“Oh,” she said, forgetting that she didn’t have her hair in the loose ponytail that he was so used to. “I’m actually going on a date.”
Knox’s eyes grew wide for a moment, but he quickly smiled.
“A date, whoa,” he said. “Well, you look awesome. Who’s the lucky fella?”
“This guy I met on campus last week. You never answered me. What are you doing here?”
“Oh, yeah, I, uh, Grady and his roommates are having a big party tonight, so I told them I’d come down. I was gonna actually call you while I was here, to see if you wanted to get breakfast or something.”
She nodded. It was true that Knox and Grady were still good friends, but they definitely weren’t as close as she and Knox were. And she was actually a little irritated that he had made the trip, but hadn’t called her ahead of time to make sure she was around. Was he avoiding her? Well, whatever. It didn’t matter now. She had a date to get to. A hot, sexy, almost-doctor date.
“Got it. Well, yeah, maybe if I have time. Just let me know. I gotta run,” she said.
“Yeah, yeah, go ahead. I’ll text you.”
Barely a moment later, Drew pulled up in his black Lexus. He got out and walked around the front of the car, opening the passenger door like a gentleman. He took her hand.
“You look amazing,” he said. She felt her heart flutter at a million beats a minute.
Dinner was delectable, and the company wasn’t bad either. Drew took her to a fancy steakhouse a few miles from campus, where they talked about their families, their hometowns, and their academic pursuits.
“I’ve always wanted to be a pediatrician, ever since I was a kid,” he said, signing the receipt and handing the bill back to the waiter.
“Really? Even when you were a kid?”
“Yeah. When I was a kid, my sister, Natalie, got really sick. She had some crazy infection, and our pediatrician figured it out before it was too late. Ever since then, I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to help kids. Plus, it will make it a little easier to make sure my own kids are healthy, one day.”
Whoa. Kids. Out of all the dates she’d been on, and all the friends she’d had, all the guys she’d met, Drew was the first one to bring up having a family before Bria. Man, she couldn’t wait to be a mom. Even at fifteen, sixteen years old, she knew that’s the main thing she wanted out of life. She wanted a career, and a good job, and a marriage. And she wanted kids.
She thought about all the times Knox freaked out about it. “I don’t even know what I want to do tomorrow, and you’re already planning to create some tiny humans, and take care of them. Crazy,” he’d say. She had laughed. She knew most people their age felt the same way he did. She was supposed to be concerned with how she could sneak some booze for the next party, or whether she would pass the AP History exam. . .not planning how she would pay off her student loan debt so that she could save for a house.
“So, you want kids?” Bria asked Drew, taking a sip of her water with feigned nonchalance. Earlier, when the waiter had asked if either of them wanted a sample of wine, she had tried to change the subject so that it wouldn’t occur to him that she still couldn’t legally drink.
“I can’t wait to be a dad,” he responded. “I mean, I can wait. I have to, just because of school, and my residency and stuff. But I can’t wait.”
“Yeah, me either.” Bria responded, a grin sneaking across her lips.
The ride home was quiet, but pleasant. Jack Johnson played low on the radio. She wasn’t the biggest fan, but it was good listening music. She bobbed her head back and forth to the music, letting her fingers drum on her legs. She kept her head turned out the window so that she wouldn’t be tempted to keep staring at him. He really was gorgeous. The contrast of his icy blue eyes and tan skin made him look like some sort of cologne model. He was so put-together, and he smelled so damn good. His hair was short, but thick. . . there was definitely enough there to run her fingers through, to tug on gently while they. . .she cleared her throat and tugged at the hem of her dress, as if it had inched up in response to her dirty thoughts. When she finally succumbed to her desire to look at him, she was surprised to see that he was doing the same, with a melt-worthy grin on his face.
“Well,” he said, pulling up to the lot. “Let’s get you back to your place.” He unbuckled his seatbelt.
“Oh, no, you don’t have to walk me in.”
“Nonsense. It’s dark now. Can’t have you walking across campus by yourself.”
