AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Me:Thanks.
Hagan:Proud of you for making good decisions.
Me:Tell him Flynn and Dawes are with me.
He gives me the thumbs up emoji. I’m lucky to have reconnected with Harper and Hagan. There’s something about having friends that knew you when you were young. That shared past when we were free and didn’t have the weight of the world on our shoulders. Now, everything I do comes with an antagonizing amount of thought of the repercussions. It’s hard to just live. I’m guessing that’s why last night felt so good. I did what I wanted without thought other than making Brooke feel good.
We slide into the backseat of Logan’s Audi.
“Can you take us to McShane’s?”
“Yeah. Do you want to go in or just drop them off?” Logan asks Harper with his hand on her leg. Harper has a better handle on her anxiety now; being with Logan has made a difference in the way she handles it. “I know you have studying to do.”
I laugh. “We all know what that means. He wants to throw your anatomy books off the bed and let you study him.”
Harper reaches around from the front seat and hits me. “So, tell us about Brooke and your little study session this morning?”
Dawes shouts, “Oh, so that’s why you were smiling?”
Harper goes on and on about how Brooke’s eyes met mine, and she’s sure it’s true love.
Pointing to Flynn, I say, “Well, it was cut short because this asshole’s girlfriend slept with a basketball player, but we’ll probably study together next Sunday.”
Harper claps her hands in quick succession. “I knew it. Let’s go in for a bit so I can hear all about it.”
Logan pulls into the parking lot. It’s dark and cold, but I leave my black jacket in the car, so I don’t have to keep up with it or worry about someone spilling beer or throwing up on it.
The bar is replaying the College Football National Championship game so when Logan walks in, the crowd cheers. He flashes them a smile and says thank you. This is why he’s the face of the university. But I’m going to be the face of the hockey team by the end of the year. I’m going to work my ass off to get Dawes and Flynn on that first line.
Dawes and Flynn go to the bar to buy a round, while Harper and I secure a table. The NFL playoffs begin in an hour, so the bar will be packed.
“So, have you and Logan thought any further about getting married?”
She smiles. “We will at some point, but neither of us want any additional stress until we know where he’ll be drafted.”
“It’ll suck if he’s across the country, and you’re here in med school.”
She twiddles a sugar packet and says, “It’s advantageous that my brother is his agent and is informing teams up front that Logan will be with me when I’m in labor and for at least two weeks after we have our little girl. Do you ever think that far into the future?”
I scoff, “Me? I don’t belong around kids.”
Harper’s face falls momentarily, but she musters a faint smile and places her hand on my back. “Your past doesn’t define you. Got it? Besides, I remember you did some babysitting not long ago.”
Why in the world did that lady trust me with her child? “I was doing some handyman jobs, helping with her raised garden, putting in a ceiling fan. I watched her son for a couple of hours because of an emergency. She never called for me to watch him again. He probably told her I was teaching him how to fight.”
“You did not.” She slaps my arm. “Reed, when are you going to let someone see the part of you that you show me?”
The truth? I don’t know. Harper trusted me with her anxiety over Logan. We had long talks while he was on the road, throwing the pigskin around, and I ended up dumping my issues on her. “You don’t want to feel special?” I act like she’s killing me.
The guys are walking towards us, and she turns her head and says, “We’re ride or die, Reed. You’re one of my best friends in the whole world, and I just want you to lose this bad boy image and find a nice girl like Brooke.”
“Ahh. I don’t want a nice girl, do I, boys?” I ask as the guys weave their way back to the table.
Flynn and Dawes shout, “Hell no.”
“Just tell me if you’re going to see her again?”
Knitting my brows together, I say, “I don’t kiss and tell.”
