The Beginning of Us (159 page)

Ryan looked like she wished the floor could have swallowed her whole as she said quickly, “Uh yeah sure, tell him I said hello. Hope you enjoy the rest of your trip. We’ve really got to get going though, so sorry!”

Oh dear God get me out of here. Never in a million years did I think I would see Trevor again and Ryan was a swiftly sinking ship. I guess that teaches us not to lie. Ha, who was I kidding? He still thinks my name is Courtney and that I live in Seattle. 

As soon as we got in Max’s car, Ryan and I said simultaneously, “Holy shit!” and sighed with relief.

“Max, even though I hate you right now, thank you so much for being here tonight!” I said as I buckled my seatbelt. 

“About that, Spence. Max is going to drop you off and then we are going to go to his place and talk,” Ryan said, turning around to face me in the backseat.

“Ok, no problem. I’m just thankful to be out of that situation. That was close!”

“You two want to tell me what that was all about?” Max asked.

*~*~*

When Ryan and Max dropped me off at home, I couldn’t wait to call Brandon and hear his voice. It scared me how much I was already missing him. I settled into bed to call him and noticed I had a text message from a number I didn’t recognize:

Unknown: 
You should ask Brandon where he really is bitch!

My heart sank. There were only five people that I knew of who knew I was dating Brandon besides Brandon and myself:  Ryan, Jason, Becca and most recently, Travis and Misty. However, I’m not sure if Travis and Misty even knew Brandon’s name. Maybe Teresa from the gym, but that was highly unlikely.

I sat there staring at my phone, wondering what I should do. Should I respond? Should I call it and see who answers? Should I call Brandon and ask him whose number it was? 

Brandon had never put any doubt in my mind that he wasn’t telling me the truth of his whereabouts or even that he was seeing someone else. For the last week and a half, we had been together every night.

Since Brandon and I had started getting serious, I had told him everything about TravAss breaking my heart—no way could he be doing the same thing.  Brandon even approached TravAss a few nights ago thanking him for being an idiot. There was no way…right? I took a few minutes to collect my thoughts. I couldn’t be mad at him for something that wasn’t true. I decided to call Brandon like we had planned. If he didn’t answer, then maybe I had my answer?

My body relaxed when Brandon answered the phone on the second ring.

“Hey Baby.” He had just referred to me as “Baby”.  No way could he be with another woman.

“Hi!”

“Did you and Ryan have fun tonight?”

“Yeah, but Max showed up and now they are at his place talking.”

“Oh? That’s good, right?”

“Ah, I guess. I really like Max, but I hate what he did to Ryan. I threatened to make him sterile if he hurts her again!”

“You did what?” he asked while laughing.

“Yeah, I threatened to kick him in the nuts and make him sorry he ever met me.” I was laughing, too.

“Aw Baby, you’re such a good friend!” My heart skipped a beat when he said “Baby”. There was absolutely no way he was out with another woman.

“I try. How’s Seattle?”

“It’s alright. I can’t wait to be home and see you though.” 

“Me, too. What are you guys up to?” I have to admit that there was a hidden meaning to the question.

“We are just relaxing in the hotel room. Just got back from dinner.”

“Tell Jason I said hello.” 

I heard Brandon say to Jason, “Hey, Spencer says hello.” 

All of a sudden, I heard a brief tussle and Brandon saying, “Dude, give me back my phone.” 

“Hello, Spencer!” Jason managed to say as I continued to hear commotion in the background. “Brandon is being a whiny little bitch right now because he can’t wait to get back home.” I laughed at Jason’s antics and heard Brandon cursing and more tussle.

  “Sorry about that. He’s an imbecile.” Brandon said after he managed to get his phone back.

“No worries. Well, I just wanted to say hi and let you know I’m home. I’m going to bed now.”

“So no drunk texting?” 

“No, not this time. We barely had two drinks before Max showed up.” 

“Damn,” he said, sounding a little disappointed. “Okay then, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Night Babe, text me tomorrow?”

“I will. Oh, and I’ll pick you up at six for Becca’s show.”

“Okay, sounds good. I’ll see you then.”

“Night Babe.”

“Night.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

My Friday was a typical Friday. Brandon’s flight got in at three o’clock and he sent me a text when he landed. I couldn’t wait to see him. The rest of the afternoon crept along until it was finally quittin’ time. When the bus finally dropped me off, I dashed into my house and quickly got ready for Brandon to pick me up. Becca’s show wasn’t starting until a little later, but Brandon and I were going out to dinner first. Ryan and Max had made up and were going to the show as well, but they were meeting us later at the gallery. 

True to his word, Brandon picked me up right at six and took me to dinner at Jasper’s Corner Tap & Kitchen. The mysterious, nasty text from the night before was weighing heavy on my mind. I knew Brandon wasn’t lying to me, but I was curious if he knew the number. 

“So last night I got an interesting text from a number I didn’t recognize.” I didn’t know how to bring it up casually, so I decided to just be blunt with him.  No point in beating around the bush.

“Okay?” Brandon said while lifting an eyebrow. 

I grabbed my phone and handed it to him. “I’ll let you read it.”

He glanced at the text and his eyes narrowed, his mouth tightening in a frown.  

“You know who it is from?”
      

