Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83718 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83718 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Molly
A blast of frigid air hits me in the face as we push out of the restaurant and race to Teagan’s car. I climb into the back, letting Shay have the front seat.
“Did you know Brayden would be there?” I ask.
“I did,” Shay says.
“Shay! What the hell? I just made an ass of myself.” And now I have this awful feeling in my stomach. Like maybe I’m in the way and if I already know I can’t be with Brayden, I have no right to keep him from someone who could plan a future with him.
Shay buckles up, then turns sideways in her seat to look at me. “It didn’t go as planned, okay? I thought Brayden would notice you were there and come over to say hi.”
I gape at her. “I see him every single day. I live with him. And you made me look like some sort of awful stalker because you were hoping he’d say hi?”
Shay and Teagan exchange a look, and Teagan says, “She was hoping Sara would see the way he looks at you and back off before trying to get him back.”
The way he looks at me? I swallow the bubble of hope those words put in my throat. It doesn’t matter how he looks at me. We are what we are, and nothing more. And anyway, she’s probably mistaking lust for something else. “I feel like a pawn, and I don’t like it.”
“I’m sorry.” Shay throws up her hands. “I swear I don’t normally meddle so much in my brothers’ love lives, but I’ve been protective of Brayden since Sara left, and Molly, the two of you are making me crazy. Can’t you just jump him before he makes a big mistake and takes her back?”
If my interaction with Brayden hadn’t cemented the second mimosa as a bad idea, I’m sure of it now as I try and fail to understand Shay’s logic. She took me to brunch hoping Brayden would say hi, and she wants me to jump her brother? Hello—been there, done that, plan to do it again tonight. “You’re not making any sense to me.”
“Has Brayden told you anything about Sara?” Shay asks as Teagan starts the car.
I frown. The night I met Sara was weird. Brayden practically pinned me against the building, and for a minute I actually thought he was going to kiss me, but he kept his history with Sara a secret. “Not much. He was pretty upset that I interfered, so I didn’t bring it up again after I got home. What happened between them?”
“I think he’d be irritated with me if I told you,” Shay says.
I sag in my seat in disappointment. “Okay. I understand.”
“So I’m going to do it,” Teagan says. She pulls out of her parking space and onto the road. “Ten years ago, right before Brayden was going to propose, the bitch cheated on him with one of her law professors.”
My stomach drops. “Oh, no.” I shake my head. “Wait. Teagan, I didn’t think you even lived here ten years ago.”
“I didn’t. I just know the story,” Teagan says, meeting my eyes in the rearview mirror. “He didn’t tell anyone what happened, but word got around. Brayden thought they could work through it.”
“He loved her so much,” Shay whispers.
“Then she ghosted him,” Teagan says. “She skipped town, changed her number, blocked him on social media, and told her family she didn’t want them to tell him where she was.”
I know my jaw is hanging open, but all I can do is shake my head. “She ran away from Brayden? Did she leave with the professor?”
“Nope. He still teaches at JHU. No one knows exactly why she left,” Teagan says, and Shay nods along in agreement, her lips sealed. “But it destroyed him. She was the love of his life.”
“That sounds like someone running from an abusive relationship.”
Shay turns up her palms. “I know, right?” She snaps her mouth shut again and looks at Teagan.
Teagan gives her a soft, sympathetic smile before continuing. “It killed him. He tore himself up trying to figure out what he did to make her feel like she needed to disappear like that.”
Shay turns back in her seat to face the road, and I barely hear her when she says, “He’s never been the same. Never moved on or wanted to . . .” Her eyes are sad when she slowly turns back to me. “Until you, Molly. Until you.”
Brayden
The stars shine so brightly tonight that I can almost forget about the bitter wind wrapping around me and threatening to seize my bones.
The back door clicks behind Molly as she joins me on the patio. After my breakfast with Sara, I spent the rest of the afternoon and most of my evening at the office. I wasn’t ready to face Molly or to think about how easy it was for her to downplay our relationship, as if she’d be happy to help me reconnect with Sara, happy to step aside. To leave.