Page 13 of Brad & Finn (Gomillion High Reunion #3)

The man paused and cracked a smile. “Our star quarterback! Good to see you, man. I don’t know if you remember me?—"

“Justin!” Brad nearly shouted, sticking out his hand for a fist bump like he’d done so many times in junior year English class.

English was by far Brad’s worst subject, and he’d often pestered Justin with questions on what exactly the excerpt they were reading meant and why he should care. Justin had been a bit of a nerdy-looking kid, but he’d grown into a handsome, if still somewhat frazzled, adult.

Justin smiled, crinkling his eyes, and Brad added another tick next to handsome in his head.

“Yeah, it’s been too long,” Justin said.

“Here, let me get you all checked in—and we have a game we’re doing as sort of an ice breaker.

Take this card and try to find another that matches.

We mixed them all up, so your match might not be here yet, but you can hopefully start up some fun conversations by asking around. ”

Brad accepted the card, along with a schedule and some extra pamphlets, and then slapped on a nametag. He wanted to say more to Justin, but he wasn’t sure what, and the press of the crowd behind him had him waving awkwardly before scooting out of the way.

He shuffled through the papers and saw something about fundraising initiatives, a tour, and prom.

Some of it had been in the original invitation, but the specifics about Saturday’s activities were new.

He made a mental note to read through it that night, so long as he didn’t end up back in Finn’s room, talking until two in the morning, or?—

He nearly ran into a petite blonde woman and had to dance around her to avoid a collision. After apologizing profusely, he made his way back to an empty spot near the entrance door.

It was clear he needed to get his head on straight.

He was here to catch up with everyone from high school, not just one particularly gorgeous man.

He was used to socializing and small talk.

That was how he spent most of his days—when he wasn’t running to catch a train or crammed into a tight airplane seat.

He liked socializing because the only other alternative was spending yet more time alone.

Alright, game plan. He could scope out the room, find some familiar faces, and strike up a “how’s the last twenty years been treating you” conversation.

Maybe they could bond over memories that didn’t involve falling asleep against each other on return bus rides from away games or splitting lunches when Finn’s dad forgot to pack him food for the third day in a row.

Shit... there went his meandering thoughts again.

Maybe he could play the icebreaker game. He glanced down at the card he’d been handed and saw his word was “emerald.” Two eyes flashed across his mind, and his fist closed around the card, crumpling the edges and smearing the ink across the paper.

Well, back to the drawing board. He scanned the crowd, passing over a few guys from the football team he hadn’t been close with, before spotting several women he knew from the girls’ basketball team.

He was just about to go over to them when Chloe’s familiar blonde hair caught his eye.

His heart skipped a beat, and he began moving through the crowd towards where Chloe was standing in line.

Obviously, it would be rude of him not to at least say hello.

He didn’t spot Finn until he was almost on top of him. His stance was totally different from how it had been at The Roll. His arms were wrapped protectively around his middle, and his chin was tucked in as he gnawed on the side of his lip.

“Hey, long time no see,” Brad said.

Chloe was nothing but smiles, immediately throwing an arm around his back for a side hug, but Finn’s expression was a little harder to read.

“Brad Willson! It has been far too long!” Chloe said theatrically, holding the back of her hand up to her forehead.

Brad wondered if that was part of some script he was supposed to be following, but Finn shook his head softly before loosening his tight hold on himself and smiling up at Brad.

“Don’t mind her. After The Roll’s abysmal coffee, she had three Keurig pods at her mom’s house?—”

“It’s so we don’t have to pack them!” Chloe exclaimed.

“—and then another cup of whatever the hell it is they stock in the lobby of the hotel,” Finn added with a sigh.

“We’re staying up late tonight!” Chloe insisted, taking a ridiculously large step to the side as the line moved forward.

She’d changed out of her dress, which was probably for the best because the hem most likely wouldn’t have survived such a wide step.

In its place, she was wearing a pair of geometric print pants, a frilly blouse, and a blazer.

Finn had also opted for a blazer, and Brad tried not to get distracted by the way it filled out his shoulders, yet still tapered perfectly in at his waist.

