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“Really good. Beth is in her second year at Swindell Community College. She’s waitressing over at Jack and Lorinda’s place. And Braiden graduates high school this year if you can believe it.”
“Little Braiden,” I say, shaking my head in disbelief. The last time I saw Brylan’s little brother he was fourteen, scrawny as they come, and was terrified of girls. The exact opposite of his older brother.
“Hard to believe, right?” He chuckles. “What about you? How’s everyone?”
“Good. Really good. All the boys still work on the ranch with Dad. Mom still keeps them all in line.”
“And you? Still living in Los Angeles?”
“Yep.” I nod, rocking back on my heels and leaving out the full truth. In my mind I still do live in L.A. I just don’t have a place there at the current moment.
The mention of L.A. seems to put a cloud over the conversation and we both fall silent. Brylan never understood or supported my decision to pursue acting which is the main reason why I ended things shortly before I left for California. He insisted we could make it work, I knew we couldn’t. We were two very different people, and still are by the looks of it.
“Well, I should probably get going. My mom gave me a list as long as my arm of things she needs from the market.” I force a smile.
“Okay.” He nods slowly. “Well, it was good seeing you, Laken.” He steps to the side as I pass.
“Yeah, you too.” I throw a small wave over my shoulder before quickly taking off through the library.
I swear my feet no more than hit the sidewalk outside when I hear Brylan again.
“Hey.”
I whip around to see him exiting the library. He jogs the few feet to where I’m standing.
“Some of the guys are throwing me a sort of unofficial graduation party out at Tambers Lake next Saturday. You should come.”
“I don’t know.” I hesitate, honestly pretty caught off guard by the invitation. It’s not as if the two of us parted on the best of terms. If I remember correctly the last words he spoke to me before today were“I hope Hollywood chews you up and spits you out. And when you come crawling back here, because you will, I’ll be here to rub it in your face.”
“Oh come on. It’ll be fun. A lot of your old friends will be there. I’m pretty sure Chris and Ben are coming. They’re friends with Beth.”
“I’ll think about it,” I tell him, not wanting to commit but not totally ruling it out either.
It would be nice to see some of my old friends from high school–most of which I haven’t spoken to since I left. I’m not proud of the way I picked up and took off, but back then it felt necessary. Hell, now that I think about it, I’m not sure if any of my old friends would even want to see me.
“Eight o’clock. You remember where?” he asks.
“Like I could forget.” I roll my eyes, having been to more parties there in high school than I could probably count.
“Good. I really hope you come.” He gives me a wide smile, then spins on his heel, taking off in the opposite direction.
If you would have asked me this morning what would have transpired if I ran into my ex-boyfriend, this would have been the exact opposite of what I would have said. I would have expected him to avoid me or, at the very least, be an asshole. But he did neither of those things. Hell, if I had to guess I’d almost say he was happy to see me.
Just goes to show you never really know. People can be just as unpredictable as life itself.
