Brandon lightly smacks Bray’s arm, gesturing towards me. "Look at what you’ve done.”
Bray winces at the contact, his cheeks lighting up a hot pink color.
“Shit, no, nothing bad happened. Everyone’s okay.”
I visibly relax, sinking back into the cushion of the booth as I exhale a breath of relief. There’s still a lingering set of nerves, because now I’m even more confused than when I sat down.
“Bray, I love you, man, but you need to work on your timing.” I tease.
“I’ve never had any of the ladies tell me otherwise.” He winks, trying to be cute.
A throat clearing has us turning towards Violet, who’s back with our drinks. She walks over to the opening of the booth as she places each of our drinks on the table. “Anything else I can grab you all for now?”
“No, thanks. We appreciate it, Vi,” Brandon says.
She smiles over at him and nods before turning away, a quick pace to her step. Not once during that interaction did she dare look over at Brayden.
“Just spill it, Bray. Tell me what’s going on, because I’m kinda lost over here.”
Brandon is the one to speak. “Last night after you left,Kailyn sat us all down and told us everything about you two.”
Butterflies take over my entire stomach, a lightness creeping in.
She told them everything? What does that mean?
I take a sip of my drink, wanting a moment to clear my throat so my voice doesn’t crack.
“How much of everything?” I need to know exactly what she told them before I say something stupid or spill something that they don’t know about.
“She told us everything. From your relationship in high school, to why she left and how it was a misunderstanding, to you both reconnecting,” Brandon says, taking a sip of his water.
“She poured her heart out to us last night, telling us everything we missed back then and what she went through with the bullying and her insecurities. We had a full family heart to heart about you two.”
The butterflies only intensify the more I hear from them. She actually told them everything? She spilled her heart out and gave them her truest pieces?
Was it for me?
Was it for her?
Was it for us?
Regardless of why she did it, I’m proud of her for the growth she’s done in the time we’ve been separated.
No matter how many times I wish that things had gone differently, I’m almost grateful for those ten years because we each found ourselves and learned to grow apart.
Sitting here now, I know that this is what my dad meant when he said we were right for each other, it was just the wrong time for us.
“I’m glad she was able to tell you when she was ready,” I tell them honestly.
“We’re sorry that you felt like you couldn’t tell us, Jake,” Brayden says, moisture building behind his eyes. He looks down at the table of drinks, the condensation trickling down the sides of each glass. “I know there were those nasty rumors going around about you, but you know we never believed any of them, right?”
“I know you didn’t.” I knew that I was going to be vulnerable with them, but I wasn’t prepared for how emotional it would make me. “From the second I met you sister, I knew she was it for me. Her smile was my favorite thing to see, especially after a shitty practice. Her laugh was my favorite sound to hear, because I knew she didn’t do it often, and when she did I knew she was truly happy. I wanted to tell you both, but I was afraid.”
“Afraid of what?” Brandon asks, a softness to his voice.
“Kailyn asked me to keep us a secret, because of everything she was going through. I wanted to respect her wish, even if I was ready to tell everyone how wrong they were about her. I would’ve walked up and down every hall of that school and shouted about how I had the best girl there, and that I was the lucky one to have her love. But she was so insistent on keeping us a secret even from you both, and I couldn’t go behind her back.”
While all of that is true, there’s one more reason I never told them about Kailyn and I. She was brave enough to tell her entire family everything about her life, her insecurities, and her fears.
