Her mouth closes immediately, and her eyes widen.
I keep going before I can stop myself. “The guy at June’s store…” I suck in a breath. “He’s the one. From that football party I went to in high school.”
She gasps. “The one who dragged you into the room and…”
“No!” Frazzled, I wrap my arms around my middle. “No, not Noah. Sorry, I’m not being clear. Brayden—the cowboy from June’s store—is the one who knocked on the door and who I threw myself against when I escaped from Noah.”
A slow smile spreads across Sophia’s face. “Brayden is the guy who tried to save you? The one who gave you your first real kiss?”
“Yes.”
“And now he works at June’s store. Interesting.”
“He lives on Big River Ranch.”
“So he’s in Mountainview.” She grabs my hands. “How was it seeing him again after all this time? Did he remember you?”
I nod and fill her in on our meeting.
“I’m going with you to dance class tonight,” she says firmly. “I have to meet him.”
I try to tell hernoa dozen times, but my friend is stubborn as a mule, and by the time seven o’clock rolls around, Sophia’s following me through the front doors of Big Sky Grocer.
“Are you sure he’ll be here?” Sophia asks as we step inside the door. “Maybe you should have confirmed with June first.”
We pass the wall Brayden helped me scrape down yesterday. I didn’t have time to do anything else to it yet, so it’s just a big, blank space at the moment.
“I’m pretty sure,” I say, the tension already coiling in my stomach. “June said something about needing all hands on deck tonight because of some inventory count she’s doing. I heard Brayden tell her he could come by after football practice. But I don’t see him around, so maybe I should just go…”
I want to make sure I get to the community room in plenty of time to meet the teacher, but Sophia takes my arm and marches me down the aisle.
“I need an introduction,” Sophia whispers to me. “Or at least a sighting. You promised.”
“Because you insisted on driving me here,” I say. “Phillip will bring me home, so please don’t stick around while I’m upstairs.”
“Phillip’s definitely going to show?” Sophia asks me.
“He said he would.” Phillip sent a text that he’s running late but will “absolutely be there on time for class.”
We walk into the produce section, and just as we turn the corner, I see Brayden standing by the frozen meats. He’s talking to a customer, but he waves as soon as he sees me. His flannel and jeans make my mouth water, and I swallow hard as I wave back at him.
“Okay, now that you’ve seen him, you can go,” I whisper to Sophia.
“What? No introduction?” She lowers her voice. “Oh my God! He’s so hot, Leleila. Look at those biceps. And that ass. I think I may come back later and talk to him on my own…”
“What? No!”
Sophia smiles like she’s won the lottery. “See? You don’t want to share him. I just got the proof I was looking for.”
I clench my teeth together. “Fine, a quick introduction.” I grab Sophia by the arm and march her over to Brayden just as the customer he’s with walks away.
“Hey, Leleila.” Brayden smiles at me, and any chill I felt from being outside in the fall air disappears.
“Hey.” I gesture to Sophia. “This is my friend, Sophia Loren. No relation to the actress, just a pun on words by her mother.”
“Who was drunk at the time,” Sophia adds with a wide smile.
Brayden breaks into a laugh. “Nice to meet you. I’m Brayden Wild.”
