Page 45 of That Time I Kissed The Groomsman Grump
“My first time on an airplane,” I begin, “theonlytime on an airplane before last week, was when my family moved to Abieville. The flight was… awful. It was so awful, in fact, I swore I’d never fly again. There was a storm, and the turbulence was terrible. I threw up more than once.”
Brady’s jaw shifts. “That does sound bad.”
“And the worst part is I’d just left the only home I’d ever known. My friends, my school, my teacher. I was eight, and way too young to know how to keep in touch with people. So I got really, really sad.” I take a breath as the memory bubbles up. “I felt like a stranger who didn’t belong. I was convinced everyone else had lived here forever.”
“Yeah.” Brady nods. “We pretty much had.”
“And all the girls my age already had their best friends. Like Paige and Shannon. But at least I had Beau,” I say. “The two of us had each other.” I meet Brady’s gaze. “Then Beau found you, and I was alone again.” Brady leans toward me, only half an inch, but I feel the distance between us shrinking. “My parents said kids move all the time for reasons way worse than inheriting their grandparents’ house. They told me I was lucky to live in a beautiful home in a town with deep family roots. But I didn’t feel the roots. I felt… rootless.” I swallow now, remembering the hollowness inside me, not to mention the slivers of guilt for being ungrateful. “Anyway, most of the people in Abieville ended up being nice.Youwere nice.”
Brady’s mouth tilts. “I was?”
“Don’t sound so surprised.” I puff out a small laugh. “But I’d already decided to leave town as soon as I graduated high school. Once I saw things as temporary, I felt better. I liked the idea of moving on and not looking back. Ten years was my timeline. I even calculated the total days, and I’d lie awake at night doing a mental countdown.” A small laugh slips out of me. “I think that’s why I’m so good at math now.”
“Heh.” Brady’s eyes crinkle.
“That’s the good news. The bad news is my mom. I love her, but she keeps trying to set me up with the single men in Abieville, hoping I’ll stay.”
Brady frowns. “She does?”
“Ohhhh, yes.” I smirk. “She is excellent at ambushing.” I force out another laugh. “But I’m not here much anymore, so she has limited opportunities.”
He squares his shoulders. “Maybe Kasey and Beau were onto something when they thought our moms were pushing them together.”
“I don’t think so,” I say. “My mom’s so proud of Beau’s success. She loves that his job takes him all over the world. Meanwhile, she knows how much I hate to fly. I’m sure she’s afraid once I move to LA, I won’t exactly be dying to hop on a plane to come back. And she’s not wrong. Hopefully, she and my dad will be up for visiting me.”
The crease on Brady’s forehead deepens. “Why go so far then?”
“Honestly? So I’d be closer to Beau and Kasey.” I pause for a moment, a little breathless over how much I’m sharing. “I hate airplanes, but I love my brother,” I say. “At least when I was in school, the distance was temporary. But lately, it feels more like… forever.” I take a beat, remembering I started this conversation to draw Brady out. Instead, I ended up revealing too much of myself. “Anyway.” I nod, waiting for him to say something.
He folds his arms across his chest. “So none of the guys your mom ambushed you with worked out, huh?”
Hmm.
That’s not the pivot into deeper conversation I was hoping for, and we’re still discussing me. But at least Brady’s talking, and that was the original goal.
“Definitely not.” My mouth slides into a half smirk. “My dad’s great and all, but my mom and I haveverydifferent taste in men.”
I expect Brady to chuckle along with me, but he doesn’t. “What about in Rochester? Anyone special there?”
“Nobody that stuck.” I draw in another breath now. Admitting I’ve never had a serious boyfriend makes me a little queasy. “Whenever I thought a man might have potential, I’d find out there wasn’t a real spark. And I’ve always been so focused on what’s next, I probably kept them all at arm’s length anyway.”
“Them all?” Brady arches a brow. “How many men isthem all? Are we talkingdrovesof men?”
I reach across the couch and poke his chest. “Ha ha. Very funny.”
“I’m not kidding,” he says. “I’m sure more guys are attracted to you than you think.” He shrugs, acting casual, but there’s a new charge in the air between us. “I’ll bet you’ve left behind legions of brokenhearted men who confessed their love for you only to be rejected.”
“Heh. Heh. Heh.” This comes out less like a laugh now, and more like a protest. As much as I appreciate the playful side of Brady, he is way, way off. “The truth is,” I say, “no one’s ever been in love with me.” I put a hand over my heart. “I’ve always had plans to move on—first from here, then from school—so it was easier not to make attachments. I never let anyone get too close.” I drop my gaze, talking to my lap now. “For a while I worried there might be something wrong with me. Like I wasn’t meant for deep connections.” Heat crawls up my neck. “I think that’s why I ended up in nursing. I like feeling needed. I want to be wanted.”
Brady makes a strangled sound in the back of his throat, and I lift my chin. “I probably sound crazy.”
“No, I get it,” he says, the door to his feelings opening a crack. I lay a hand on his knee, and it’s like a flint strike.
“Okay, Brady. It’s your turn.”
ChapterEighteen
BRADY