Finn rolled his eyes and gestured at Chloe. “She wanted us to be matching, so she went through my entire wardrobe and then filled in a few new pieces she deemed ‘essential.’”

Finn used finger quotes on the last word, and Brad was pretty sure that wasn’t something he’d done in high school. The fact that it was one of the first new habits Brad had discovered about adult Finn made it all the more endearing.

“And thank god I did, because your closet has been getting dusty, my dear,” Chloe said.

Finn shook his head, as if this was not the first time they’d had this discussion. “We don’t go out enough anymore for me to keep refreshing my clothes. It’s been long enough that my size isn’t changing anymore, so I don’t see a point in engaging in fast fashion.”

A group of women stepped up to the desk together, laughing and talking over each other. Brad thought he recognized one of them as the captain of the volleyball team, but he couldn’t say for sure from this far away.

“Well, we’ll have to go out more often,” Chloe said, her eyes darting to Brad and then away so fast he thought maybe he’d imagined it.

That is, until a slow, almost mischievous smile spread across her lips.

“It’s been ages since we went on a weekend trip to Chicago.

You can wear some of the new clothes I got you for that, and then it’s not fast fashion, it’s multi-purpose. ”

Brad’s throat had gone dry, and he couldn’t seem to unstick his tongue from the roof of his mouth. Finn cast him a curious glance, his eyes a sharp green under the fluorescent gym lights.

“I do like visiting Chicago…at least for a weekend,” Finn said.

Neither of Brad’s two former best friends was touching him, but he felt that creeping warmth from the night before.

It started in his chest and crawled up his neck until he had no choice but to throw his arms around their shoulders.

Chloe laughed and leaned her head against his pec while Finn stood stock still, but didn’t pull away.

“I’m hoping to move into a better place in the next six or so months,” Brad said, leaving out that what he meant by ‘better’ was a place that actually felt like a home and not a crash pad for a sad, exhausted bachelor.

“As soon as I’m settled, you two are more than welcome to avoid the ridiculous hotel prices and stay at my place.

I’ll have a guest room with a guest bed and everything. ”

“A whole guest bed to myself!” Chloe sang, spreading her arms out like she was imagining starfishing on a bed. She narrowly avoided slapping Finn in the face, but he still shoved her hand away like she had.

“You’re absurd,” he said. “There’s no way I’m sleeping on the couch. You know my back has never been the same since…” He glanced around and then lowered his voice to barely above a whisper. “You dropped me in that game against Cornwell.”

Chloe gasped and threw herself at Finn. “You know it wasn’t my fault! I would never!”

“My back begs to differ.”

“It was all Courtney’s fault!” Chloe whispered, just loud enough for Brad to hear.

“You’re just blaming her cause she’s a year younger and won’t be here to defend her honor.”

Brad felt like he had somehow stumbled into a competitive ping pong match.

His head bobbed back and forth between them as he tried to focus on the conversation, while simultaneously not thinking about the implications of Chloe kicking Finn out of Brad’s imaginary guest room.

While he could always get a king for the guest room in case other couples or large groups wanted to stay over, he’d much prefer to have a king in his room where he could host… well, his own guests .

“Maybe Brad remembers,” Chloe whispered, turning to look over her shoulder at Brad.

Brad searched his memory to see if he had in fact ever seen Finn fall during a cheer. He was pretty sure he would remember that because even the idea of it had his heart trying to jump out of his chest.

“I think he was injured that game,” Finn said, his voice quiet but in a different way. This time, it sounded like he was trying to hide his words from Brad as opposed to the alumni who weren’t paying them any attention.

The line shifted, and a woman behind the registration table gestured for them to come forward.

Chloe dropped her arms from around Finn’s shoulders and stepped forward, but paused to turn and look back at them. “Well, that sure explains why you fell then, doesn’t it?”

Both men stood frozen as Chloe bounced towards the registration desk.

Finn broke first and hurried after her. Brad considered waiting for them off to the side, but he didn’t want to stand awkwardly alone or risk getting pulled into a conversation with someone else and not be able to join back up with them.

Yes, he realized the ridiculousness of that thought, but he chose to do nothing about it.

He walked up to the desk and came up behind Finn, just in time to hear him calmly but firmly decline one of the icebreaker cards.