conversation about school gossip. After suffering through the wild emotional mood swings brought on by other people, it was nice walking through the woods with my best friend. I’d always thought of her as an even-keel, peaceful person, but now I had firsthand knowledge to back it up. Her cheerfulness brushed along my skin with soft, steady touches. Only when the dogs did something naughty did they stir, like a pebble in a pool of water. I almost felt normal again.
After making our circuit three times with different sets of dogs, we brought the animals inside for the night, tucking them into their indoor kennels. To my pleasure, Bronwyn didn’t mention Bryan again. That was one thing I really loved about her. She never pushed me to talk about things I wanted to avoid.
The peaceful feeling brought on by my best friend was lost the moment I pulled into my driveway. This time, I had no one else to blame for my nervous heart palpitations. Bryan sat on my front steps, the porch light shining down on him as he sat playing some game on his phone. He put it away and stood as I approached.
“Hi, Cady,” he said. He genuinely felt miserable. I could feel it pooling in my gut. Good.
“Bryan,” I replied with a tightness to my voice. I was in no mood to go easy on him, no matter how badly he felt.
He jammed his hands in his pants pockets. “I’ve been texting you all day.”
“I know.”
“You didn’t reply.”
“I didn’t read them.”
He shook his head and gazed at the ground between our feet. His frustration was making my arms break out in goose bumps.
“Cady, will you just give me a chance to explain?”
I placed my fists on my hips. “Fine. You have exactly one minute, then I’m going in to bed. I’ve had a long day.”
He sighed. “Look, Monica and I dated for a few months before I moved here. It wasn’t even all that serious, but we’d been friends before that and when I left, we decided to go back to being just friends.”
“But she’s flying halfway across the country to go to a stupid dance with you? Yeah, that sounds like just a casual thing a friend might do.”
Bryan’s posture slumped and sparks of annoyance shot out from him. “Before school started, I was miserable here. Didn’t know anyone or have anywhere to hang out. I was so bored!” He ran his hand through his hair and blew out a heavy breath from his mouth. “I spent pretty much all of my time on Skype talking to my old friends. Monica had this idea that it might cheer me up to have a date for my first Homecoming here. Her family has money, so it wasn’t that big of a deal for her to score airfare to come out for a weekend. I only agreed because I was lonely.”
Recalling how lonesome Bryan had appeared that first afternoon in the library, my indignation started to falter.
He must have sensed it, because he stepped forward to take up my hands in his and continued. “She booked the tickets months ago, before I even met you. I’m not even all that into dances and things, but if I have to go, I’d rather it be with you.”
The sincerity in his voice was intensified by the warmth in my belly. I hated to admit it, but I could see his point. How could he let this girl come all of the way out to Iowa to see him and not take her to the dance?
“I don’t know why you’re explaining to me anyway,” I said in a huff, “It’s not like I have some claim over you.”
“You don’t?” he asked with a playful grin. “I’d say you have plenty of claim over me.” He wrapped his arms around my waist and drew me to his chest.
The proximity of his scent and the warmth of his sentiment won me over. Being in direct contact with his skin made it impossible for me to resist. I lifted my arms up around his shoulders and rested my head on his chest, his heart thumping in time to the waves of affection that he was unknowingly sending through my body. We stood there holding each other and swaying slightly with the breeze for a long moment.
“So,” he whispered into my hair, “I think I have a solution for my little dance predicament.”
“Hmm?” I replied with my eyes closed so I could concentrate on