I dreamt of her. Which, of course, made it ridiculously hard for me to get up the next morning, realizing I had to leave and go back home, that I would no longer be a short drive away from her.
Hours. I’d be hours away.
Fucking sucked.
I lay in bed for a while, wishing I could close my eyes and go back to sleep. I’d dreamt of taking Bree on another date. I was pretty sure we went to the zoo, because I swore I remembered seeing tigers or something—that part was probably only because I’d just watched that documentary on Netflix.
Yeah, if there was one good thing about taking an impromptu vacation away from your life, it was the fact you could finally catch up on all of the shows the entire world had already seen.
But, anyway, back to the dream. After the zoo, we’d somehow wound up at my apartment. All alone, no Trent to be seen. Just me and her, and my greedy hands and mouth. The only thing that would beat that dream would be reality, but I knew, if Bree and I ever got to that point, it would be different. She was a virgin, after all, and I bet she’d feel the most self-conscious she’d ever felt in her life.
I shouldn’t let myself think about that. That was getting way ahead of myself, almost outrageously so. What I should do was get up, pack my car, take a quick rinse in the shower, and leave. Tell Mom and Kyle goodbye, and then head to her house to tell her the same.
I…I didn’t want to leave her. I really didn’t, but I had to. I had a job to get back to, a life I had to clean up. Trent was on the lease for another six months, so I’d have to figure out how to deal with that. I would be okay with him moving out, but then I’d be on the hook for the rent myself, whereas right now, we split it, along with all of the other bills.
One thing at a time. First I had to say goodbye.
It took me about an hour to get up and get everything done. Kyle was still half-asleep when I said goodbye to him, and Mom was in the process of getting ready for work, too. They’d both see me again soon, but they were not the ones who I didn’t want to say goodbye to. I was twenty-five years old, so being apart from my family was something I was used to, now.
But Bree? I didn’t think I’d ever get used to being apart from her. I wanted to hold her every second of every day and make her believe all the things I told her. Somehow, she’d wrapped me around her finger without knowing it. I bet she had no idea how crazy she made me feel.
After all, I just got out of a terrible relationship. It wasn’t good to jump into a new one so fast, right? Still, even knowing that, I couldn’t change what I wanted—and that was Bree. Bree Stone, the pink-haired, green-eyed girl with a heart full of sorrow and self-depreciation.
I didn’t text Bree that I was on my way over; I’d never seen her so early in the day. She’d probably think something was wrong. It was just before eleven that I pulled up to her house, sitting back in my seat and staring at it for a few minutes before getting out. I knew she’d be here; she said she had no life.
Gathering my nerves, I headed up to the door and knocked. An older man answered it: her dad. Mr. Stone was a man with thinning brown hair and a greying goatee, along with eyes that were a bit more blue than green.
“Mr. Stone,” I said, offering him my hand since this was the first time I’d met him. “I’m Calum Renolds.”
“Ah, yes,” he said, taking my hand and shaking it vigorously. “Kyle’s brother…and the one who took Bree out a few times. Is she expecting you?”
When he finally released my hand from the handshake, I let it fall to my side as I shook my head. “She is not. I’m not here to stay long. I just wanted to see her for a bit.”
Mr. Stone stepped aside, wordlessly inviting me in. “She’s upstairs, in her room.” When I thought he’d say something else, something along the lines of leave the door open or something else threatening that a