And I don’t think I want to analyze how nice that feels.
“You’re going to get through this,” he says with a confidence I don’t feel. “And when the night’s over, you’ll know you’ve let go of the past.”
We reach the bonfire, and I can feel people’s eyes on me as I walk by them with Brayden.
He leads me over to a truck bed where three people are sitting, one of whom looks familiar.
“Leleila! How are you?” Cam’s friendly face peers over the truck at me.
I wave, even though he’s right in front of me. “Hi, Cam. Good to see you again.”
He hops down off the truck, gesturing to the two people with him to follow.
“Leleila, this is Jenson Beau and his fiancée, Olivia Graham.” Brayden’s hand squeezes my shoulder. “This is Leleila Wills.”
Olivia’s jet-black hair is worn loose and falls below her shoulders. Her blue eyes are warm as she greets me. Cam’s as handsome as I remember with his dark hair and eyes. I remember Brayden mentioning Cam plays ice hockey, and his broad chest and wide shoulders convey that. Jenson’s over six feet, in great shape, and very attractive. He and Olivia make a beautiful couple.
I shake Olivia and Jenson’s hands, and then put my hands into the back pockets of my jeans. I stand before them stiffly, sensing they’ve heard about me already.
But they’re polite. The four of them make easy small talk, as Jenson chats about their flight from Philly that was delayed three hours. “Everything worked out for the best, though,” he says. He takes his hand off Olivia’s back only to brush an errant lock of his blond hair out of his brilliant green eyes before returning his arm to her shoulders. “Because of that delay, we ended up landing the same time as Cam’s flight. So the three of us rode to Mountainview together.”
“Is this truck one of yours?” I ask, gesturing with my foot to the one they were just sitting on.
“It’s Colt’s,” Cam says. “He leaves it here when he’s in L.A. He’s got way too many cars as it is. When we were at his mom’s last night, she insisted we borrow it for the week.”
“Speaking of trucks.” Brayden tilts his head to the left where his truck is parked a few feet away.
He gives me a lift, and we sit on the back of his tailgate together. It faces the bonfire; plus, the front of his truck blocks some of the wind, so it’s actually quite nice. Some Southern rock band is playing. I only know that because June’s ex-boyfriend Sammy listened to this band all the time. This is exactly the type of music I used to say made my skin crawl, but it fits right in here, and the rhythm of the sound soothes me. Once I’ve made it onto the tailgate and feel somewhat protected from what’s going on around me, I relax. Brayden offers me one of the beers he’s got sitting on the back of his truck, and I accept. He hands it to me unopened, and I nod at him in appreciation.
I open the beer myself, feeling my anxiety slowly dissipate.
I let my legs dangle over the edge of the tailgate, and I feel like I belong sitting here with Brayden. I feel special.
I want to ask him if he often meets women at these parties.
“I don’t normally let anyone sit in my truck,” he says as if reading my mind.
I give him a look. “Ri-i-ight.”
“I don’t,” he insists. “I’m not a big dater.”
I turn sideways so I can face him.
“I just…sometimes I really don’t know why you spend time with me. I mean you could be with any woman you want. And not only do I bring serious baggage, but I’m not that cool or that interesting.” I pause. “Or that beautiful. Certainly not beautiful like you are.”
Brayden shakes his head. “I think we should steer away from this conversation.”
“How come?”
“Because I could show you in a million different ways how beautiful I think you are.” His voice drops so low that my heart starts pounding. “But that would be crossing a line.” He clears his throat and leans back. “So let’s change the subject, okay?”
Before I can fill him in on my break-up, Sophia stops by with a beer in her hand.
“Weren’t you supposed to be driving home?” I ask her.
“I’ve already taken her keys; don’t worry,” Brayden says. “You guys can sleep out here, like the rest of us, and go home in the morning.”
I don’t dare look over at him. This is spinning out of hand, and it only took just over ten minutes to get there.