She thought about protesting him again, but decided against it. She wasn’t quite ready for the date to be over.
“So, listen, I had a great time tonight,” he said, as they strolled up to the door of her dorm. “Would you want to do this again, sometime?”
She looked up at him, his eyebrows raised slightly in anticipation. How could he possibly think her answer would be anything but yes?
“Definitely,” she said. He leaned down, landing a soft kiss on her lips.
“I definitely need to hear more about this Dalesville place,” he said with a smile. “Does this weekend work?”
“Yeah, sure! Thank you again. Tonight was great.” She kissed him again, letting her hand slide up his neck and into his hair.
That night, as she was shaking her shoes off and unzipping her dress, still in a haze from the date, her phone buzzed on her bed.
Breakfast tmrw? Knox. She stared down at it. But as she thought about the kiss, and pictured a few more of them, she totally forgot to respond.
TWENTY-ONE
Now
As she got in her car after work, her phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Hey, babe,” Drew said, sounding extra chipper.
“You’re calling early,” she said.
“I know. I got off early today, and I was thinking I could come up there for the night.”
“You want to come up to Dalesville?” she said. It wasn’t often that Drew came to Dalesville, and when he did, it was never his own idea.
“Yeah. I haven’t seen your family in a few weeks. And I thought it would be nice for you to not have to drive into the city.”
“That would be wonderful,” she said without hesitation. “You know I’m down with any chance to see you.”
“Great. I’ll see you in a little bit. I love you.”
“Love you, too, babe. See you soon.”
Drew got to the Kreeries’ right before dinner.
“Come on in, sweetie, you’re just in time,” Louise said, kissing his cheek as she carried a platter full of chicken to the table.
“Yum, it smells delicious,” he said.
“Hi, babe,” Bria said, making her way toward him and wrapping her arms around his neck. He kissed her hard and long, long enough to make her feel uncomfortable in front of her mom. She cleared her throat as she pushed him away gently. “Was traffic bad?”
“Nope, not at all.”
Dinner was fine. Her father made small talk with Drew about golf, and Katie gave them the scoop on her “hot new science teacher.” Sam was happy to be back home, still on the job hunt. Bria smiled as she watched everyone interact. For so long, she thought she wanted someone to get her away from all of this. She didn’t want a reminder of the constant struggle. She wanted to be away from all things Dalesville. But lately, Dalesville didn’t seem so bad.
Shortly after dinner, the rest of her family called it a night.
“So,” Drew said, sneaking in behind her to kiss the back of her neck as she washed the last of the dishes, “what’s there to do around here after 9 p.m.?” Bria laughed.
“Not much. We could go cow tipping, or rearrange the crop signs on Mr. Jacob’s farm.” Drew stared at her blankly. “I’m kidding.”
“Oh, thank God. It’s hard to tell around here sometimes.” She rolled her eyes.
“Well, Andy’s is still open. We could go for a drink?” He smiled as he kissed her neck again and playfully tapped her butt.
“Let’s g
o.”
When they walked in, the lighting was dim as always. They seated themselves at a back booth, leaning across the table and holding hands. Out of the corner of her eye, Bria saw two people, also stretched across a booth table, making out like two teens in the back of a movie theatre.
“Jesus, get a load of that,” Drew said, taking a sip of his beer.
“Knox,” she gasped. Knox. With his tongue down Karly’s throat.
“Knox?” Drew asked, just a little too loudly. She glared at him. They stopped kissing and looked over. Knox looked down at the table and cleared his throat before standing up to walk over. He held out his hand to Karly, leading her to them.
“Hey, guys,” Knox said. “Good to see you. Ah, Bria, you remember Karly, right?”
Bria nodded, smiling. “Of course, how are you, Karly?” Ugh. Bria wanted to hate her so much. She wanted to point out all things wrong with Karly. But that was easier said than done. Karly was still as flawless as ever, long legs and all. And honestly, she’d probably be good for Knox. She’d probably be good to him. It really had been years since she had broken his heart. Good for him. Bria was happy for him. Really. Well, sort of. Mostly, she was happy for him. But she was also sort of panicking, and she wasn’t sure why.
