Stay Awhile: A small-town, brothers best friend romance by Kristie Leigh

Author:Kristie Leigh [Leigh, Kristie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-10-12T16:00:00+00:00

The cafeteria was busier than usual, so I bypassed the line and went to the vending machine to grab some snacks before sitting in the corner alone. I wasn’t good company at all today, and I was sure that every single one of my coworkers would attest to that. Harrison had said good morning to me, which I had returned, but since then, I had successfully avoided him. I could see him in the line to get a hot lunch, and I hoped he didn’t see me when he tried to find a seat.

I looked down at my bag of Doritos and Pepsi and made the childish decision to go eat at my desk. I stood up and looked in Harrison’s direction just as he spotted me. I froze for a moment when we made eye contact. His smile was gorgeous, and he waved like nothing was wrong, but something was wrong. We were wrong. I returned his smile half-heartedly and left the cafeteria without a second glance.

None of this was his fault. He hadn’t mis-stepped or said anything out of turn. I felt horrible for treating him like I had. It wasn’t like I was mad at him. If anything, I was mad at myself.

I’d lain in bed last night, stewing over everything. I went over the entire evening. Every action. Every word. What had started off as the perfect night ended up a nightmare. I’d come to a few conclusions.

One, I needed to get out of my parent’s house for all our sakes.

Two, I was leaving in a couple of months’ time.

Three, I loved Harrison.

The realization that I truly loved Harrison was a shocker, to say the least, but it really didn’t matter. It wasn’t enough. Wasn’t that a saying? Love wasn’t always enough. Apparently, it was a saying for a reason because, in my case, it was true. If I stayed here, I’d eventually resent my relationship and Harrison for it. I’d wonder what I could have had outside of this town had I continued on my adventures. I was too damn young to settle down.

I tossed my garbage and pushed away my thoughts.

The rest of my day went by in a haze. I’d managed to evade Harrison completely, or maybe he had been dodging me. I couldn’t be sure.

On my ride home, I pictured a relaxing bath in the soaker tub. Unfortunately for me, my mother was there the moment I stepped through the door.

“Hey, honey, how was work? I wanted to remind you that Amanda is coming to Thanksgiving. I want you to be nice and make her feel welcome.” Her tone was as sweet as pie, but she knew how I felt about Amanda. We’d had a sort of rivalry since we were kids.

I walked into the kitchen, where she was cleaning the counters. “I still don’t understand why she’s coming. You never invite her. Doesn’t she have her own family to eat with?”

She took a deep breath and let it out as if those few sentences had completely exasperated her.

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