Page 70 of One Timer With A Wingman

“It’s tragic and sad. You don’t have to hide your feelings,” I assure. “Trust me, I’ve shed a good amount of tears every time I think of Mom not being around.”

“I’m so sorry. This was insensitive of me,” she says.

“No, it isn’t,” I assure. “I spoke to Mom today and they want us coming home for Easter.”

“You mean you,” she corrects.

“No, they want us coming. We have the Frozen Four finals in St. Paul starting on the tenth and hopefully we win. About a week later it’s Easter. Mom wants you meeting the family.”

“That would be really nice,” she says and she hiccups some more.

“Why are you still crying, baby?” I ask.

“I’ve been avoiding holidays for so long. They were just too painful knowing I wasn’t included with my family,” she says.

“You’re my family now.” I hold her close and kiss the top of her head.

She pulls back to look at me. “I’m not, but Nugget is.”

“Briar, you’re my family too,” I reiterate.

She looks at me and smiles, but it doesn’t touch her eyes. I don’t know what it will take for her to see how much I want her. How much I want to make her mine.

“We have a game Friday night in town. I want you to come. My parents aren’t coming but I think Annie, Charlie, and Ruby will be there. I can get you a seat with them,” I offer.

“That would be nice,” she says.

“Good. Now what are we doing for dinner?” I ask.

“I made some roasted chicken and potatoes. There’s plenty if you like. I think Finn and Charlie are also cooking in the kitchen, if you want what they are making,” she offers.

“The chicken sounds perfect.”

We head to the kitchen and eat dinner. Then we watch a movie on Netflix. We are only a few weeks out from the end of the semester. I’m hoping to go home for the summer and I want Briar coming with me. There is no way I would ever leave her. At the end of the movie, she gets up and says good night. I should get up and go to my room, but I tell her I’m going to watch some TV because I am a glutton for punishment. Within half an hour, on schedule, I hear her moans and feel like I am going to lose my mind.

CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR

Briar

I’m standing in line at Cup of Java. It’s late afternoon and I’m dying for a hot chocolate.

There are a group of girls standing in front of me. They keep whispering and looking back at me. It’s putting me on edge.

One of the girls steps up to order and a brunette turns to me and says, “You’re Briar Halle, right?”

I want to lie and say no, but I don’t think she’ll believe me. “Yes.”

“We want to know how you got Aaron Murray to sleep with you. We’ve been trying since the beginning of the year and he kept shooting us down,” she says.

A cold shiver washes over me. “What kind of question is that?”

“Come on, you locked Aaron down. Good for you, but help us girls out,” she says.

My mouth turns dry and drops open. I don’t even have a response for her stupidity. I gasp and turn away. I leave the line, even though I really wanted that hot chocolate.

Hot tears sting my eyes as I make my way through the throngs of students trying to get to class. I don’t even know where I am headed when I bump into Luc.

“Whoa, what’s going on, Briar?” He looks me up and down and he looks terrified. Like he doesn’t know what to do with a crying girl.

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