“I’m doing well. It’s so nice to see you, Bria,” Karly said.
“And this is. . .” Knox said, holding his hand out to Drew.
“Drew,” Drew said, obviously perturbed. Bria glared at Knox. He knew Drew’s name.
“Yes, this is Drew, my fiancé.”
“Nice to meet you,” Karly said. “When’s the big day?”
“In April,” Bria said. “We’re getting there. We can’t wait,” she said, squeezing Drew’s hand. She heard herself saying the words, but it was like a record playing. They were involuntary, rehearsed.
“So exciting,” Karly said, seeming as genuine as ever. Ugh. Stupid Karly.
“Hey, you know what would be fun?” Bria heard herself saying it, and hated the idea as it poured of out of her mouth, but she couldn’t stop herself. “We should go on a double-date sometime this week.”
Drew and Knox both looked at her quizzically. What on earth made that sound fun?
“Uh, yeah,” Knox said, hesitantly.
“That would be great,” Karly added.
“Great,” Drew said, taking another swig of beer.
Bria didn’t know why she had suggested it. She didn’t really want to see them together. But she also felt that if she could be with the two of them, she’d have more control over the situation.
“Great! Maybe Tuesday? We could go out in Bethesda?”
“Sounds great,” Knox said, looking at her with not so much as a smile on his face.
“Why would you do that?” Drew whispered, once he was sure they were out of earshot.
“Why not?”
“Because. . . it’s weird. You guys aren’t even friends anymore. She clearly is not looking forward to it. Maybe more than I’m not.”
“Oh, stop. We were good friends. It’ll be good to catch up.” Bria spoke as if she thought it wouldn’t be the most awkward social situation she had been in since high school. But as she took a nervous gulp of her drink, she knew it totally would be.
Bria sped back to the apartment from her office Tuesday, anxious to pick out just the right outfit. One that was nice enough for dinner, but also one that showed off her shape for Knox. Oops. Drew, not Knox. She wanted to look good for Drew.
She found a sleek pink dress in her closet that was probably Samantha’s, not that she would ever wear it. Since she had come out, Sam’s style had become much more lax, maybe because she felt like she didn’t have to pretend to enjoy getting gussied up anymore. The dress had a high neckline, but it was skin-tight. The perfect amount of sexy.
Bria added a pair of black pumps, and straightened her long brown hair. Like clockwork, Drew walked in the door.
“Babe, I’m home,” he called from the kitchen. “Let’s get this over with.” She rolled her eyes as she walked out from the bedroom. Drew’s jaw dropped. “Damn.”
“What?”
“We should go out with Knox more often, if you’re gonna look this good,” he said, pulling her into him and laying a long kiss on her. She played it up, pressing her body against his, running her fingers through his hair, but her mind was on the door. They were going to be late.
“Let’s go,” she whispered, finishing off the long, drawn-out kiss with a peck. He followed her like a puppy out the front door.
They waited fifteen minutes for Knox and Karly, leaving Drew to bitch about the fact that they couldn’t be seated until the whole party was there. Finally, she heard a familiar sound—Knox’s hearty laugh. Although, it didn’t lift her up like it normally did; instead, it broke her a little bit. Because he wasn’t laughing with Bria. He was laughing with Karly. They walked in, his arm around her waist. She looked perfect, as always. And she probably didn’t even try. Stupid fucking Karly.
“Sorry we’re late,” Knox said, looking down at Karly, “we forgot how far away from the rest of the world Dalesville is.”
They both laughed like it was the funniest damn thing anyone had ever said.
“It’s fine,” Bria said, “let’s just get our table.”
