big deal.
Okay…
“What did you say?” Of course Becca figured that he’d said yes. Skylar had been his longest, most serious relationship, but Brian had had a few semi-serious relationships.
“Yes,” Brian said as if it were obvious.
If she didn’t know any better, she would think that she was irritating him. But that was ridiculous. He’d started this line of questioning. She’d been perfectly happy to sit quietly, looking out the window, contemplating how on Earth she was going to survive this summer when all she wanted to do was crawl over the seat, sit on top of Brian’s lap, and kiss him senseless.
He was the one who’d kept asking if she was okay and then started questioning her about the audition. A thrill ran down her spine as she thought about his voice when he’d told Hulk Junior that he’d needed to leave—now. Good Lord, how had she spent the greatest part of two decades being best friends with the man seated next to her and never thought of him like that !? Had she had some kind of lust-slash-love blinders on that had been removed last summer? Had she just been immune to his charms, his voice, his appearance, his heart because she’d grown up surrounded by it every day?
Maybe that was it. Maybe the fact that they’d spent almost every day together from pre-kindergarten until senior year had caused her to develop an immunity to Brian. But then, going years without seeing each other on a daily basis, she’d had no anti-love serum stored up in her DNA. So, when she’d seen him at her sister Haley’s birthday celebration and he’d asked her to dance, the second his large hand had rested on her lower back and she’d laid her head against his muscular chest, she’d been exposed to lust and love that she was totally defenseless against.
Becca knew that there were some moments in your life that you remember forever. Her dad calls them ‘handful moments’ because every person only has a handful of truly special, life-changing moments. When Brian had pulled her into his strong arms a year ago and she’d felt her body explode with tingles, making it hard for her to catch her breath, she’d known instantly that she’d had a ‘handful moment.’
“So…” Brian’s deep voice vibrated through her as she sat beside him in the small, enclosed space. He didn’t continue immediately, and Becca watched as his long fingers opened and closed on the steering wheel. Her eyes flitted over the vein that ran up his forearm, causing her mouth to water. “You really loved Ethan?”
“What?” Becca’s eyes flew up to Brian’s profile.
Why would he ask that? As much as they talked about everything, love was, for some unknown reason, something they hadn’t discussed. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. They’d discussed the subject in an abstract, nonspecific way. So this question had kind of come out of left field.
Brian didn’t look at her. His eyes remained trained on the road in front of them. “You said you’ve been in love. Was it with Ethan?”
That would make the most sense. Becca seriously doubted that Brian would believe that she’d been truly in love with any of the guys she’d dated in high school. Not that they weren’t good guys and she hadn’t had good relationships with them—they were and she had. But they hadn’t been anything near serious.
A little voice inside of her head, probably the one in charge of self-preservation, was coaxing her to just say that it had been Ethan. What harm could come from that? If she told the truth and Detective Brian decided to continue his interrogation then he might actually uncover the truth. And it was a fact that a lot of harm could come from that.
So imagine Becca’s surprise when she opened her mouth and heard the words, “No. I didn’t love Ethan,” fly out. The second they did, she wished she had the ability to turn back time or erase memories like the Men in Black . Unfortunately, she was not equipped to do either.
Then
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