Had Brandon lost his mind? Why would Stanley be jealous?
Oh, let me count the ways! First of all, because you’re fucking hot, Erica answered Brandon silently, although she’d never say such a thing out loud to anyone. Besides, Brandon already knew that about himself; she had no doubt about it. Forget the part about him being charismatic and all those millions he made—even before he came into cash, girls flung themselves at him pretty much since junior high when he shot up six inches in height, and his shoulders broadened. He bulged muscles and veins, oozed masculinity and testosterone.
She was powerless against his charms back then, too.
Second, Stanley—nearly twenty years Brandon’s senior—barely maintained a lower six-figure income. He made a solid amount, sure, but weren’t all guys a little put off by another dude with more stuff? Didn’t they all feel some kind of way about a guy richer than them? Especially a non-relative in their girl’s life?
And third, this hunky friend of hers had known her since she still had her milk teeth—from the day she and her mom moved next door to his family. That’s something Stanley could do absolutely nothing about. How can you make up for nearly twenty years of friendship? All those memories she and Brandon made in the most formative and impressionable times of their lives—from camping in the front yard to hanging out in a tree house—there was no equal in adulthood once obligations started settling in.
And then there were a few other memories she dared not share with Stanley, or else he’d likely never want to meet him, and might not want her to continue their connection either. Those other memories from their adolescence would have to stay between the two of them.
She wondered if Brandon had ever shared any of those stories with his temporary bed-warmers. Did such memories come back to him every now and then like they did to her?
Erica tried to keep her composure as she hugged Brandon goodbye. She tried not to think about how good it felt to have his arms around her and have her body pressed against his hard, warm one, and how easily she melted against him. Her heart ached at having to leave him again and to go along with pretending to be blasé about finally seeing him after three long years. She had to pretend that she hadn’t missed him as much as she had and that she wasn’t more hurt that he had changed his number and never passed the new one on to her; she had to figure out how to find him from someone else.
Why had he bothered to keep her number when he obviously had no intention of using it?
She couldn’t look at him as his arms left her body, and she realized that she was looking away when his rumbling voice said, “Hey,” making her look up at him.
“I look forward to your return,” he said, arresting her with his blue eyes—whirlpools shed gotten lost in more than once.
She discovered the spell he could cast with those eyes ten years ago—a hypnotic gaze leaving her feeling like she never wanted to look away.
They were sitting on the bed in her room, cards displayed between them after she taught him to play Gin Rummy. She was about to gather the cards up for another game when he suddenly said, “Your eyes are really pretty.” She looked up at him. “They’re sort of brown, but sort of green. I don’t see eyes like that often,” he continued.
Erica felt like she would melt right into a puddle.
What was he doing talking about somebody else’s eyes when his should be outlawed? His stare captivated her to the point that whatever his next move would be, she could only go with it. It wasn’t fair his eyelashes were so full; there was no resisting those gorgeous blue eyes of his.
Still staring at him, she suddenly she felt like she was on a flight; her ears had clogged up. Her heart beat so fast and loud, she would’ve been embarrassed—if she’d been able to register anything beyond what was happening between them.
She’d dreamed of this moment countless times, and now here it was—Brandon Wilde’s lips were coming toward hers.
When their lips finally met, she had no doubt heaven existed and that she’d been transported to it. She never wanted to come back to Earth.
Erica shook off the memory and began preparing to leave the diner, her eyes staying away from Brandon.
“Let me know if you need a ride back to the airport or anything,” she heard him say. “In fact, do you need a ride to your hotel now? I can take you.”
You sure can, she thought, then cursed herself.
She glanced at him and shook her head, smiling widely. “I’ve got it handled, don’t worry.”
She hoped he couldn’t see she was lying through her teeth.
She just knew she couldn’t be in any small space with him, despite him having a girlfriend and that he hadn’t made a single move on her. But in her gut, she knew she couldn’t get in his car. She definitely couldn’t risk him walking her to her hotel room; she couldn’t trust herself around him.
“Thanks, though. See you,” she said, waving, departing quickly.
She made sure to stop at a clothing store to pretend she was browsing, giving Brandon time to leave the area and not see her get in a taxi later.
Once in the taxi, she sat staring out of the window, wondering if it was a good idea to meet up with him again after all since he still rattled her after all these years.
The two of them had always operated as innocent friends—despite that one experimental kiss—but the way her body responded to him even now went far beyond friendly feelings and felt too much like what she felt for him back when she had braces and frizzy hair.
She wondered what kind of girl he was with now. Probably someone like the dancer types he hung out with in school.
