He wasn’t the first guy I’d had sex with. I had waited pretty much all through college—until my senior year—when it started to become clear to me that Aiden wasn’t going to change his mind. And to be honest, I was growing tired of waiting. I knew I would never love a man like I loved Aiden, but one night, I gave in and had a one-night stand. It wasn’t anything like Bree and Ellen said it would be. It hurt like a bitch, and he was done before he even got me off.
Brian came into the picture a few years after I’d graduated college and moved back to Boggy Creek. He worked so hard to get me to go out with him, and, truth be told, it had been nice to have a man want me like that. Especially since the man I truly desired didn’t.
Brian glanced over and our eyes met. He had the nerve to smile and wink at me as he continued to walk down the steps, his hand wrapped in Ellen’s.
She, on the other hand, knew better than to even look my way. In some ways, I was more upset about losing her friendship than I was my marriage.
“I’d like to smack that smug look off of his fucking face,” Bree said, clearly abandoning her role as my lawyer and switching back to friend. “What a waste of the last two years of your life.”
The start of those two years flashed before my eyes. I had said yes when he’d dropped to one knee in front of my entire family on Christmas morning. I had told him the night before that I was pregnant. I hadn’t wanted to get married; a part of me still felt like I had betrayed Aiden in some weird way.
When I’d told Aiden about Brian while he was home on leave that New Year’s Eve, he’d seemed angry at first, even balling up his fists. Then he looked away. He’d worn a blank look on his face when he’d turned back and simply said that he was happy for me.
When Brian popped the question and outed my pregnancy to my entire family, I felt pressure to say yes. The look on my parents’ face alone was the driving reason I’d agreed, if I was being honest with myself. I sort of went on autopilot, and I said yes.
We’d dated for nearly a year before I got pregnant, and Brighton and Lacy both swear Brian knew I was going to back out of our relationship and the next thing you know, I was pregnant. I wasn’t on the pill, and he had always worn a condom. I couldn’t regret any of it because I had my beautiful son. There were so many times when I looked at Ben, though, and closed my eyes, wishing his father was Aiden and not the douchebag I’d ended up marrying. Stupid, foolish girl.
Brian made his way over to us, and Bree stepped between me and him.
“It’s okay, Bree,” I said as I squeezed her arm. She stepped to the side, but not before she shot both Brian and Ellen a death glare.
“I’ll have my lawyer contact yours,” Brian said, giving Bree a sharp look before he focused back on me. “About visitations.”
“Sounds fine by me,” I said with no emotion whatsoever in my voice.
He nodded, then looked at Bree and Ellen. “Can we step to the side and speak alone for a moment?”
“That’s not a good—” Bree started to say as Ellen’s eyes nearly popped out with shock at the idea that Brian wanted to speak to me alone. Did she not trust him? She’d be smart not to.
“It’ll be fine, Bree. Let’s just get this over with,” I said as I spun on my heels and walked a few feet away from the sideshow.
Brian cleared his throat and looked down at me. His dark blond hair was cut short, and he had shaved off the slight beard he’d gotten into the habit of wearing the last few years. He looked five years younger with a clean-shaven face. He was handsome, there was no doubt about it. It was the whole reason I was drawn to him in the first place. The blond hair and hazel eyes.
Complete opposite of Aiden. But in looks, Aiden won out. He was also cocky, confident, and had always known exactly who he wanted to be and what he wanted from life. Unlike Brian. He’d always needed reassurances about how I’d felt about him. How he looked in certain clothes. And he’d always complained about his job, working for his father at one of the banks in town.
“What did you want to say, Brian?” I asked with a bit of impatience in my voice.
“I just need to know your focus is on Ben right now, and not on your sex life.”