“Looks like you may understand now. The only reason I’m standing here at all is because I’m waiting to hear that you want to apologize to Devon for your classless behavior the last time you saw her.”
Tears flow freely down her face, and a small piece of me feels sympathy. Then she straightens her shoulders, and anger flashes across her face. “Is that what she told you? She is a liar—”
“Holli, stop. At this point, you’re embarrassing yourself. I’ll be out of this city in a few days, and I can only hope our paths don’t cross again. But if they do, don’t fuck with us, or you’ll regret it.”
He steps back, shuts the door, and turns to the room. I run to him, jumping into his arms.
“If that girl doesn’t get the hint after that, she needs help,” I say softly.
He grunts into my neck.
“With that being said, I think my fiancé needs to know how much of a turn on that was.”
Bryce leans back and gives me a smug smirk. Both of us turn our heads when Nate grumbles. He’s changed into shorts and has his running shoes on.
“I’m going for a run. Be back in an hour.” He emphasizes the hour and walks out the door.
I giggle, and Bryce kisses me quickly. “You have an hour, babe. I’m all yours.”
“You bet you are.”
Chapter 4
Bryce’s parents have a bungalow on the back of their property, only having used it as an office for Sheila in the past. They offered for the guys to store their stuff indefinitely. We all know it could be a long time before they actually get another place of their own, so this saves them from having to pay for a storage unit for years.
When the last box is unloaded from the U-Haul, I fall onto the sofa and moan. My eyes sting from exhaustion. Quinn falls next to me and exhales dramatically.
“This moving shit is tough.”
“I don’t even want to hear it from you. You’ve only been around for three hours. Imagine three days.”
Dean drove up from Atlanta to see Quinn for the weekend, and they agreed to help us unload. When this is all over, I’m going to owe her huge. While I’ve been away the last few days, she has taken care of everything for our upcoming trip.
The program requires we all fly into Rio as a group. Our international flight leaves out of Miami, so we were responsible for getting to the Miami airport with adequate time to meet with Professor Grant two hours before departure.
She worked with the university travel coordinator for the both of us. After reviewing the flights and knowing the importance of being there, we decided to fly in a day early and stay at an airport motel. This disappointed Bryce, but he didn’t say too much.
&n
bsp; Quinn also got us a flight into Charlottesville for a short trip to pack what we need and meet with Roxy, the girl watching our apartment and my car while we are gone. She’s a friend who cheers with us and actually needed a place to stay for a few weeks to attend a summer workshop. It worked out well, and we agreed. If we weren’t accepted to the Summer Expo, our plan B was to come back to UVA for second summer semester, but things fell into place once we heard about the program.
So while I’ve been away the last few days, my best friend has organized our lives effortlessly. Yep, I owe her huge.
“Why are you so tired? Was there some wild excitement you haven’t told me about yet?” She raises her eyebrows and pinches my side lightly.
“No other excitement. We packed all day and then went out with some of their friends last night. Somehow, our low-key night turned into me going to bed at four a.m. Bryce didn’t crawl in until six. Then we were up at ten to load the truck. Even though I didn’t have to, I scoured the apartment the best I could to make sure they got their security deposit back.
“I didn’t sleep on the drive because we stopped halfway to switch drivers, and I rode with Nate the rest of the way home.”
“How’s he feeling about everything coming up?”
“He says he’s pretty open to being stationed anywhere, and I believe him. Bryce and I truly thought he wanted San Diego, but now, he’s talking more about Norfolk. I’m thrilled because I’d hate for him to be across the country.”
“You know it’s going to happen someday, right?”
“I know,” I say softly. “I’m in denial, especially with their skill sets. They’re likely to be in high demand.”
“We’ll take it one day at a time, like always. And in the end, no matter where everybody is stationed, we’ll have a wedding to plan.” She squeezes my hand.