“I always thought you’d be writing books now.”
She shrugged. “I have a book done, actually—the first draft anyway. I just can’t find the guts to do anything with it.”
I squinted at her as I took a sip from the beer bottle. “You’re kidding me, right? What happened to the one you made me read in school?”
She let out a long sigh and nodded. “That’s the one. To this day, you’re the only one who’s seen it or even knows about it.”
“Scott doesn’t know you like to write.” Since we were in grammar school, Brianna wrote constantly. Poems, riddles, we’d watch a show and she’d say, ‘What if it ended like this . . . ’ Granted, she annoyed the shit out of me sometimes, but her excitement was always adorable and infectious. I couldn’t see that not being a part of who she was anymore.
“He’s more a corporate type of guy. Just started his own accounting firm with his brother. Writing, designing—he really doesn’t take it too seriously. He’d laugh his ass off if he knew about my book.” She shook her head with a sad laugh and took a long gulp of beer.
“Where did you meet him? Have you guys been together long?”
“We started dating only a couple of years ago, but we met in college. He used to tease me that my creative writing classes were ‘cute.’” She held her fingers up in air quotes. “He wouldn’t be interested in reading my book.”
“Are you guys . . . serious?” Trying to keep a casual tone while prayingshe said no was pretty fucking difficult.
“Yeah, I guess so.” Brianna nodded as she took a sip of beer.
Hmm.
“Give it to me.”
Brianna drew back in her chair. “What?”
“The book. You tortured me with it in school; at least grant me the courtesy of seeing how it ends.”
Brianna laughed and shook her head. “Josh, you don’t have to—”
“I want to. I’ll give you my email address. Send it to me and I’ll start right away. And I don’t know Scott, but he’s wrong. It takes talent to put words together, to make people stop and pay attention. Whether it’s a billboard or a book, I think being able to do that is amazing.”
Her cheeks flushed as she dropped her gaze to the floor. “Thank you.”
You’re amazingis what I wanted to say. And if Scott didn’t think so, I was about to give him a run for his money.
Brianna
JOSH FALCO WASsitting at my kitchen table. I pinched the inside of my thigh to check to see if it wasn’t a dream and covered my wince of pain with a smile as he filled me in on his life since he left.
A decade ago, he asked me to forget him and told me to move on. It took years before I stopped going through the motions and gave it a try. Josh only existed on the written pages he sent me, and pining for someone who would never come back didn’t make sense—no matter how many years I spent alone because no one compared to the boy I lost.
Now, here he was. Instead of the rotten scowl twisting his mouth, an easy smile spread across his lips as he filled me in on Falco Custom Cycles.
He’d cleaned up his life but still looked every inch the bad boy. Tattoos covered his arms from his biceps to his wrists. His hair was buzzed short with a couple days of stubble covering his cheeks. But he had the same twinkling eyes and crooked smile as the five-year-old boy who stole my heart.
“That’s a lot of tattoos.” I motioned to his decorated wrists with my beer bottle.
He shrugged. “Yeah, they can be addicting. You get one, and before you know it, you have ten. Plus, the old man always hated tats. My little act of rebellion that ran amok.” He shrugged with a wry grin.
“Where are you staying?” I rose from the table to clear the empty beer bottles. I’d downed the first one in an effort to get a handle on my nerves.
“In Astoria. Staying in the old neighborhood . . .” Josh grimaced as he trailed off. “I’m not ready for that. Not that anyone would be all that thrilled to have me back.” He cringed as he reached for another slice of pizza out of the box on the table.
“Screw them.” Ipfttd as I sat back down. “I’mthrilled you’re back.” I leaned across the table and squeezed his hand.
Josh slid his other hand over mine as a shy smile curved his lips. We still had that inexplicable connection, but it was a little different now. I’d known him all my life, but it was like we met for the first time tonight. I was breathless and jittery all at once.
“Well, you’re all that matters.” He took my hand in both of his and rested his forehead against our joined fingers. “I am so sorry, Bri.”
