officially became his and he mine. We came here to eat several times this past summer and the owner, Benito, always made it a point to stop by our table and chat with us or make us try his newest creations.

I smile, feeling more strongly connected to Ronan in this moment, like the universe just wanted to send me a quick wink, a “Hey, I know you were defending your guy just now, so here’s a little trace of him for you.”

“I love this place,” I say when I open the passenger door.

“Oh, you’ve eaten here before?” Drew asks in a tone that makes me think he’s a little disappointed this isn’t some new culinary experience for me.

“Yeah; Ran and I eat here a lot. He actually took me here on our first date.” I smile from what seems like ear to ear.

“Right,” Drew grumbles and holds the front door to the restaurant open for me.

Thursday, January 6th

Ronan

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