Page 5 of This Memory (Moose Village #3)

Gavin

“Wow,” Declan whispered, as Aurora stood.

“I’m sorry about that. She’s just not herself right now.”

I held up my hand to Aurora. “Hold on, let me go talk to her.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Gavin.”

“Two minutes, please.”

She looked unsure but finally nodded. I hightailed it out of the coffee shop and glanced down the street each way. Brystol was heading to the toy shop. I ran, gently taking her arm when I reached her, and bringing her to a stop.

“Hey, what in the hell was that all about?”

When she looked at me, she had tears in her eyes. My knees about buckled out from under me. I cupped her face and leaned toward her. My six feet to her five feet and change made it hard to look her in the eyes.

“Bry, what’s wrong?”

Her lips pressed into a tight line, and I knew she was trying to hold back the tears.

“The baby?”

She closed her eyes. “I don’t know yet. It’ll be another week before they can do the blood test. ”

“Okay, then, what was that in the coffee shop?”

The sadness in her eyes made me want to do something to fix it, to bring that fire back to her baby blues.

“You really have no idea why I can’t stand you, do you?”

Drawing back, I dropped my hand and took a step away. “No, I really don’t, Brystol. And I got tired of asking you.”

She turned and looked down the street. “Did you ever show up for the movie?”

“What?” I asked.

When she looked at me this time, her sadness had been replaced with anger. “The movie we were supposed to meet at, that night in high school.”

“ Roman Holiday .” Her eyes widened in surprise. Did she really think I’d forgotten about that? I’ve watched that damn movie at least fifty times over the years. “Yeah, I was there, but you didn’t show up.”

Her brows slammed down in confusion. “Did you not talk to Aurora?”

“When?”

Brystol let out a growl. “That night, when we were supposed to meet, Gavin. Did you talk to Aurora?”

“Oh, um, no. I thought she’d gone out of town. Wasn’t that why you were going alone?”

Looking confused, she shook her head. “Wait…she was supposed to be there, to tell you why I wasn’t coming.”

“Did she tell you she talked to me?”

Looking down the street for a second, she slowly shook her head. “She…she tried to tell me something that night. But I wouldn’t let her. I told her I didn’t ever want to talk about you again. I was being ridiculous, but I couldn’t help it at the time. ”

“Yikes.” I laughed. “What happened between sixth period and seven o’clock?”

The anger was back. “I heard you and your friends talking about me. The things that they said…and you laughing about some of it.”

A feeling of sickness rolled through me as the faded memories of that day came back to me.

“I liked you, Gavin. I really liked you, and I was on cloud nine when you offered to go to that stupid movie with me. I should have known it was too good to be true. After all, I wasn’t a cheerleader or a popular girl, not the type you normally hooked up with.”

I shook my head. “Brystol, I liked you too. A lot.”

A bitter laugh slipped free. “Oh, sure. That’s why you told your friends you’d never go out with me.

You let them talk about me like I was a piece of meat.

You told them if you wanted to get into my pants you could!

Don’t lie to me, Gavin. You were never interested in going out with me.

It was just like they said—a charity date for the class nerd.

Just another hormonal teenage boy hoping to get laid. ”

I closed my eyes. “I’m sorry for saying that.

I didn’t mean it, I just…I have no excuse for saying I could get into your pants if I wanted to.

I’m sorry. And yes, I was interested in going out with you.

I was upset you never showed up for the movie.

And when I tried to talk to you the next week at school, and you told me to leave you alone and you never wanted to talk to me again, I felt sick about it. ”

“You felt sick ? Is that why you were caught with Suzie Moore behind the bleachers that same weekend?”

I wanted to shake her until she started making sense. “What are you talking about? ”

“Lucas told me all about it. How you and Suzie were doing the deed, and you got caught. He laughed like it was the funniest thing ever.”

Confused, I shook my head. “Brystol, Lucas lied to you. I never slept with Suzie Moore. Ever.”

“Why would he lie to me?” she asked.

“How in the hell would I know. Maybe he liked you?”

Brystol let out a bitter laugh then sighed. “It’s in the past. We were eighteen, and it was a long time ago. Just stop acting like you didn’t do anything.”

“I’m not, Bry. I just told you I was sorry. You’ll never know how much I regretted saying those things, and it was before I knew you overheard it. If it’s in the past , why didn’t you just talk to me yourself at the time, Brystol? Why send your friend?”

She reached out and pushed me with all her might.