Then she realized she was being silly, getting so worried about the whole thing. If she stuck to double dates with him, having Stanley and Brandon’s current squeeze around would probably help stunt her feelings. Brandon couldn’t possibly affect her as much with two other people flanking them—too much interference. Therefore, they could easily interact as innocently as they used to.
Maybe the double date experience would be like getting past opening night for a play, and every time she saw Brandon after that, she’d get less and less nervous on stage. Pretty soon, she’d be able to breeze through the performance, easing into autopilot and convincingly act as if what she felt for him didn’t go past friendship at all. Maybe, like most acting parts eventually, she’d go beyond playing and temporarily become that character.
Stanley’s face lit up as she entered their small New York apartment a few days later, and he turned away from his desktop computer to watch her enter.
“Sorry I couldn’t grab you from the airport—just got back from that shoot.”
“Oh, no problem. What’s a cab ride?”
“So you found the one out there?” he said, adjusting his glasses as he stared at her with rounded eyes.
Erica froze, then realized Stanley was talking about their new apartment.
“Oh. Well, yeah. For now, I guess. Now I know you liked the one in Burbank, but in person, the one in Studio City is so much better—I think that’s the one. A little spacier, too—or at least it feels that way; they’re both just around eight hundred square feet.”
“It will feel like a mansion after this,” he said, indicating their tiny apartment.
“And we’re paying much less,” she added. “The main thing we’ll have to get used to…”
“Besides all that sun and open sky?” he said, grinning. “And, oh boy—those palm trees.”
She thought he was so adorable sometimes—especially when he grinned like that, like a big kid. And with those glasses and his straight brown hair with the one stubborn cowlick—just looking at him sometimes made her smile.
Erica grinned back at him. “The traffic,” she continued. “That’s the major problem. And the public transportation system isn’t that great. And I know we said we’d share a car for a bit, but with me auditioning, and you with the various gigs you pick up…”
“We’ll figure it out, love.”
She smiled again. “I’m sure we will. Oh, my friend, Brandon, offered us a place to stay if we needed it.”
Stanley’s face transformed almost comically, his already large eyes behind his glasses widening. “At what cost?”
“Free, I guess. He doesn’t use the place, apparently. Some condo in Orange County. Not sure where he’s staying right now.”
“How rich is this guy if he has empty condos around and won’t charge us?”
Erica shrugged. “He and his brother won the Ultra or Mega Lotto or something. One of the highest pots ever—six hundred million or so.”
Stanley’s eyes bugged out again, and Erica stifled a giggle at his uninhibited shock.
“There are three of them,” she continued. “Brothers, I mean. Maybe they split it three ways, maybe just Brandon and his twin, Connor—I don’t know; either way, he’s obviously got millions to spare.”
“Wait, what do you mean you don’t know? I thought you guys were pretty close?”
Erica shrugged again. “We were. But honestly, the last time I saw him was at my graduation. He showed up and everything was normal. Then later that summer, the lottery thing happened. Haven’t heard from him since.”
This time, Stanley’s face transformed to outrage. “I didn’t realize it was that asshole you were planning to see! Why on earth would you even want to reconnect with a guy like that? What kind of person just drops an old friend without a second thought? I mean, you didn’t even ask him for money or anything, right?”
“Of course not! I didn’t even know what had happened until his number changed and I started asking around about him. Never was able to reach him. You were around when I tried again some months later—you remember. Anyway, I recently added someone on my Facebook who has Connor as a friend—although he’s not under his real name—and through him, tracked Brandon’s new contact info. Connor had no problem passing it on; he remembered me.”
“Again, why go through all of this trouble for someone who clearly no longer wanted anything to do with you?”
Erica tried to ignore the pain in her chest at the words spoken so plainly and full of truth.
“We had such a long history, you know?” she said, feeling injured and a bit defensive. “And now that we’ll be in the same geographic vicinity again, I thought I could at least find out what happened. I…I had to know.”
Stanley’s face relaxed in understanding. “I get it. Unfinished business.”
Erica nodded. “I guess.”
“So did he tell you what happened?”
“He blamed some relationship he had going at the time—a jealous girlfriend.”
When Erica looked at Stanley again, she couldn’t tell exactly what was going on behind his eyes, but he looked particularly intelligent and focused.
“Anyway, he mentioned interest in a double date. What do you think?” She smiled at him, hoping to diffuse the intensity of the past few moments.
Stanley’s body seemed to relax as he finally turned his face back to his computer. “Sounds fine to me. We’ll arrange it when we get there. I’d definitely love to meet him.”