Tori
Harrison’s sitting on the hood of his car. When he sees me, he hops off and waves. He’s wearing plaid cargo shorts and a snug-fitting T-shirt. He’s more muscular that I remember.
He’s grinning, and his lips are parted in a sexy way. His eyes roam my body as I walk toward him. “Hey, you look great.”
“Thanks, Liv is responsible.” I smile bashfully.
“Remind me to thank Liv.”
As we drive PCH, Harrison makes small talk. He attends UCSD and jokes that it’s the best of the major schools in San Diego. He’s still not sure what he wants to do with his life and is majoring in business, which also happens to be my major. He asks about my parents, and I tell him about my dad’s promotion.
“What’s the story with you and Brady?”
Well, that was out of nowhere, but I’m not surprised. How do I answer? I’m in love with him, but he only wants to be friends and that hurts more than I care to admit. As vaguely as possible, I reply, “There is no story.”
He tilts his head, eyeing me in disbelief. “If you say so. What about Jake?”
I make a raspberry sound through my lips. “He’s an old story.”
He smiles incredulously. “Are you always so guarded?”
“What? I’m not guarded.”
“Okay, says the girl peeking over the top of the giant wall in front of her.”
“Am I that obvious?”
He shrugs. “Pretty much.”
I fold my hands in my lap as uneasiness sinks in when I think about what he asked. Harrison remains quiet, but I’m sure he expects some kind of answer. After a heavy sigh, I square my shoulders for strength and begin. “I don’t know for sure. I guess I put it up when I found my boyfriend of three years in a closet with his pants down. Worse, because the girl was friends with Brady, and he encouraged both of them. I'd had a crush on Brady for as long as I can remember. I never acted on it, but I thought he cared about me, like I was his little sister, too, by default. My heart broke twice that night, once for Jake’s obvious betrayal and once for Brady’s more subtle betrayal. Having your heart broken twice in the same night sucks, by the way. So up went the wall, and then came the foul mouth and tough-girl exterior. I swore off boys that night, and I swore off Brady. I guess my heart's protected this way.”
He pats my knee once and then rests his hand on the console, leaning on his forearm. “Swore off boys, huh? Guess that means I don’t stand a chance.”
I laugh a little. Harrison may be the first boy since Jake I consider giving a chance. “We’ll have to see, Harrison. Maybe if you play your cards right.”
“Good thing for me, I love a challenge.” He smiles. “You and Brady must have gotten past that if you went out with him last night.”
I answer the question Harrison didn’t have the guts to ask. “It wasn’t a date I was on with Brady. He wanted to hang out so he could apologize for what happened. He wants to move on and be friends again.” I tell the same lie I told Liv. I start thinking about Brady’s reaction to my date with Harrison and Harrison’s ambiguous text worrying about me because I was out with Brady. “A better question is, what’s the story with you and Brady? It’s kind of obvious there’s no love lost between you two.”
He forces a smile and shrugs. “Oh…that’s an ugly one, Tor.”
“How ugly?” I push.
“Extremely ugly.” He keeps one hand on the wheel, scrubbing his face with his free hand. An exaggerated sigh comes from his lips. “Let’s just say that Brady and I are two different kinds of people. I think he’s irresponsible. He thinks women are disposable, and he shows no remorse for his actions.”
I want to be angry with Harrison for what he’s saying, but that does seem to sum up Brady – when it comes to women, at least. What I saw in Brady yesterday was a whole other side to him. I wish he didn’t want to hide it, because I want to defend him right now. I want to tell Harrison that he’s wrong. Brady is more than the reputation that follows him. I can’t say anything because Brady trusts me to keep his secret.
I decide to joke. “So…what? Did he steal your girlfriend or something?”
Harrison’s jaw clenches tight. “No! He’s just reckless.”
All joking aside now, I say, “He’s more than that when you get to know him.”
Harrison shakes his head. “I do know him, and he’s dangerous. He takes unnecessary risks, and he doesn’t care who he hurts.”
I’m not comfortable with where this conversation is going, and I’m sorry I even brought it up. It’s an argument I’m sure to lose. Harrison is obviously not going to change his opinion of Brady. “Let’s talk about something else. What do you do for fun, Harrison?”
His smile brightens a little. “I surf. Have you ever been?”