He grunted.
Evie knew he didn’t want to hear about the good parts, but she also wanted to be truthful.
“Cameron and I had a perfectly fine relationship,” she said with a shrug.
He made aGet on with itgesture. “We only have about twenty minutes until we arrive at the school. Get to the part where Cameron is the asshole.”
She burst out laughing again.
“Fine, I’ll fast-forward through the not exactly exciting, but still pleasant years of the relationship. I thought things were just fine, but that all changed the day before I ran into you at The Sanctuary.”
“What happened?”
Evie adjusted the seat belt at her shoulder and settled back into the seat. It occurred to her that Ashanti and Ridley were the only people who had been given the whole story.
“I dropped by the house unexpectedly and caught him in bed with another woman,” Evie said. Remembering that afternoon still caused a slight ache in her chest, but it had already begun to lessen. Interesting.
“That figures.” Bryson grunted again. “Asshole. How canyou be in a relationship with someone for all those years and all of a sudden decide to step out on them?”
“He tried to make it seem like it was my fault. It made me wonder if this was the first time.” She twisted in her seat. “Was it?”
“Was it what?” Bryson asked, glancing at her before bringing his eyes back to the road.
“Did Cameron see other women when we were in college? You two were lab partners. Surely you talked about stuff—”
She stopped at his emphatic head shake.
“Hell no,” Bryson said. “Cameron and I were lab partners, not friends. We were the opposite of friends. He didn’t ask about my social life and I sure as shit didn’t care about his. And once I discovered that he was dating you?” He shook his head. “I would have thrown myself out the window of the vet med building before I listened to Cameron talk about your relationship. I wanted no part in it.”
That made sense. Cameron had never even mentioned Bryson’s name to her. He’d always referred to him as his “annoying lab partner” or “the perfectionist.” She couldn’t really see the two of them shooting the breeze.
“Well, there you have it,” Evie said. “That’s what happened. A tale as old as time.”
And one she knew the beats of all too well.
“I’ll say it again—he’s an asshole,” Bryson said. “A cheating asshole, which is the worst kind.” He switched hands on the steering wheel and reached across the console to take her left hand in his. “He never deserved you, Evie. It was obvious to me a decade ago. I’m glad you finally saw it, though I’m sorry you had to find out this way.”
She suddenly had a hard time swallowing. “Thank you for saying that,” she said.
She feared he would take his hand away, but he didn’t. Instead, he held on to her for another seven miles, until they turned off Highway 90. The solace she experienced from his simple touch wrapped around her heart like a warm, welcoming hug.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this way. It exposed more about her previous relationship than she wanted to explore. That was the past. The man holding her hand could be her future if she only allowed it to happen.
Ten minutes later, they pulled up to a beautiful redbrick building.
“Is this your high school?” Evie asked.
Bryson shook his head. “No. I went to a private school in Houma. This is the high school where most of the kids who grew up on this side of Terrebonne Parish go to school.”
They got out of the car at the same time and Evie came around to the back of the Jeep just as he was opening it. He pulled out an elongated duffel bag and held it up.
“Brought along a little show-and-tell,” he said.
Evie narrowed her eyes. “Is it something gross?”
“Of course,” Bryson said. “Well, it depends on the student. Some will think it’s gross, and others will think it’s cool. I think it’sverycool.”
They entered the school and were greeted by a woman with heavily teased hair like something out of an eighties music video. She introduced herself as Cheryl Anne, no last name.
