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His shoulders lift as he states, “What Brianna and I had is complicated.”
“How so?” I don’t know why I’m asking all these questions. I just… I feel like I’ve already screwed with Holden’s life, and maybe, selfishly, I don’t want to be responsible for this element of it.
“I met Bri a long time ago—the summer before I met you—and we started hooking up. Whenever I was in town, we’d reconnect. Not when I was with you, and not for the year after you left,” he says, squeezing my thigh. He removes his hand quickly as if it shouldn’t be there. “It was never anything serious. We were never exclusive. But when I came back here to live, we just kind of picked up where we left off. Obviously, we liked each other enough to keep going back. I guess I assumed that things would be different this time. I thought we were togethertogether,andshe was still fucking Colton this entire time.”
I drop my head between my shoulders. “I’m so sorry, Holden.”
“It’s okay. I’m far more blindsided than hurt, and it doesn’t make that much of a difference. I broke it off before I even knew that part.” He faces me again. “You ready?”
“For what?”
He stands, his smile sparking my own. “Part two of our goodbye.”
27
Jamie
Part two of our goodbye means getting in his truck and driving away. We hit the main road, turn left, and enter the next driveway, far more hidden than the main one. It’s only when I see his house come into view that I realize where we are. Only he doesn’t stop at the house. Instead, he passes it, following the unpaved road another half a mile until we get to a clearing that I assume was once a small parking lot. He stops in front of a gate and turns to me, saying, “Wait here.”
I’m giddy, and I don’t even try to hide it because it reminds me of the time he had me cut class with him to drive to another field—a field full of daisies.
When he returns from opening the gate, we drive only a few yards before he stops again. I crane my neck to look around us, but it’s almost pitch black where the headlights don’t reach. “Do you have your phone on you?” Holden asks.
“Yes, why?”
“Dang, so they can trace your body.”
“Holden!” I screech, backhanding his chest.
He feigns hurt, rubbing at the spot. “I’m kidding. But I do have to blindfold you now.”
“Stop it.” I cross my arms. “No.”
“You’re going to ruin my surprise,” he says, and then he pouts, and that stupid pout does something to me.
Two minutes later, I’m blindfolded, alone in the car, and I can hear him moving things from the back of his truck, then slight sounds I can only describe as pops of air. He opens and closes the back door, and a few moments later, he’s right beside me. He doesn’t say a word as he grips my waist, pulling me from the seat. I wish I had time to hold on to him before he plants my feet on the ground. He takes my hand, as if all of this is completely normal, and leads me a couple of steps away. Heat floats against my flesh, different from the outside temperature, and I bounce on my toes, the anticipation getting the best of me.
Then, standing behind me, Holden settles his hands on my hips. “Ready?” he asks, and I’m so grateful he’s behind me, so he can’t see how pathetically wide my grin is.
I nod, and he removes the blindfold completely. A giggle bursts from my lips as I turn to him. “This is amazing!” Before I can count all the tiki torches surrounding me, he’s leading me away again, this time to the back of his truck, where a blow-up mattress lays. I turn to him, my brow knitted.
He’s pressing his lips together to stop from laughing.
“What are—”
“It’s not what it looks like,” he says through a chuckle. “I swear.” He draws a cross over his heart.
“Then what is it?”
After a shrug, he states, “Remember when I gave you that product catalog?”
I nod.
“And you saw pictures of this place… you said that if you lived here, you’d sleep under the stars every night.” He shrugs. “So, that’s what we’re doing.Justsleeping.”
I turn to him, my heart in my throat. “You remember that?”
“I remember it all, Jamie,” he murmurs, offering me his hand to help climb onto the bed. But the truck is enormous, and he has to practically lift me onto it.