To her surprise, dinner started off well. Probably because Karly and Drew actually hit it off, talking about their med school experiences for a solid twenty minutes, while Knox and Bria sat quietly. When there was a break in the med school chatter, Bria seized the opportunity to bring up stories of her and Knox. She reminisced about the times they drove around Dalesville at all hours of the night eating pizza and ice cream. As she spoke, she knew that not a single person at the table wanted to hear her mundane tales, but she couldn’t stop. She wasn’t sure who she was telling them for, honestly. If it was for Drew, or Karly, or maybe a reminder to Knox, of their deep, true friendship. Finally, Drew changed subjects.
“So, you two dated in high school, and then got back together?” Drew asked. The table went silent. “Something like that, right?”
Knox cleared his throat. Karly looked extremely uncomfortable, tracing the edge of her wine glass with her finger.
“Yeah, something like that,” Knox said, pulling her in close to him, as if to reassure her that it was all in the past. “Karly here was the only girl who really tied me down.” He smiled at her, looking straight into her dumb, beautiful blue eyes.
“Yeah, then Karly here completely broke Knox’s heart,” Bria heard herself say. She choked on the sip of wine she tried to take, not fully believing she actually spoke the words out loud. But judging by the look on Knox’s face, she definitely had.
“We were kids,” Knox said, glaring at her wide-eyed. “It wasn’t a big deal.”
“Yeah, tell that to sixteen-year-old-me, who had to take care of ya after,” she said. Jesus, Bria, tone it down a notch. She tried giggling, as if that made the conversation a little lighter.
“Excuse me for a moment, I’m just going to run to the restroom,” Karly said quietly, scooting out from the booth.
Drew looked from Bria to Knox, unaware of the heaviness of the conversation the two were having without speaking a single word. Just then, Drew’s cell phone rang on the table, that horrible, circus-like song that Bria hated so much.
“Oh, this is the hospital. I need to take this,” he said. When he walked away, Knox glared up at her again. They sat in silence for a moment, until he broke it.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“I—“
Drew cut in, jogging back toward the table, “Bria, I’m really sorry, but they need me back at the hospital.” He grabbed his coat, leaned down and kissed her. “Do you want me to run you home real quick?”
“No, I’ll take a cab.”
“Okay,” he said. “Sorry about this, man. Rain check?”
“Sure thing,” Knox said, standing and shaking his hand. Karly came around the corner, looking like someo
ne had told her that her nail polish was chipped.
“Knox, I’m actually not feeling great. . .”
“No problem. We’re heading out anyway.”
“Bye, Bria,” Karly said, walking to the front door of the front restaurant. She didn’t stick around long enough for Bria to say goodbye back. Knox still sat across from her in the booth, the glare cutting through her like a laser beam.
“What are you doing, Bria?”
“I don’t know, I guess I’m just overprotective. You know how I am.”
“Ya know what, Bria,” he said, shaking his head, “that’s bullshit. I don’t come in, causing issues with you and your fiancé. Why do you need to do this? Ya know, all those years, you had someone else. It was fine for you to have a boyfriend. And now, when I finally have someone else, it’s a problem?”
She didn’t know what to say. She just stared at him.
“I’m serious. Don’t mess things up for me. More than you already have. There’s always a Drew, or a Brett, with you. Let me have a Karly.”
She watched him walk away, sitting alone in the booth. She had never thought about it that way, before. For most of their friendship, she had recognized that Knox sometimes used her, then had no problem dropping her in public when a dazzling blonde came along. But she never considered the fact that she had used him, too. He was her backup, her go-to when another guy had broken her heart or pissed her off. But she lived for Knox to be her hero. She wanted to him to be the one that saved her every time.
“Is the party leaving?” the waitress asked, startling her.
“Oh,” she jumped, “um, no, not leaving. Just, dwindled down to one, I guess.”
“No problem. I’ll be right back with another glass of wine.”
Later that night, as she lay on the expensive leather couch Drew had insisted they buy, watching Fresh Prince of Bel Air reruns, Bria couldn’t ignore the huge knot growing in the pit of her stomach. She replayed each part of the brief, but biting speech Knox had given.
First of all, why did he need to point out that she was rarely without a boyfriend when they were young? Was he saying that he would have liked a chance? Or was he just saying that she was hardly single?
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