Page 84 of How to Kiss a Hawthorne Brother
I want a home. A family. A life with someone beside me. And I want that someone to be Brody.
Sharp yearning nearly overwhelms me. I feel trembly. A little nauseous. I’m hot and cold. Sweating and shivering. I’m...elated. Excited. So scared. I want to text Brody and tell him, but I don’t even know what I would say.
A pulse of fear throbs in my gut.
Will he forgive me for running away?
Will he want me to stay in Silver Creek?
Will he wantme?
Chapter Twenty-Five
Brody
I stand along theback wall at the reception after Lennox’s awards ceremony. Lennox was right. There are a lot of young, attractive women around.
Fortunately, Flint is diverting most of the attention.
Perry leans against the wall beside me. “It was a genius plan, right?”
I lift an eyebrow. “What plan?”
“Bringing Flint,” Perry says. “Without his distraction, it’d be us having to entertain all the women Lennox would be thrusting our way.”
Understanding dawns. “You mentioned Flint on purpose. When Lennox invited us to come. That was a calculated suggestion.”
Perry takes a swig of his drink. “Yes and no. It was calculated, but only because I knewyou’donly agree to come if Flint were here too. The fact that Flint is an attention hog and can deflect it off me? That’s just a bonus.”
“You know, youaregoing to have to start dating again at some point,” I say, eyeing my oldest brother.
He eyes me right back. “So are you.”
“I thought you were the one saying I shouldn’t give up on Kate. Which, you still owe me an explanation for that. Why the sudden change of heart?”
“It wasn’t a change of heart,” Perry argues. “I was never anti-Kate. I just didn’t like the way you obsessed over her when it didn’t seem like she was ever going to return your feelings. But I also don’t think she would play you. If she was willing to let the relationship progress as far as it did, it can only be because she feels something. That doesn’t mean it’ll necessarily work out. But it might mean the conversation isn’t over yet.”
I appreciate that Perry is trying, no matter how uncharacteristic his advice. But I’m too tired for his brand of encouragement. In my brain, the pendulum has already swung the opposite direction. I haven’t heard from Kate since she left. Not a text. A phone call. Nothing. I’m beginning to wonder if I ought to just cut my losses and move on. No more conversations with Kate. No more reading her articles. No more scrolling her social media accounts. No more late-night video chats or racing over to Charlotte whenever she flies through for a night.
No more dreaming of a life we’re never going to have.
Olivia was right. The sting of loving her and losing her is so much worse.
“I don’t think I can do it anymore, Perry.”
He eyes me, his lips pursed. “With Kate? Like, at all?”
I nod. “I think I have to be done.”
Well, Lennox did bring us here so we could move on.
I don’t actually want to meet anyone tonight. But there’s a part of me that wants to prove to myself that maybe, eventually, I will.
Perry tosses back the last of his drink and sets the glass on the table between us. “All right then, let’s move on.”
“What?”
Perry motions toward Lennox. “Let’s go. We’re here, aren’t we? Let’s go...do the thing. With the women.”
