was true, I didn’t feel like myself, but why in the hell would I? I wasn’t myself.
Although, now that rodeoing had been taken away from me, I wasn’t even sure who I was. So how could I know if I felt like myself?
Headlights shone behind me, bouncing off my rearview mirror. For a split second, I thought that it might be Olivia coming home from her date.
What would she think about me being parked here?
Would she think I was stalking her?
Would I care if she did? At least I’d know if she walked in alone or invited the stranger in.
And what if she did? What was I supposed to do with that information? Nothing. I couldn’t do jack shit with that information.
When the truck that I recognized as Bentley’s drove around me and into the driveway, I knew that the time to mull over my decision had expired. This was a bad idea. Nothing good could come from me living next door to Olivia. It would be pure torture. I’d had enough of that the last few months.
I opened the door and shifted so my feet were on my running board. As soon as I put weight on my legs, my back screamed with pain. Three days of driving hadn’t done me any favors. If I was going to be in town for a while, maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to continue my treatments here. I held my breath as I lowered one foot and then the other down onto the pavement. I used the door for balance and support and noticed that I was holding on so tight my knuckles were white.
I was white-knuckling it just getting out of my vehicle. This was my life now. And I needed to figure out how the hell I was going to navigate it without the distraction of living next door to Olivia.
As I slowly walked up the driveway, my chest still constricted from the searing pain, my plan was to thank Bentley for offering to let me stay but explain that I didn’t think it was a good fit. But when I opened my mouth, nothing came out.
“I think you’re going to like the place!” Bentley either didn’t notice my hesitation or he was ignoring it as he walked up the front path and opened the door.
I didn’t say a word as I followed behind my friend as he gave me a tour of his condo. The entire place was furnished, which was a bonus for me since all of my belongings fit in three storage bins. There were stairs, which wasn’t ideal, but if I went up and down slowly, I could manage. He explained that Olivia’s condo was the exact layout just flipped. And that the shared walls were in the kitchen and master bedroom. Which meant, not only would I be living next door to her, I’d be able to hear if she had overnight guests because we shared a bedroom wall.
“So that’s about it.” He said as we walked back downstairs. “There’re towels in the closet and I think the place is still stocked with basics like toilet paper and shit. And anything you need; Liv is right next door.”
Bentley was so trusting. If he had any idea the feelings, thoughts, and wet dreams I’d had about his baby sister, I’d be the last person he’d want living next door to her.
When he handed me the keys, I said a simple, “Thanks.”
“Seriously, man, thank you. You’re doing me a favor. Knowing that you’re here gives me a peace of mind that I haven’t had in months, since I moved in with Maisy.” He put his hand on the door but turned back. “Oh, before I forget, I wanted to ask you if you’d be my best man?”
“Me?” I’d been close to Bentley, but so was Travis Briggs, not to mention there was Brady, Bentley’s older brother. “What about Brady?”
“Brady’s a dick,” Bentley stated firmly.
He wasn’t lyin’. “What about Travis?”
Travis had always been our friend, but when I got to high school, I’d hung out more with Jackson, Travis’s brother, since I’d finished my diploma in two years instead of four and had been in the same classes with him. Also, we’d bonded over a shared desire not to end up in Wishing Well. And he’d come to all my events to shoot. At the time, he’d wanted to be a photographer for National Geographic.
“I flipped a coin between you and Travis, he called heads,