That would also be ridiculous to assume. Especially when you considered Brynn’s own track record.
“I don’t have a ‘dating life,’” Hallie said, making air quotes with her one free hand. A hand that Brynn missed but had yet to pluck up the bravery to take back.
Instead, she rolled her eyes at Hallie, who seemed intent on sending her to an early grave today. If Brynn could even find her way there in this excruciatingly meandering conversation. “Which is your own choice.”
There was a world where Brynn could infer that Hallie having her friendship, and wanting only that, made it feasible for her to feel even less inclined to find a romantic partner. Hallie hadn’t wanted to date, even before Brynn had come on the scene.
Hallie put the glass elephant down, back in its place in a row with other exotic animals. “If you’d been on the date that I went on, you wouldn’t be eager to jump back on the horse either.”
“You have been suspiciously quiet about it,” Brynn cut in. Sure, she didn’t really want to know, but that didn’t change the fact that sheneededto. Especially with the new awareness that had taken root inside of her body that refused to let go.
Hallie had been on her one and only date weeks ago at this point, and all Brynn had gotten was that “they didn’t have chemistry.”
What did that even mean?
She was desperate to know what Hallie liked. And if there was a world in which it could be something that Brynn had to offer.
Finally, Hallie stepped back from the table and made eye contact. “It’s okay. I appreciate your concern, really, but I licked my wounds while talking to Sydney. I’m over it. I promise. I’m just not champing at the bit to get back out there.”
A stab of hurt coursed through Brynn at feeling on the outside of Hallie’s life. Especially when something was causing Hallie turmoil. “Sure. You should talk to whoever you feel most comfortable with.”
Instead of dwelling on the feeling hollowing out her chest, she walked down to the next table. Stained glass created scenes of—to very little surprise to her now, after they’d made it halfway through the vendors—coastal motifs.
“Hey,” Hallie said, coming to stand next to her. “I didn’t mean it like that. Sydney’s known me since I was eight. She’s seen me at my worst. And you… haven’t.”
“How would I, if you don’t let me be there for you?” Brynn asked, genuinely confused.
She hated to see Hallie sad, but she couldn’t pretend that she hadn’t felt undeniably closer to her on New Year’s Eve, whenHallie had come home and spoken so candidly about her life and her struggles with her family. It had made her so real to Brynn, in a way that had opened the door for everything between them that had come after.
“I like the way that you see me.” Hallie’s words were so quiet, it would have been easy to miss them in the din of the brewery. “I didn’t want to explain to you how embarrassing my date was, mostly because Ruby looked at me like I was the biggest loser on planet Earth. Including,” Hallie stressed seriously, “if we’re also counting 2025 PN7,” the name of the quasi-moon that had been discovered earlier in the year.
Brynn’s whole face flushed with color, and suddenly, it was like everyone else in the building disappeared. She leaned into Hallie, their shoulders brushing together, and tingles shot down her arm. “I knew that you were a big nerd on the inside,” she said before adding, “And anyone who doesn’t see you the way I do obviously has terrible taste in women.”
Hallie’s face broke into a smile that made Brynn’s heart skip a beat. “Suddenly an expert after a whole month of dating?”
“I’ve had a pretty excellent guide,” Brynn said as she willed Hallie to stay close to her. Physicallyandemotionally.
They were turning down the last row of vendors when Hallie stopped short, an uneasy look on her face. “Um… maybe I’ll grab another drink. Do you want one?”
Brynn looked over at Hallie’s half-full glass. It was a strange amount to drink if she didn’t actually like the beer. “Is something wrong?”
Hallie suddenly grew smaller, her eyes downcast, which made Brynn intently scan the rest of the space, especially the last row of vendors, where they had yet to wander.
That was when Brynn locked on Ruby, whom she recognized from her dating profile pictures. Her guess had been right. Even in the dead of winter, Ruby was wearing a tank top.
Hallie’s tense voice pulled Brynn’s attention back to her. “I didn’t even consider that she’d be here. Probably because I assumed it was so beneath her.”
Anger on Hallie’s behalf swept through Brynn. Forcefully. So much so that her hand not holding a beer clenched into a fist.
Who in their right mind would make Hallie feel badly about literally anything?
Sometimes, Brynn had these moments of clarity. At least, that’s how she referred to them in her head. They happened when everything slowed down and an answer became painfully obvious, like all the data points that she’d known but hadn’t yet connected lined up in a row, and she could see the big picture. Usually, it only happened when she was trying to understand a new concept, but most recently, it had been happening in other areas of her life, too.
Grant, earlier this year, had been the first time that she’d experienced it in a relationship, but even then, it had taken Reese pointing her in the right direction. Looking at his phone hadn’t made her feel good, but she knew that he’d never admit the truth to her.
And then she’d found, once she’d gone looking, the dating app. The messages with dozens of women. But worse than either of those was when she’d looked at his texts and had gotten a front row seat for how he talked about her to his friends. Like she was nothing more than Grant’s ticket to ascending the Devereux family throne.
At her rehearsal dinner, it was the one thing that she hadn’t mentioned in her presentation.