“You hurt me, Gavin! You laughed . You let them talk about me like I was nothing. You told them you could fuck me anytime you wanted to! You made me feel like nothing. You made me believe that a guy like you could actually like a girl like me, and you broke my heart in two with that betrayal.”

“Is everything okay?” Aurora asked, and Brystol spun on her.

“Why didn’t you tell him?”

“Tell who what?”

“You were supposed to meet Gavin at the movies that night and tell him why I didn’t show up.”

Aurora’s eyes bounced from me, then back to Brystol.

“I tried telling you what happened, Brystol, but you were beyond listening to anything at that point. My car got a flat, and I had to wait for my uncle to come and change it. When I got to the movies it was after seven, and I didn’t see Gavin anywhere.

You told me you never wanted to discuss him again.

I actually tried a few times to tell you before I finally just gave up. ”

Brystol closed her eyes. “I’m being stupid. This is all so stupid . Let’s just forget all of this. I need to get to the store, anyway. None of this matters anymore.”

Turning on her heels, Brystol marched down the street.

I let out a humorless laugh. “Clearly, it does still matter.”

I gave Aurora a look. “Imagine what she’ll be like when the hormones kick in.”

She rolled her eyes and punched me on the arm. “It’s not funny, Gavin. You really hurt her.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me that’s why she was so angry with me?”

Aurora faced me. “That next week at school, I asked if you had talked to Brystol. You said yes, but that she was mad at you.”

I shook my head. “I didn’t know why she was mad at me, Aurora!”

She exhaled. “I guess none of us were communicating very well, were we?”

I huffed. “No kidding.”

“Well, for what it’s worth, you were a real dick that day. The hurt on her face is something I’ll never forget.”

Looking down the street after Brystol, I sighed. “All these years, she never said a word to me. Why?”

Aurora shrugged. “I think it was because she’d allowed herself to believe you might’ve actually liked her. She had a terrible crush on you. Then she felt humiliated.”

I turned to Aurora. “I did like her, Aurora. ”

“Why didn’t you ever ask her out, then? And why did you let your friends talk about her that way?”

That, I didn’t have an answer to. I was young, stupid, immature.

“Anyway, now that the truth is out there…maybe you two can kiss and make up?”

I let out a disbelieving laugh. “Did you not see how she wanted to rip my head off?”

She nodded. “That’s true.” Her brows furrowed, as if not wanting to say her next words. “Hate to say this, but you’re right—things might get worse for you when those hormones kick in.”

I rubbed at the back of my neck. “I wonder if I can request to work in Albany for the next nine months?”

Drawing a deep breath, I got out of my car and made my way up the sidewalk to Brystol’s two-story brick house. I’d driven by countless times and could probably drive the route with my eyes closed.

Her porch and flowerbed in front of the house were filled with fall plants, with baskets hanging down from the tree in the front yard. Two giant baskets of mums were hanging off hooks on each side of her garage. I had a feeling Harper had a hand in all the flowers.

I stood at the bottom of the steps and stared at the fall wreath she had hanging on the door.

“This is a bad idea,” I whispered to myself.

I was about to turn around and leave when the front door opened and Brystol appeared .

“For a cop, I would think you’d know how creepy it is to stand in front of a single woman’s house and stare at her door, you freak.”

I huffed. “I wasn’t staring at your door. I was trying to find a path up through this forest of mums on your front porch.”

She snarled her lip at me. “Why are you here, Gavin?”

“Are you going to at least invite me in?”

“To my house?”

“No, your garage. Yes, your house, Brystol.”

Her brows slowly drew in together. “Why do you want to come into my house?”

“Because the longer I stand outside, the more the neighbors will wonder why I’m here. Did she break the law? Are they dating? Are they arguing about something? Is he going to spend the night?”

Brystol pretended to gag and pushed the door open, silently inviting me in. I couldn’t help but smile as I passed her.

I stepped into her house and right into a small foyer with a closet straight in front of me. When I turned to my left, there was a huge open living room with a massive fireplace at the end flanked by two built-in bookcases.

A large lounge chair was tucked into the spot where the bay windows were, and instantly I envisioned Brystol sitting there reading. I wondered if she still liked to read as much as she did in high school. It bugged me I didn’t know that about her now.

“Your house is really nice,” I said, as I moved into the living room. Wide-plank wood floors ran throughout the house, or at least it appeared that way .

“Thank you.”

Turning to look at her, I asked, “You’re not going to give me the tour?”