By the time I’d gathered my things, Braden had already finished and disposed of his chili and was waiting for me with that irresistible dimpled smile. Instantly, I regretted my decision. An entire afternoon hanging out with my ex-boyfriend, who would undoubtedly take his shirt off at some point becausewhy the hell not? I would have to endure an afternoon of staring at his washboard abs, and that hardly seemed fair.
“Who’s all going to be there?” I demanded, following Braden as he led the way. I could see his 2002 Yamaha Big Bear secured in the bed of his truck ahead.
“Tessa, Brock, Travis, Gordon, Tommy, Ezra, Peter, Grady, Krista, Becky, and Aiden,” Braden replied, his eyes lingering on my lips for a moment.
“Aiden goes now?”
“Yup, he’s seven,” Braden said with a note of pride. “He has his own little ATV. You should see how he rips around on that thing. Brock bought it for him last summer.”
My heart clenched at the picture Braden painted for me. Back when we were together, I spenta lotof time with little Aiden. He had only been four at the time, and he’d been the sweetest kid. He had a huge heart and listened better than most of the adults I’d encountered. It sucked to think about the fact that I had missed three years of his life.
“Are we going to the usual spot?” I asked, needing to fill the silence.
In high school, we would always go to the property that Braden’s family owned. His grandfather had purchased 180 acres of land on a small lake in one of the little hamlets near Parry Sound, and he’d left sixty acres to each grandchild. Braden hadn’t officially owned his chunk of land until his twenty-first birthday, but nobody was going to stop us from mudding there, especially not when we were thirty-five acres away from the roads.
“Yeah,” Braden responded, rolling down the windows as he pulled carefully out of his spot. There were still a lot of people around, so he drove extra cautiously, wary of kids darting out from around vehicles.
He sped up when we hit the highway, and the wind blew the loose strands of my hair around. I closed my eyes, enjoying the warm breeze. In that moment, I was almost at peace.
Twenty-minutes later, Braden was pulling into Brock’s driveway. He backed it up slowly towards the garage, placing his right arm across the back of the seat—dangerously close to touching the nape of my neck.
Brock’s driveway was already jammed with vehicles, and all of the guys were hanging out in front of the open garage, along with Brock’s dog, Hunter. Once Braden put the truck in park, we hopped out. Braden, Brock, and Grady had ramps up and the ATV out within minutes, making the whole thing look more effortless than it actually was.
“Yay! I’m so glad you’re here,” Tessa squealed, jumping onto my back. We were practically the same size, but my knees still almost buckled as I hadn’t been prepared to suddenly take on her weight. “I know it’s completely last minute, but remember when we used to do things like this all the time? Throw a last minute plan together and wing it? God I miss those days,” she added with a laugh.
“I do too,” I admitted, my voice almost too quiet. Tessa tilted her head, taking a moment to study me.
“I know,” she said carefully, a mischievous glint to her eye. “So, here’s the run down. Basically everyone has their own ATV but you. Grady and Gordon brought their girlfriends, and Tommy’s got a friend here so you can’t ride with any of them.”
“I figured as much,” I sighed, shaking my head at her. I could almostseehow this was going to play out. She started leading me over to where all the ATV’s were parked, on Brock’s front lawn.
“You’re welcome to share mine though!” She grinned at me. Although she hadn’t even suggested riding with Braden, I knew that’s where her thoughts had taken her. I used to ride with him all the time. I had never owned an ATV, but I knew how to operate one. Braden would let me drive it whenever I wanted to, so I hadn’t felt the need to buy one for myself. “Here she is!” Tessa stopped and touched the handle of a sleek black 2016 Grizzly.
“When did you getthat?” I asked, almost whistling while I checked it out.
“The old Grizzly finally died for good, so Brock bought me a new one as my engagement gift!” Tessa’s dad had owned an old green 1999 Yamaha Grizzly that she borrowed all throughout high school. The thing was so old that it was constantly breaking down on the trails, and Braden was always trying to fix it for her.
“You get aringand an ATV? Damn. I need to get married,” I sighed, pouting at her. She laughed at me and rolled her eyes.
“You will, one day. And whoever the lucky guy is better spoil you like you deserve, or he’ll be learning a hard lesson from your best friend,” Tessa joked. “Let’s go help Becky, she’s in the kitchen trying to put coolers together.”
I nodded in response and we walked over to the open screen door that led into Brock’s kitchen. Becky had three coolers open on top of the large island counter and was hard at work making sandwiches. One of them was full of water and juice boxes, the second was full of beer and wine coolers, and the third one, Becky was filling with sandwiches and snacks.
“You’re such a mom,” I grinned at her, shaking my head. Becky froze for a fraction of a second, almost as if my words had wounded her. I had meant them as a joke, and immediately felt bad at the thought of having hurt her feelings. But before I could apologize, she was smiling and lifting her shoulder in a delicate shrug.
“You can’t turn it off,” she said, as if it couldn’t be helped. Tessa and I joined her at the counter and helped make a few more sandwiches.
“That should be enough,” Becky finally said, closing the lid on the food cooler. We each carried one outside and tied them to the storage racks on the back of Brock, Tessa, and Becky’s ATVs.
My eyes searched around the group of people that had gathered. Brock, Braden, Grady, Gordon, Tommy, Peter, and Ezra were hanging out by the garage still, and Aiden was beside Braden, his spine straight as he tried to stand up as tall as he could. Hunter lumbered over to him and nudged his hand with his head, as if insisting the boy stop what he was doing and stroke his fur. Aiden’s eyes lit up as he kneeled to pet the dog.
“He’s really shot up,” I remarked to Becky, smiling in his direction.
“He did,” Becky agreed, nodding as she gazed at her son.
“I bet he doesn’t even remember me,” I sighed. “Three years is a long time…”
“He remembers you,” Becky assured me, her voice sounding ominous. When I arched a brow in question, she shrugged. “There’s pictures of you in Braden’s room. He never packed anything away before he left, and I wasn’t about to do it.”
