Page 2 of This Memory
I smiled as I bit down on my lower lip. I knew Gavin was probably just being friendly. But a small part of me couldn’t help but wonder if it was more. Could he really be interested in a girl like me? I was pretty—not beautiful—like some of the girls he’d gone out with, but I liked my button nose, blue eyes, and long, wavy blond hair. My body was in decent shape since I ran nearly every day. I wore glasses and almost always kept my long hair pulled up. Although, I couldn’t wait to get contacts so I could ditch the glasses.
“Tell me what the movie is about.”
Getting back to work on the papers, I replied, “Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck are in it. It’s based in Rome, and she’s a princess in hiding. Gregory Peck plays a journalist. My grandmother used to say it was the best romance story ever.”
His brows lifted. “Well then, I have to see it now. Do you have a ticket already?”
Nodding, I said, “I actually have two because Aurora was initially going to go with me before her family made plans.”
A wide grin appeared on his face. “Perfect. I’ll buy the snacks; you provide the ticket.”
My stomach swooped at the idea of going to a movie with Gavin. “Okay. Do you want to meet there? The movie starts at seven.”
“Sounds like a date.”
“A date?” I echoed, before I could think better of it.
Gavin winked again. “A date.”
I let out a nervous laugh. “Okay, a date it is.”
“So, until then…tell me about yourself. We’ve been going to school together since our elementary days, and I still don’t know much about you.”
“There isn’t much to know. I like to read, and math and history are my favorite subjects. I plan on going to college for business management, and one day, I hope to take over the toy shop my mother runs.”
“Your grandfather opened it, didn’t he?”
I smiled. “Yes, he was always a big kid at heart, so it wasn’t surprising he decided to open a toy store. I work there some weekends and during the summer.”
“So you want to run the toy store, huh?”
“That’s the plan,” I said as I stapled another packet. “What about you? What are your plans after college.”
He shrugged. “Mymotherwants me to go to college, but I think I’ll become a New York state police officer, or maybe a Moose Village officer.”
My eyes widened. “Really?”
“Yeah, my dad’s a cop, his dad is a cop, andhisdad before him was a cop. My older brother James is already a cop here in Moose Village.”
“What does your mother want you to go to college for? Degree-wise, I mean?”
He laughed, but there wasn’t an ounce of humor in it. “She thinks I would make a great doctor, or maybe a lawyer. I barely get by with my current grades; I can’t even imagine going to medical school. I have no desire to do anything but be in law enforcement.”
“Then you should go into law. Or if you want a degree, you could do criminal justice.”
He sighed. “You have more confidence in me than I do, Bry.”
The use of the nickname both surprised and thrilled me. “I think you’re smart, even if you pretend you’re not.”
He looked up at me, and our eyes met. Something arced between us, but I couldn’t grasp the significance of what it was at the time, a connection I couldn’t explain. A slow, sexy-as-all-get-out smile appeared on his handsome face.
“You don’t miss a thing, do you, Brystol Duggan?”
“I guess not. Why pretend not to be as smart as you are?”
He shrugged. “The guys would tease me relentlessly if they thought I was book smart.”
“So? Maybe for a few days or weeks, but then they’d get over it. There isn’t anything wrong with being smart and athletic.”
