Make It Last (Friends & Lovers 1)

Colin just nodded as she walked away.

Chapter Eleven

Colin walked into work the next day with a skip in his step and a smile on his face. He was excited at the prospect of his date that evening with Bree, and hoped to continue to rebuild her trust in him.

He was heading towards the back room when he noticed Rich at the counter talking with a pretty blonde as he made a sundae. He knew that they needed to talk, but figured it best to have it out after Rich was done with his customers.

When he got to the back office he booted up the computer and checked his email. He deleted all of the spam and random giveaways, but paused, when he saw an email from his ex.

He’d met Shawn during Greek Week. Her sorority was having a rush party and he and some of the team were out hitting up all of the parties on Greek Row.

Shawn was definitely beautiful; there was no question about that. So when she pursued him, he hadn’t put up a fight.

She made it pretty clear that she liked the fact that he was on the team and she enjoyed the perks and status that went along with dating him. He was totally focused on football and wasn’t looking for a serious relationship, so she’d suited him just fine.

It didn’t take long after he was injured, before it became apparent that his career in football was over, or for her to break off their relationship and move on.

It had hurt his pride a bit, especially on the tail-end of losing his dream of playing career ball, but there were no lasting effects.

When he saw her email address pop up in his inbox, he opened it with mild curiosity, figuring she had a question or something. When it said that she really wanted to see him, he deleted it without replying.

When he was finished in the office, he stood to go on the floor and was met by Rich coming in the back. Rich looked nervous and unsure, so Colin spoke first.

“Hey, man. I’m sorry about the other night, I was outta line.”

Rich looked relieved, but still said guiltily, “No. You had every right to be mad. I slept with your ex, and that is totally against man-code.”

“Rich, we’d been broken up for a year. Don’t sweat it. I shouldn’t have gotten so upset, but when you guys admitted that you’d been together, I was totally jealous. It was my gut reaction.”

“It’s understandable. She was your girl and I’m your best friend. You’re like a brother to me, man. It never should have happened.”

“Bree explained everything to me, so no hard feelings, all right?” Colin pulled Rich in for a quick hug, then looked at him with a smile. “Let’s just never talk about it again, okay?”

Rich grinned back, “Deal.”

The day went by pretty quickly, and at exactly six o’clock, Colin knocked on Briana’s door.

His breath caught when he took in her short skirt that billowed around her sexy legs. She looked fresh and beautiful as she greeted him with a smile.

He leaned in to kiss her cheek and said, “You look amazing,” which caused her smile to widen.

He held her hand as they walked down the stairs to his car. “Thanks for agreeing to go out with me, Bree.”

She stopped for a moment and said, “This is the only second chance you’re going to get, Colin. Don’t disappoint me.”

His stomach fluttered at her words, and he hoped that he wouldn’t.

“I won’t.”

When they got to the restaurant, he walked around to open her door and offered his hand in assistance.

“Thank you, Sir,” she said with a giggle. She tried to keep her skirt down as she got out of the truck.

“Anytime, Ma’am,” he replied, playing along.

She smiled as they walked up to the entrance. “You remembered that I love seafood.”

“I remember everything, Bree,” he assured her as he opened the door.