Make It Last (3 page)

Chapter Two

             
Briana rolled out of bed a
t two in the afternoon, a
headache giving her grief. She wandered out of h
er room and groaned at the sight
that met her in the rest of the apartment.

             
P
lastic
cups and paper plates littered
every surface, and just as she’d predicted, the carpet was a mess of spilled drink and food. Some moron had even used one of her favorite Aggie mugs as an ashtray. Gross
.

             
She went into the kitchen and grimaced at the mess in there, but figured it was best to focus o
n one thing at a time. She
grabbed a trash bag to get started in the living room.

             
She was about halfway done cleaning up when Kara came strolling in through the front door.

             
“Hey, Bree, you’re up. Tha
nks for getting started in here.
I just ran out to get some provisions
,” she
stated, holding out a to-go coffee cup.

             
“Oh, thank God
,
” Briana exclaimed, grabbing the cup and drinking as if her life depended on it.

             
Kara chuckled.
“I knew that would brighten up your day. Gosh, what a bunch of slobs, huh? I can’t believe this place looks so nasty. I’ll just put these muffins in the kitchen and help you out.”

             
“Wait…
t
here are muffins
? The kitchen is just as bad. Y
ou don’t want to put them in there. We’d better
just eat them now.” Briana grabbed
for the bag that Kara was keeping just out of reach.

             
Kara laughed again and took out a steaming banana nut muffin, Briana’s favorite.

             
“I’ll
give you this on one condition.
”

             
“Anything,” Briana said
.

             
“We don’t mention what happened last night
with Pete.
Like, ever.”

             
“Deal,” s
he said, grabbing the muffin and finding a clean corner of the couch to sit on.

             
Kara sat on the edge of the hope chest and began nibbling on her blueberry muffin.

             
“What happened to you last night?
” she asked. “
Kent was looking for you, but I had no idea where you went.
”

             
“After that
weird girl from my Literary Dimensions on Film class dropped her bomb on me, I kind
a
disappeared for the night.”

             
Kara sat up, looking interested.
“Do tell.
”

             
“I shouldn’t have let it get to me, but she told me that Colin is moving home for good. Or, I guess he already did, a couple days ago.”

             
“Get out. I noticed you were gone when I came out of my room last night.”
Kara
just loo
ked at Briana
. “At first I figured you were with Kent, but then he came up to me and asked where you were. I didn’t know and I didn’t see you in your room, so I told him so. He hung out for a bit and then I lost track of him. I wondered if y
ou two had ever hooked up. Wow. So…
Colin, huh?”

             
“Yeah. I was on the roof. I just couldn’t stand the thought of that girl watching me and waiting for me to break down or react to her news. She was
so excited to tell me, you know?
It just pissed me off.”

             
“You s
hould have told her to get lost,
”
Kara said, getting angry for her
. “It’s our
place. S
he can take her gossiping ass someplace else.”

             
Briana
laughed. Kara a
lways made her feel better when she
was down.

             
“Anyway, I stayed out there most of the night. I wasn’t in the mood to see Kent, especially when I was thinking so much about Colin.”
Briana
was starting to lose her
appetite.

             
“Look, I know this town is small as hell, and
you’re
going to run into him. B
ut
,
Bree, it’s been four years.
You’re
a grown woman with a job, and apartment, and a hot man at your beck and
call. You don’t need his shit. J
ust ignore him.”

             
Kara had never met Colin. S
he moved to town
their
senior year, after he
left for school, and they had been best friends ever since
.
She
never knew Briana and Colin as a couple;
she just saw
how Briana was affected after he left. She wasn’t his biggest fan
.

             
“That’s easier said than done, Kara. That girl said that he was going to be working for his daddy. That means he’ll be worki
ng right down the street and he’
s gonna come in to eat all
the time.” The t
hought
made Briana’s stomach hurt even more.

             
“Stop, Bree.
You’re not
seventeen anymor
e. Let him eat where he wants. D
on’t let him bother you. You have the upper hand
here.”

