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Loren laughed. “Please, men are worse than women when it comes to gossip. Nick found out from Bryson that you guys spent the night together, and he couldn’t get to my office fast enough to tell me. I’ve been trying to talk to you about it, but you’ve been avoiding me like the black plague.”
“I’ve been busy, that’s all.”
“Yeah, busy avoiding me.”
“I’ll have you know I’m busy with my new job. It’s a lot different interning and working there full time…as a real…person.”
I closed my eyes and cursed to myself.
“A real person as opposed to what?”
“It’s just now that I have a degree, they’re giving me more responsibility. That means working long hours and sometimes on the weekend. With the time I took off to come visit, I had a lot to catch up on.”
“Hmm, fine. I’ll give you that excuse. Now spill it, Rose. This is huge!”
I laughed again, but it sounded more like a nervous babble. “Why is it huge?”
Loren sighed. “First of all, this is so unlike either one of you. Believe it or not, Bryson is a really nice guy, and he doesn’t sleep around. He was in a long-term relationship for a while, and Nick said when it ended, Bryson said he was taking a break from dating. Just like when you said you were taking a break after he who shall not be named did to you what we don’t talk about because he’s a major asshole.”
I chewed on my lower lip; not sure I wanted the answer to my question. I asked anyway.
“Did she break his heart?”
Loren laughed. “God, no. I honestly don’t even know how Bryson stayed with her as long as he did. I think he was just too nice of a guy to break things off.”
“What was her last name?”
“Kennedy Owens. I never liked her at all. She was only with Bryson for the money and for the attention she got from being on his arm. Nick couldn’t stand her.”
“What did Bryson see in her, then?”
Loren paused for a few moments. “I’m not sure. They dated a long time; he knew her back from school in Montana, but they had only been friends then. From what I understand, they ran into each other one day and quickly started to date. I think deep down, he knew she was cheating. She was so pissed he broke up with her that she threatened to go to the press with some made-up lie about him. The dumbass put it in a text, though, and Bryson was smart enough to save it. She texted him for months after he broke up with her, begging him to give her another chance.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah. Wow is right. She’s crazy. Even tried to say she was pregnant in a desperate attempt to keep him. I’m glad she’s gone.”
With my attention back on the television, I watched as one of the batters hit the ball. Bryson ran toward first and caught the ball, getting the Sox player out. I fist pumped and jumped up and down while silently cheering.
“I bet,” I said as I settled back on the sofa, reached for my cup of tea, and took a drink.
“Now that we’ve gotten the crazy ex out of the picture, tell me everything…and do not leave a single thing out! By the way, are you watching the game?”
I grinned like a schoolgirl. I had been dying to talk about my night with Bryson but had been afraid to. It had been such an incredible evening, and a part of me had wanted to pretend it had been a dream so I could ignore the empty feeling I’d had since I walked away.
After telling Loren all about finding Bryson on the balcony, the stars, the long talks, and the amazing sex, she sighed, then said, “Why in the hell did you sneak out if it was such a great night?”
I groaned. “Loren, you know why I left!”
“No, I don’t know why you left. Enlighten me, will you?”
I dropped my head back and closed my eyes. “What good would it have done for me to wake up in his arms and realize that was it.”
“What was it?”
“That nothing else could happen between us. I was leaving to go back to Montana. I live here; he lives…. everywhere!”
“Just during the season.”
My laugh sounded bitter. “Which is long, and they hardly get any time off, and the days they do get off, they’re practicing. I hear you complain about Nick being gone all the time. And you live in the same city.”
She exhaled. “Okay, so I admit that maybe a future with you two wasn’t in the cards, but why sneak away? If it was that great of a night, why not end it with a goodbye fuck?”
I rolled my eyes. “Seriously?”
“Nick said Bryson seemed upset that you just left.”
