Bryna sighed. Maybe Trihn was right. Maybe Bryna should tell her friend. It would be nice to actually talk to someone about it.
“Okay. So, remember how I told you Eric was gay?”
“Yeah?” Trihn asked uncertainly.
“Well, he’s not.”
Trihn’s mouth dropped open. “I knew it!”
“Yeah, yeah. You knew,” Bryna said with a sigh.
“Oh my God, he loves you, and you’re going to get married and have babies.” Trihn looked ecstatic at the possibility of Bryna being with Eric like that.
It turned Bryna’s stomach. Marriage and babies were not in her near future.
“Ew. No. He was sleeping with his ex, Audrey, when I made a surprise visit to his place.”
“What?” Trihn shrieked.
“Yeah. I thought that he was gay, and he thought that I knew he was sleeping with his ex-girlfriend. We got into a huge argument afterward, and I left.”
“Has he tried to contact you?”
Bryna nodded.
“What did he say?”
Her heart constricted as she remembered his face. “I saw him on campus. He came to try to convince me that he and Audrey were over, but I couldn’t get the image of him fucking her out of my head.”
Trihn shook her head. “So, let me get this straight. Even though you’ve been seeing Hugh this whole time, you’re angry at Eric for being with someone else?”
“Yes.”
“Why?” she cried. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“He knew about Hugh. I thought Eric was off-limits. If he was interested in me, he could have said something!”
“It sounds like he thought you were off-limits, too. I mean, if he thought you were dating someone, he wasn’t going to be like, ‘Hey, forget this guy.’ That’s definitely not the Eric I know.”
“Whatever.”
“Look,” Trihn said, trying to find reason. “Your anger is so misguided. You’re angry because you like him. You’re hurt. That’s okay. Let yourself hurt, and then talk to him about it. You can’t push him away forever.”
Bryna closed her eyes. She didn’t want to hear this from Trihn. She had made up her mind already. “I don’t think I can do that. The person I was when I was with him wasn’t real. It was all a facade between two people who thought they knew secrets in the other one’s life.”
“It’s only a facade if you want it to be.”
“No. I chose Hugh. I’m going to Barcelona with him this summer. That’s it.” She tried to sound so definite, but she knew she hadn’t. Her strength was hidden beneath layers of bitchy behavior and high levels of self-confidence. All of which had been rattled this week.
“Oh, B,” Trihn whispered.
“Don’t pity me! It’s what I want.”
“Okay,” Trihn said softly. She let the subject drop even though it was clear in her eyes that she wanted to say more. “But will you talk to Stacia?”
“It’s going to take a while to get over Pace.”
“She didn’t want to upset you, and she can’t help that she likes him,” Trihn tried to reason.
“Psh. Yes, she can. She just doesn’t see it yet.”
“Fine. I can’t be the middleman anymore though. You two need to make up.”
“Then, have her call me when they break up,” Bryna said, standing.
“You’re a stubborn bitch.”
“Yep,” she agreed.
She felt even more like one when she left Trihn’s place and saw another missed call from Eric along with a text message.
I’ll stop bothering you after this. You want space to figure things out. I don’t get it because every part of me is screaming to be near you. I know you feel the same. Call me an idiot for what happened over the past couple of months. Whatever you want. But, Bri, I’ll never be that idiot again. I can’t imagine my life without you. I’m still the same person. I’m still your cowboy. Come back to me soon.
Bryna bit down on her lip, hard. Then, she deleted the text and promised not to look back.
TRUE TO HIS PROMISE, Bryna hadn’t heard from Eric since that last text message. Several long weeks had gone by, school had released for the summer, and she hadn’t heard one word from him. Just like she had wanted. At least that was what she told herself when her Sunday afternoons were full of finals prep rather than margaritas and on Wednesdays when she ate lunch alone instead of at his place, grilling burgers.
But none of that mattered now. She could adjust to anything. And it was for the better. She was ready to leave for Barcelona for the summer. She met Hugh in New York City with a ridiculous amount of Louis Vuitton luggage and her overused passport.
Their flight to Barcelona was smooth sailing, and they landed in the beautiful afternoon weather. A limo picked them up from the airport and transported them to the completed resort. It wouldn’t officially open for nearly another month, so they were staying there exclusively until then.
Together, they spent the weeks leading up to the big ribbon-cutting ceremony lounging on the Spanish beaches, shopping, and hitting every romantic location in the city. Hugh had to work a lot, but he tried to make up for it with over-the-top evenings.
When he was gone, it gave her time to think about why she had left. Eric’s face popped into her mind over and over again. She tried to forget the look on his face when he had begged her to stay, but she couldn’t. And though she was still so angry with him and herself for what had happened, the distance made the reality of his actions wane.
She knew it could never be the same. Part of what had made them, them was a lie. But she hoped they could have a part of their friendship back. She wasn’t ready to confront that now, but maybe she would be when she got back from Barcelona. Maybe.
Hugh caught her lounging by the pool during one such instance when her mind was off thinking about what she had left behind in Vegas.
“Hey, gorgeous.” He kissed the top of her head.
She startled. “Oh, hey.”
“You seemed far away. Where were you?”
She smiled lazily to try to hide the thoughts warring through her mind. “Just excited for the ceremony tonight. Glad it’s finally here.”
“And sad that it means our time together this summer is coming to a close,” he finished for her.
“Oh, don’t remind me.”
She didn’t know what was going to happen with them after this. He had said he loved her. That left a whole lot of nagging questions in her mind, questions she was trying to avoid like the plague. What would happen from here? How could we be together when he’s married? Is this going to be a permanent arrangement? It was confusing because though she had made her decisions, she felt as if she should know more about him. She wanted to ask all the questions she had avoided before because she didn’t think they mattered. But she didn’t.
“You’re gone again.”
She laughed and tried to play it off. “No, I’m still here. How was work?”
“Everything is set up for the ceremony down to the minute details. I came to check to see if you were ready for all of this?”
“Sure. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Well, it will all be filmed. I’ll be showcasing you to the world.”
She swallowed. “Really? You didn’t mention that.”
“It’s been picked up by some national and international media. I didn’t want to scare you. You’ll be at my side, and I’ll do all the talking. You just have to be your beautiful self.”
“Oh. Right.” Arm candy. “Well, I’ve been in front of a camera before. So, no big deal, I guess.”
She wished he hadn’t kept it from her. It wasn’t like she was afraid to be on camera, but it was another big step. What the hell is he going to say if someone asks why I’m here with him? It was all so confusing.