“That was before I knew Brady wanted to fix things.” She paused to really look at me. “Hazel, Brady is a great guy. He loves you. Don’t fuck things up with him over some drifter you had a fun time with.”
Drifter?
Wow. I was actually offended on Milo’s behalf. She hadn’t heard anything I’d said about him over the past hour.
I raised my voice. “Milo is no more a drifter than I am.”
“Okay, but you don’t even know this guy’s name. If you continue to obsess over him, eventually you’re going to have to tell Brady—and then what? You’ll lose him.”
“Brady threw me away, Felicity. If he can’t accept something that happened in the aftermath of his dumping me, that’s his problem. Are you forgetting he left me?”
“Yeah, well, he’s trying to rectify that. Give him a chance. Don’t make a mistake you’ll regret for the rest of your life.”
Felicity’s one-sided attitude aggravated me. I crossed my arms. “I have to say, I’m a bit surprised you’re so supportive of Brady. You were the first to curse his name when he broke things off.”
“Yeah, well, I was mad. But now that I see how he’s handling things, I have to be honest with you. I think you’d be making a mistake in not taking him back. This guy you met doesn’t sound like he has his shit together. I know you have an adventurous spirit, but when it comes down to it, stability is what you need. I mean, don’t you want to have kids someday?”
I stared off. I wasn’t sure what I wanted anymore. But though I may not have agreed with her advice, she’d certainly given me a lot to think about.Chapter 16* * *HazelBrady had asked if I wanted to meet him at a bar in the city Friday night. He had business downtown, so he was already in the area. I’d have to take the train in after my shoot.
It had been a while since I’d ventured out of Connecticut, so I figured it would do me some good. After all, any time I could hang out with Brady without having to be alone with him was a good thing. Even though he’d been great about not making any moves on me physically, I always worried about how I would handle things if we were alone and he tried something. That was bound to happen at some point if we continued hanging out as “friends.”
I’d given him no indication as to whether I would be taking him back. It would have been irresponsible to lead him on, since I was still figuring out what I wanted. I’d remembered how much there was to experience in the world, and I wasn’t ready to close the door on a more adventurous future than currently lay before me. Like a future with Milo. It wouldn’t be risk-free, but it would certainly bring an excitement I didn’t have now.
And despite Felicity’s feelings on the matter, I was still torn about whether I could forgive Brady. If I ended up choosing to be with him, I’d likely never see Milo again. That was a hard pill to swallow.
I’d have to stand Milo up in New Orleans. The thought of that broke my heart. I couldn’t imagine Milo showing up and not finding me there. Obviously, if I were considering taking Brady back one second and feeling horrible about potentially hurting Milo the next, I was still very confused.
The bar Brady had chosen in downtown Manhattan was a small but trendy place. It was dark and crowded, but he had already texted me that he’d secured a spot at the back right side of the bar, so I knew where to look. I managed to find him sitting at a four-top table in the corner.
When he spotted me, he raised his glass. He looked really good tonight, dressed in a black, tailored suit. He must have been trying to impress a new client today.
“Hey!” I said, a bit out of breath.
“You made it.” Brady stood and leaned in to kiss my cheek. It was the most contact he’d aimed for since our first meeting after my return.
I had to admit, the feel of his lips on my skin sent a chill down my spine.
“How was your day?” he asked.
That was another thing. “New Brady” was more considerate. “Old Brady” would have immediately started going on about his day.
“The shoot in New Haven went well. I’ll have a ton of edits to do this weekend.”
“Good. What’s on tap next week?”
“I have a couple of private assignments and then a retake shoot at the high school in Darien.”
“Nice.”
“How was your day?” I asked.
“The usual brownnosing that comes with wooing a new client. But I’m pretty sure I nabbed them. I’ll probably hear next week.”
“Well, early congrats then. We should celebrate.”