‘Not right now. You know how it is around here. There’s only so many single women and I’ve dated most of them, at least the ones close to my age. My brothers have been giving me a hard time for dating girls in their early twenties but that’s all I’ve got left unless I want to go older. And the older ones are married. Hey, speaking of women, I wanted to ask you about Mia.’
‘Miawho?’
‘Mia Daniels. Lacey’s friend. She was at your wedding.’
‘OhthatMia. Yeah, I know who you mean. What about her?’
‘Has Lacey talked to her since the wedding?’
‘No. I don’t think so.’
‘But they’re still friends, right?’
‘Yeah, they just got busy and haven’t talked. Why are you asking about Mia?’
‘I guess I’m just looking for some advice. That night of the wedding we um .?.?. got to know each other. I didn’t think I’d hear from her again, but the other night she called me, saying she wanted to come here and have dinner.’
‘What do you mean when you say you got to know each other? Like you guys talked or did something happen?’
‘Something happened.’
‘What? You guys kissed?’
‘We did more than that. We spent the night together.’
‘No shit? And you’re just telling me this now?’
‘I didn’t tell anyone. Well, I told Brody, my younger brother, but that was an accident. I was drunk.’
It was Sunday night, the night after the wedding, and I was drinking to try to forget about Mia. By the time Brody came over, I was drunk. He asked me about the wedding and I told him about Mia but made it sound like it wasn’t a big deal, like she was just some girl I met and we ended up back in my room. The next day I asked Brody to keep quiet about what I told him, but of course he’d already told Nick and Sawyer. When they asked me about her, I did the same thing I did with Brody. I pretended Mia was just some girl, not the girl I fell for in a way I’ve never fallen for anyone else.
‘So what happened?’ Noah asks. ‘Did you guys go out after that?’
‘No, we decided not to. She’s graduating in a few weeks and going back to Boston. We didn’t want to start something knowing she’d be leaving in a few months. We decided not tosee each other after that night. That’s why I’m trying to figure out why she called and why she wants to have dinner.’
‘Maybe she just wants to say goodbye before she moves back.’
‘But why? Why say goodbye to someone you haven’t seen in months? It’s not like we’ve been talking this whole time.’
‘I could ask Lacey, but I don’t think she’d have an answer. This sounds like something between you and Mia. She obviously still likes you if she wants to see you. Maybe she wants another night with you,’ he says, a smile in his voice.
‘That’s not it. If she just wanted sex, she could get it from someone else. She’s gorgeous. She could have any guy she wants.’
‘But she wants you, which tells me that night you guys shared was more than just sex.’
‘It was,’ I say with a sigh. ‘Honestly, it was the best night of my life. We talked. We laughed. We—well, I don’t need to go into details. The point is, I never forgot her. Even now, all these months later, I wake up thinking about her and go to bed thinking about her. I can’t get her out of my head.’
‘Damn, man, you got it bad.’
‘I know, right? And the worst part is, we can never have anything more than that night. I finally find this amazing girl who’s everything I could ever want and she’s moving away in a few weeks.’
‘Maybe she’s not. Maybe she changed her mind. Maybe that’s why she wants to talk to you.’
‘I don’t think so. She was adamant about going back. She told me about her parents and how she wants to be close to them since she’s their only child.’
‘Yeah, and her parents are old. She probably thinks she doesn’t have much time left with them.’
‘And I totally get that. I’m the same way with my parents. It’s one of the reasons I want to stay in Haydon Falls. That’s why Mia and I decided to end things that night. We both knew we wouldn’t be able to make this work.’
