Staying on Course (Finding our Way 2)

“Devon Harris?” he asks.

I nod and grin.

“Jesus, look at you. When did you grow up? Last time I saw you was the graduation party your parents threw for the seniors. What was that—four years ago?” His gaze rakes up and down my body, and Bryce goes still beside me.

“Something like that. How are you, Trevor?”

“Great. I’ve been a cop in Nashville for almost a year. Much different situation on this side of the law.” He turns to Bryce, his face lit with humor. “Randolph, man, remember that time we were picked up partying behind that old farmhouse senior year? You were hooked up with Missy Higgins then, right?

I can’t stop the squeak that falls out of my mouth. It’s stupid, but at the mere mention of Bryce with another girl, a knot pits in my stomach.

The air around us stills as Bryce’s back grows straighter. Trevor notices immediately and looks between us.

“Did I say something wrong?”

Bryce immediately clasps my hand and kisses my ring finger, making a statement. Trevor’s eyes dart between my face and Bryce’s lips.

“Devon’s my fiancée. Not sure we need to rehash high school, especially shit that never happened. Someone may have been with Missy, but it sure wasn’t me.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? You’re marrying Nate’s little sister?”

His stunned voice comes out in a high tone, and Quinn tries to hold back but fails. Her small giggle turns into a loud laugh until she starts snorting. She drops her head, so her hair covers her face, but her shoulders continue to jiggle.

One look at Bryce, and his expression transforms from annoyed to pleased. His lips twitch slightly until he speaks. “Yeah, you could put it that way. Technically, she’s Nate’s younger sister, but I prefer to refer to her as mine.”

Trevor looks among all of us with a confused expression. “Wow.”

“Why is that so hard to believe?” Bryce asks.

Trevor’s eyes dart to me then lower to the ground. He shuffles his feet before answering. “Don’t mean to be a dick, but I heard you had a kid and fiancée in Knoxville.”

All amusement ends. Bryce swallows hard and looks at me before speaking. “You heard wrong.” He doesn’t elaborate further but loads our bags in the trunk.

“Sorry, man, didn’t mean to—”

“No worries. Now you know.” He holds his hand out for Quinn to give him the keys and then opens the front and back door for us to get in.

I give Trevor a small smile and wave as Bryce shuts me in. They each give a chin jerk, and it’s obvious that Trevor is extremely uncomfortable. Bryce folds into the car and is silent until he gets to the interstate.

“Why does it feel like we just stepped off a time machine and back into high school?”

“Really, it was a legitimate mistake. There are probably a lot of people who heard about the baby but didn’t get the whole story. Even though it’s a big city, it’s still a small community.”

“It was two years ago. Am I ever going to get away from it?”

“I have an idea,” Quinn pipes in. She reaches in my purse and takes out my phone.

“Whatever it is, that look on your face tells me it’s not a good idea.” Her fingers work rapidly as her grin widens.

Then she reaches for her own phone and types quickly.

“Here.” She hands it back. “All of your social media has been updated. You are now officially engaged to Bryce Randolph. Your Instagram also sent a photo of the two of you.”

“Did you caption it?”

“Yep.”

I scroll through my account and squeal when I see what she’s done. She’s taken one of the shots of us at the beach and posted for everyone to see with the title ‘7 years in the making but he’s finally mine’. Then she hash-tagged with #futuremrsrandolph.