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"What are you doing here? Why aren’t you at the party?"
How can she even ask that?
"It’s an engagement party that’s missing a very crucial guest of honor.” I take the swing next to her, bumping her with my shoulder.
I start pumping my legs. She smiles and follows suit. For the next few minutes, we just swing, so high it feels like we’ll touch the clouds. We eventually realize we’re no longer twelve and gradually come to a stop.
“I saw Trevor at the party. He said the two of you talked. What did he say?”
My question hangs in the air. Her eyes dart around the playground, clearly avoiding my gaze. I don’t understand. Everything was so good just a few days ago. What did Trevor say to her? “Brinn.”
Her lips part slightly like she’s going to respond, then close quickly. But I’m not giving up on her. She never gave up on me, even when she had every reason to.
Rubbing her temples, her face contorts with lines of stress. I stand and move behind her, putting my hands on her shoulders and begin massaging. “This ok?” I ask. She nods.
I press a little deeper. “I remember seeing you here on the swings when we were young. I knew most of the time you came because you were upset with your parents, but some days I knew it was my fault for ignoring you when I was with Greyson. I was so immature. You didn’t deserve to be treated like that.”
Without turning around, she asks, “That’s how you knew I’d be here?”
I shift to the sides of her neck, continuing to try and release some tension. “Yes. I’ve always known this place brought youpeace. I know I acted like you were invisible to me, but you weren’t. I saw you then, just like I see you now.”
She grabs my hands, gently rubbing her thumbs along the top of them. Her touch sends a cascade of tingles through my skin. “Thank you for telling me. It means a lot.”
I move to the front of the swing, kneeling at her feet. “Brinn, please tell me what happened with Trevor.” My eyes plead with her.
Brinn’s shoulders slump as she kicks at the dirt on the ground. Then finally, a subtle surrender, and with a sigh, she relents. "Trevor called me very late a few nights ago. He admitted trailing us to Malibu a day early because he suspected our relationship was fake. He knew somebody at the front desk of the hotel and found out we had separate rooms.”
She nibble on her lip. “He said not to come to the engagement party. If I did, he would expose our lie online and ruin your reputation. But if I walked away, he would let it go. I couldn’t risk coming, couldn’t let him hurt you.”
“No wonder he was smirking at me at the party. He thinks he won, but he’s wrong.”
She looks at me with pain in her eyes, “No, he’s not wrong. Without our engagement, you don’t meet the criteria to take over the company. This whole thing falls apart. Trevor will assume control.”
How can I make her see that taking over Shieldify isn’t what matters anymore?
I’m suddenly lost in my thoughts about this journey with Brinn. A smile creeps onto my lips thinking back on how far we’ve come. On the first day of therapy I threw an adult tantrum and stormed out. Now, I don’t ever want to leave her side.
I would love to take over the family firm, but it takes a backseat to my relationship with her. “Why in the world are you smiling right now?” She pulls me back to reality.
“I was just thinking about when this all started. I never wanted to go to physical therapy, and then there you were, my best friend’s sister. I can admit now you stole my breath when I first saw you. I played it off pretty well though, huh?”
Brinn playfully punches me in the arm.
“I was so broken. I never thought I could be happy again. But you changed all that, changed me. You brought out a gentler side I didn’t know was still in there. You make me want to be a better man, an even better husband.” She gasps. “Someday.” We both laugh.
“Ok good.” She smiles. “I’m not quite ready for that.” We lean together, foreheads touching. I delicately run my fingers over her ears and down to her neck.
“Me, either, but we’ll get there. There’s no hurry. I just want to be with you, protect you, love you.”
She pulls back to look deeply into my eyes. “Love me?”
Time suspends in this moment, our connection intensifying with every breath. “Yes, love you. I can’t help it.”
She inhales a quick breath. “It’s possible I can’t help it either.”
An indescribable warmth spreads through my chest. A happiness that resonates deep inside my soul, one I’ve never felt before, knowing she loves me too.
Brinn Parker loves me.
