The booth goes silent. All of us sit and contemplate Zeke’s thoughts, wondering if there could possibly be any truth to them.But almost as quickly as the thought came, it’s gone, with a unanimous—
“Nah.”
“Okay, enough about Jere.” Brinley perks up. “What are the odds of you introducing me to Colson Young while you guys are here? On a scale from one to ten.” She lifts her hands, creating the scale and moving them around as she waits for me to give her an answer.
“Don’t you have a boyfriend?”
She adjusts in the booth, her hands falling to her sides as she leans forward.
“I’m not trying to date the guy,” Brinley argues. “Unless he’d be down for that, then I might consider my relationship status.”
I shake my head, but out of the corner of my eye, I’m sure I see a brewing smile on Jaxon’s lips. Something I haven’t seen when it comes to Brinley in quite some time.
“I’ll see what I can do.”
Brinley pulls her hands back into her lap, a little smile on her face.
“That’s all I ask.”
Ican’t believe you leave tomorrow.” Brinley is lying on her stomach on the bed as I finish packing.
After Brinley saw a couple of the outfits I was bringing on the road, even after I told her they weren’t necessarily ones for the concerts, she made me drive over here with my closet in tow so she could help me piecethings together.
Honestly, it’s been really helpful. I’ve never been one to really care about looking ‘fashion forward.’
“I know. It feels kind of surreal.”
“What did your parents say when you told them?”
“My dad was pretty excited for me, I guess. I think a part of him finally realized this could actually become a real career for me and not just a pipe dream.”
“And your mom.”
“About as much as she said about me dating and breaking up with Fletcher.”
“That bad.”
“Well, when she found out Fletcher and I dated and broke up all within one conversation, she told me she’s glad I came to my senses about marrying into the Reed family.”
“No, she didn’t.”
I nod, “Yeah, she did. She told me breaking up with him was the smartest decision I’d ever made.”
“Hmm, then I can’t wait to hear what she said about this.”
I fold a pair of jeans and tuck them into my suitcase.
“She told me that when I finally give up this little hobby of mine, there will be a filing job for me at her firm while I work on going to law school.”
“Have I ever told you I don’t like your mom?”
“The feeling’s mutual.”
“Wait, as in, you don’t like her either, or she doesn’t like me?”
“Can’t it be both?”
“That’s fair.”
