Make It Last (20 page)

             
Tears began to form in Briana’
s eyes. She felt lighter, happier, than she ever had. It seemed like things were finally turning out the way
she had always hoped they would
.

             
“But I’m leaving for Austin.
”

             
“That’s okay,” he
tried to reassur
e her. “Austin isn’t that far. W
e can see each other on weekends and stuff. Don’t worry about that, we’ll work it out.”

             
She smiled even wider
and nodded her head once in affirmation.

             
“I love you,
too
.
” s
he exclaimed.

             
Colin beamed at her, bringing each of her hands to his lips.
They heard a throat clear and jumped at the interruption.

             
“Sorry,” Colin’s father said gruffly. “I needed t
o get something off of the desk.
I didn’t mean to intrude.”

             
“You c
ould never intrude, Mr. Grayson,
” Briana said as she bounced over to him and gave him a hug. “I have to get to work
,
anyway.” She looked over her shoulder and winked at Colin. “I’ll see you later.”

             
Colin’s father chuckled and patt
ed her back. “It’s good to see you two so happy again.”

             
She
gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and bounded out of the office.
She was a little early for her shift, but that gave her time to talk to Pam, so it worked out perfectly.

             
Just as everyone
predicted, Pam was as excited about her attending the school as she was, and she was happy that Briana would be able to train a new short order cook before she left.

             
When she was in the break room clocking in and putting up her stuff, Kara and Pete came
in laughing and holding hands.

             
“Close your eyes, Bree,
”
Kara instructed.
“W
e have a surprise for you,”

             
Briana glanced between them with suspicion
, but did as she was told.

             
She heard the sound of shuffling feet and
muffled voices and couldn’t keep a
smile from forming.

             
“Okay,” Kara said loudly. “Open ‘em.”

             
Briana opened her eyes and saw every available shift worker piled into thei
r small break room. I
n the center of the table was a delicious
looking chocolate cake that read
, “
Congratulations, Bree. We are so proud of you
.”

             
Briana didn’t even attempt to h
ide the tears that streamed
down her face.

             
“Thanks, guys. T
his means so much to me.”

             
E
veryone took turns giving her
hug
s
and wishing her luck. The people who had to get on the floor
got back to work
with the promise that cake wo
uld be saved for each of them. E
veryone else stayed to have a piece.

             
It was the best cake Briana had ever eaten.

Epilogue

             
The last couple
of
weeks before Briana left for Austin flew by. She spent ev
ery spare moment with Colin, which only strengthened
their relationship
.

             
The day that Shawn texted him to tell him that she had gone through with the abortion was
difficult
, but they got through it together. Colin was sad at the loss, but admitted that it probably wasn’t the best time
for him, or them,
to start a family. He was adamant that he did want to have kids someday, which made Briana even more excited about their future.

             
She knew that long distance relationships didn’t always work, but she had faith that after all that they
had been through
,
they would find a way to make it work.

             
She trained the new hire at the restaurant and felt confident that he would work out just fine.

Nicole and Roni
found an apartment together and were having fun picking out decorations.
The biggest surprise came when Kara
revealed
that Pete would be taking Briana’s place in their apartment.

             
“I know it sounds crazy. And fast. And
crazy
,
” Kara admitted to Briana when she told her. “But he needs a place
and I’ve got a room opening up…
it just makes sense. It’s
not like we’re living together…I mean, yes, technically we’
re living together, b
ut not living together
.”

             
Briana
chuckled at Kara’s rationale and said, “You guys will be great
.
”

             
It was a sad day for both of them when it was finally time for Briana to leave.

             
“
I’m
going to miss you so much, Bree,” Kara said
between sniffles
.

             
“Me
,
too,” Briana whimpered back.

             
They hugg
ed, squeezing each other tight
.
When Colin’s truck pulled up, they were still locked in their embrace, not ready to let the other go.

             
“Hey
,
l
adies, don’t cry,” Colin said
when he got out and started loading Briana’s things in
to
the bed of his truck. “Please?”

             
Briana and Kara broke apart and wiped their faces, then Briana picked up one of her bags and went to put it in the truck.
She paused before she lifted it in, looking at Colin in confusion.

             
“What are all of these other bags?”

             
Colin and Kara exchanged glances and turned to her with wide grins.

             
“I got hired on as
an Assistant Coach at UT,” he said
. “I’m going to Austin with you.”

             
Briana dropped her bag with a thud,
her mouth wide with shock. T
he tears
once again
b
egan to fall down her face
.

             
“Oh. My. God.”
             
She jumped into Colin’s arms, wrapping herself around him and screaming in his ear.
“I can’t believe it
.
”

             
He
laughed as she pulled bac
k and began to cover his face with
kisses.

             
“I love you so much
,” s
he exclaimed.

             
“I love you
, too, Bree,” he replied. “And I promise
that this time
, we’
ll make it last
.
”

Keep reading for an excerpt from the second book in
the Friends & Lovers Trilogy

I Choose You

Available in 2013

Prologue

             
Nicole
knew that she would
have to face her parents and
let them know that not only had
she change
d
her major, but that she didn’t want to marry Jake and start a congregation.

             
She knew it woul
d be dif
ficult, and that they  would be disappointed in her. But before she went to speak with them,
she had to face Jake.

             
She pulled into the parking lot of the city park where th
ey said they’d
meet.

             
Jake was already there. He was
sitting o
n the bench facing the pond,
watch
ing the ducks float
by.

             
His light brown hair blew in the soft breeze and his expression was peaceful.

             
Nicole’s stomach clenched at the thought
of what she had to do. S
he
knew that she should have broken it off three years ago, but she’d been too afraid
.

             
“Hey, Jake,”
she said as she neared him.

             
Jake
turned and stood up at the sound of her voice.
They were almost the same height, so she could see his eyes light up as she walked up to him.

             
“
Hey, Nicky,” h
e said warmly as he put h
is arms out, expecting to be greeted with a hug as usual
.

             
She walked into his arms willingly, taking stock of the familiarity of his hold, while breathing in the scent of his familiar cologne.

             
She knew Jake
very well. She’d
known him since they were small children, so she knew that he would never forgive her for what she was about to do.

             
She squeezed him tightly
,
one last time, before pulling back to look him in the eyes.
He looked back at her
, confusion spreading across his handsome face.

             
“What is it?” He could always tell when something was wrong.

             
“Can we sit?” Nicole
asked, gesturing towards
bench
he’d been sitting on
. She had to sit before her knees gave out.

             
“Okay,” Jake said sl
owly, as if already
dread
ing
what she was going to say next.

             
“Jake,” She began, clasping her hands nervously in her lap as she forced herself to look at him. “I’m sure you have noticed that I’ve changed over the last few years. Things aren’t the way they w
ere when we began dating. First
you went away for school, then I left for school. Since then, most of our relationship has been spent over the phone or on the internet.”

             
Jake nodded, waiting for her to
finish explaining
.

             
Nicole bit her lip nervously, then continued, “Look, I have to admit that I haven’t been honest with you, or my parents for some time now. I changed my major to English. I don’t want to study Youth Ministries and come back here to start a congregation. That was always my parents dream, and yours, not mine.”

             
Jake looked over her should
er, processing what she was saying
, then looked back at her.

             
“That’s okay, Nicky. I mean, I’m not happy that you lied, but I’m glad you told me now. Y
ou don’t have to run anything that
yo
u don’t want to. You can just be my wife.
There will be plenty to keep you busy,
as a Minister’s wife,
even without running Youth Ministries.”