Beyond Reason by Karice Bolton Read Free Book Online Page B

relatives.
    “He’s single. It’s not illegal to flirt.” I found myself already making excuses for him, and it wasn’t like I even knew who he was any longer. We’d both gone our separate directions.
    “He thinks you’re single because we thought you were when we emailed him,” Brandy replied. “And I think I’d like pepperoni.”
    “Me too,” Gabby agreed.
    “The pizza can wait,” I muttered. “I want to hear what you guys thought could come of this. I want your idea of what a happily-ever-after would be in this case.”
    “Our hope was that you wouldn’t know any of this was happening. That you were going to arrive in Utah. We’d all have a wonderful group dinner and when we went to leave for the evening, he’d be standing across the room and you’d see him. And he’d see you,” Brandy’s voice trailed off.
    “And then both of your eyes would lock on each others, knowing it was meant to be,” Gabby sighed. “Ridiculous. I know.”
    “I’ve known about your plan for an entire week,” I confessed.
    My cheeks began to get warm, and I felt overly anxious for some reason.
    “I’m gonna grab some water. Do you guys want anything to drink?” I asked. I needed to regroup, and I didn’t want to admit that their foolish ideas of how love worked, also matched mine for the last week.
    “I’m fine,” Brandy responded.
    “Me too,” Gabby agreed.
    I went to the kitchen and filled my water glass and took huge gulps as I fought with myself over make-believe scenarios. This type of reminiscing was detrimental. It was one thing to wonder where people landed in life, but this took it to an entirely different place, a place that wasn’t even grounded in this world, let alone this universe. But I had to love them for trying.
    Feeling hydrated and a little more centered, I walked back into the family room. Neither of them had spoken a word since they’d unveiled their vision for me and my happily-ever-after. There was just an awkward silence.
    “The truth of it is,” I paused, “I’ve dreamed that would be my fairytale ending too,” I replied.
    Gabby’s mouth fell open.
    “Since I found out about what you two were up to, I’ve Googled him countless times and spent my nights imagining that we’d reconnect, and all would be forgiven, and he’d fall madly in love with me all over again. And I feel absolutely insane for having those thoughts cross my mind. I blame you both completely. It’s entirely unlike me and even my own bullshit detector’s going off,” I said. “But then I think back to the connection we shared in high school. It was so intense, and I’ve spent the short amount of time that I’ve been an adult hoping to find that again.”
    “Well, maybe you can’t find it with anyone else because Austin’s the one,” Brandy offered.
    “Do you really believe in just one?” I asked.
    “I do.” Brandy nodded.
    “You?” I asked Gabby.
    “Yup. Now that I have Jason.”
    “So I have two hopeless romantics trying to plan my future. This is so not going to work out well,” I sighed.
    “Especially since you’re going down to Utah already attached,” Brandy said, nodding in agreement.
    “About that.” I picked up the phone and dialed the pizza place. “I’m not seeing anyone. I just wanted to drive you two mad. And it looks like it worked.”
    As I was ordering the pizza, Gabby and Brandy were whispering nonstop about who could have told me about their master plan and how dirty I played it. I couldn’t help but love these girls. We didn’t talk behind one another’s back. Nope. We just did it right in front of each other. I hung up the phone and curled my legs underneath me on the couch.
    “Pizza’ll be here in fifteen minutes,” I said.
    “Why won’t you tell us who ratted us out?” Brandy scowled.
    “I always protect my sources.”
    My mind drifted to Ayden, and I wondered what he was up to tonight. And then the trip flashed into my mind with a jolt. The jig was up.