Brynn rubbed affectionately down the spine of one of the larger books. “There was a social event at a business club inBoston. I went as my dad’s guest, and I met Grant there. And he was so…”
Irritating? Grating? Frustrating?
“Charming,” Brynn finished, and Reese just managed to hold back her surprise. But it made sense, given that Brynn had agreed to marry him.
“So you two started dating?” Reese knew she was treading into dangerous territory.
At this point, she didn’t really believe that Brynn knew she was a party to infidelity, but Reese still wanted to know for sure. It would determine how the rest of the night went, at least on Reese’s side.
“It was a little more casual than that at first, but I guess you could say that. He asked for my number, and then I didn’t hear from him for a few weeks. One day, he reached out, asking to get drinks.”
Romantic, Reese thought, making sure not to say the quiet part out loud.
“I was deep into my penultimate year of my program, so it really didn’t matter to me one way or another.”
“Had you dated before?” It would make sense, if Brynn had no basis of comparison, how Grant had snuck in through the side door and given her the impression that he was a stand-up guy.
“I had a boyfriend in undergrad, Gregory. He was my best friend.”
Reese lifted her eyebrow, mostly eyeing her almost empty glass. “And what happened with Gregory?”
“Devon happened,” Brynn said very matter-of-factly, her fingers dancing over to another book.
Maybe Brynn wasn’t as naive as she seemed, if she skipped from Gregory straight to Devon. “So, you and Devon?”
Brynn shook her head. “No. GregoryandDevon. Gregory accepted that he was gay, and a lot of things started to make sense.”
“Gotcha,” Reese said, polishing off her drink. “Are you two still friends?”
Brynn nodded, smiling genuinely. “We are. He’ll be at the wedding in September.”
Yes, the wedding. That was still, against any sense Reese could make of things, pushing forward, full steam ahead.
“And it makes it really nice, having one of Grant’s exes there, too. I’m just really glad everyone could stay friends.”
Reese couldn’t hide the side-eye that she gave Brynn, who luckily, didn’t seem to notice.
They really needed to order dinner. The second glass of wine had gone straight to Reese’s head, and she had all kinds of comments sloshing around in her brain that she had no right to ask.
“I wouldn’t qualify Grant and Sydney as friends. She’s my girlfriend, and he’s my brother. That’s about the extent of it.” She felt the need to defend Sydney’s honor in this moment, that she’d never willingly have stayed in Grant’s life after what he’d done.
Did Brynn know?
The million-dollar question reared its head again.
“I’m glad you two found one another,” Brynn said before a look crossed her face. She had almost said something, then stopped.
“Go ahead,” Reese encouraged her.
Brynn pursed her lips. “I have to admit, after hearing how hard she took the breakup, it was a bit of a surprise to see her pop up in your life.”
So Brynn was more observant than she let on. At least if it was about anything outside of her own relationship.
And she was implying, even if it was true—but not for the reasons she thought—that Sydney couldn’t let go of the past.
Reese didn’t like that.
And with that admission, it became clear that Brynn hadn’t been aware that Grant and Sydney had still been together when she had met Grant.