             
“You’re right. I know
you are.
I
’m just scared to see him. It’
s been so long. What if when I see him I feel just like I did when he left? I ne
ver want to feel that way again,
” Briana said softly, looking up at Kara and hating how pathetic she sounded.

             
“Then don’t,
” Kara said sternly. “In fact, we’ve spent e
nough time on the topic already. L
et’s finish cleaning this pigsty up so we can relax a bit before work tonight.
”

             
“Okay
.
”

             
Once they had everything spic and span again, they threw on their bikinis and went outside to
lie
out. They didn’t have a pool or a yard, so they laid their towels out on the driveway and made do.

             
Kara brought out her iPod and Briana brought the tanning oil and the water. They relaxed, enjoying the music and the sun, until the alarm went off
,
signaling it was time to go in and get washed up for work.

             
They reluctantly headed into work, motivated by the fact that it was Thursday night, so shouldn’t be too crowded, and that they had plans to meet up with some of their friends and go to the gravel pits after work.
They brought
their bikinis in their bags and
sported fresh tan
skin
to show off in the moonlight.

             
It looked like it was going to be a pretty good night
.

Chapter Three

             
About two hours into her shift, Briana realized just how wrong she had been.

             
She’d just finished an order and was rounding the corner to tell Kara that the burger and fries were up, when she caught
sight
of Colin’s family coming in the front door.

             
Mrs. Grayson looked as sweet as ever, holding her husband’s hand and smiling up at him as they waited for the rest of their party to come through the door.
He
bent
over to say something to her, t
hen they both looked over towards the entrance.

             
Briana had been swept up watching them, remembering a million different conversations that she’d had with the Grayson’s, so she didn’t immediately follow their gaze.
When she did, her breath caught in her throat. S
he froze.

             
Kara came up beside
her to check on the order. She s
tarted waving her hands in front of Briana’s face when she saw how still Briana was.

             
“Hello?
Earth to Bree. Is my order up?” Kara chuckled lightly, then turned
to see what had caught her
attention. “Who’s that?”

             
Briana squeaked, so overcome by emotion that she couldn’t form a thought. Then Colin looked up, catching her stare, and she was released. She took off in a flurry of movement, anxious to get back to the safety of the kitchen.

             
Once
behind the swinging door,
she
braced herself against the stainless steel table and hung her head, bre
athing in and out
.

             
“Was that him?” Kara asked, scrambling in after her. “Colin?”

             
“Yup,” she
managed.

             
“Crap. I have to take out this order, Kara added a side of ketchup and mustard to the plate before picking it up. “
I’ll be back, though. Maybe I’ll tell
Nicole
to seat them in my section.”

             
“No
,
” Briana
said loudly.
“Don’t make a scene, please.”

             
Kara
tried her best to look innocent.
“Who, me?” Then she walked out with a smile on her lips and a swing to her hips.

             
“Oh, God
.
” Brian
a
held
her head in her hands
for a moment
.
“Pull it together, Bree. It’s been a long time,” she whispered. She stepped back from the table and shook
her head, as if to shake the memories out.

             
She busied herself with the incoming orders, and was just starting to breath normally again, when Kara came back into the kitchen.

             
“So,
Nicole
did sit him in my section, but I swear I didn’t ask her to,” Kara said. “Holy crap, Bree, he is freakin’ HOT
.
”

             
“
Shut up, Kara.”.

             
“N
o, seriously… t
all
, dark, and freakishly handsome!
I mean, those dimples… I just want to lick him,” Kara said dreamily.

             
“Jesus, Kara,” Briana
snapped
, “Are you kidding me right now?”

             
Kara laughed wickedly.
“Not about the fact that he’s crazy hot, but yes, I’m kidding about wanting to lick him. You know I’d never poach.”

             
“Ugh, I know.” Briana
closed her eyes.
“She really sat them in your section?”

             
“Yup, all twelve of them. Can you say
,
‘Big tip?
’
” Kara said, doing a little booty shake around the kitchen.

             
“Did they see me? Did they say anything?” Brian
a asked, hoping the answer was
no.