“Yeah, it’s from my ex, Christy. Babe, I’m so sorry about that. She has no right texting you.”

“How did she get my number?”

“I have no idea... The only thing I can think of is when she came by a few weeks ago to pick up some things that she had left at my place before we broke up. I may have left my cell on the kitchen table, and I left the room for a minute while I was getting her stuff.  But Babe, you know I was really in Seattle, right?”

“Yes, of course! But I just don’t understand why she would text me that.”

“She’s just trying to stir up trouble between you and me because she knows that she and I are over. I promise you that Jason and I were really in Seattle. I can even show you my boarding pass.”

“Babe, I believe you. It’s just odd that it came while you were out of town.”

Sighing, he said, “I really didn’t want to drag you into my drama. But since she’s managed to involve you and now has your phone number, you deserve to know. Christy has been calling and harassing me every day since we broke up. Aside from the time when she came to pick up her things, I’ve pretty much been ignoring her calls. There have been a few times when I did answer because I was so angry with her. I’ve told her repeatedly to leave me alone and stop calling. I’ve tried being straight with her and telling her I’ve moved on and met someone else I’m crazy about, but she just won’t stop.”

I nodded my head in understanding and grasped his hand in mine, squeezing gently. “I’m so sorry you’ve been going through such a rough time. I wish you had told me to begin with.”

 “Like I said, I was trying not to drag you into my drama. I’ve been thinking about changing my number, but it is such a hassle and I really didn’t want to burden you with all of this. I never thought she would go after you and try to break us up.” 

“I may have overheard you talking to her last Saturday morning.”

“You did?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t know she was harassing you. I still don’t understand how she got my number though. Even if she got a hold of your phone, how does she even know about me?”

“All she had to do was read our texts and she could have figured that out. The only person I text more is probably Jason, but our texts are definitely of a different nature.”  He smiled at me, trying to put me at ease. I smiled back, but my stomach was still tied in knots.

Brandon and I finished eating and made our way to Becca’s show. He was still noticeably upset. I had never seen him like that. Ryan and Max were waiting outside the gallery when we arrived. 

Ryan was smiling like the old Ryan. She seemed happy now. I was happy she and Max were working things out. I hadn’t had a chance to speak with her about their talk but I guess it went well. I introduced Brandon to Max and they left to the bar to get us drinks.

As soon as they left, I turned to her to get the scoop. “So you and Max are back together?”

“Yeah. He said that these last few weeks have been killing him and he doesn’t want to be apart from me.” 

“What about the whole kid situation?”

“He said he has changed his mind. Whatever I want, he wants. He wants a life with me.” Ryan looked so happy that I hated to burst her bubble, but I wanted to make sure she was making the right decision.

“And you took him back just like that?”

“Spence, you know how much I love him.”

“I know, I just hate how he broke your heart and now he can do it again. I only want the best for you, Ry.”

“I know and I love you for that.”

Ryan and I continued walking around the gallery. Becca’s photos were gorgeous. She had taken photos of San Francisco and Austin. The photos she took in Austin had just been for fun but given her talent, she had to put them up. When they moved here to San Francisco, she took photography classes and decided to make it a career. 

“So, Brandon’s ex texted me last night.”

“What? She did? What did she say?” Ryan asked as she turned toward me.

“She told me that I should ask Brandon where he really was last night.”

“Oh my God, did you tell Brandon?”

“I did, that is how I know it was from his ex. He recognized her number.” I shrugged.

“What did he say?” Ryan looked over my shoulder towards the bar behind me.

“He was worried that I didn’t believe he was in Seattle and told me that she calls him every day.”

“Wow! What is he going to do?”

“I don’t know. He said he would handle it.”

Brandon and Max had returned with glasses of champagne. We continued to explore the gallery and I fell even more in love with Becca’s photographs. 

“I can't wait to get you home and out of that dress. I've been staring at your legs all night,” Brandon said, whispering in my ear.

Blushing, I whispered back in his ear, “I can't imagine what would happen if you were gone for two nights, Mr. Montgomery.”

“If that were to ever happen, we wouldn't be waiting until after whatever event we are at before I tear off your clothes. We would probably need to skip dinner,” Brandon said, then kissed my cheek and pinched my butt.

We congratulated Becca and finally said hello to Jason who had been mingling with his wife before we arrived. Jason was beaming from ear to ear and I could tell he was very proud of his wife. Brandon was also proud of his friend.

We were one of the last ones to leave. Becca had a great turn out and most of her photos sold. Ryan and Max were walking out with us and we were all going to head back to my place for the night.

We all exited the gallery, waiting for Becca to lock the doors when a woman approached us. She was taller than me, very skinny, with long straight blond hair, huge boobs, and a small mole on her right cheek that was barely visible; she looked like a model. 
Great, another blonde.

“What the hell, Christy?” Brandon snapped at her, clearly upset and agitated by her appearance. I froze dead in my tracks. Ex-Christy?

“I need to talk to you,” she said to him.

“Look, this is neither the time nor the place to have this conversation.  I’ve told you hundreds of times that I don’t want to speak with you. Leave me alone, or I will file a restraining order…and stop harassing Spencer, too!” Brandon was angrier than he had been at dinner. He had let go of my hand and gotten up in her face, keeping himself planted firmly in between us. 

Just as he started to turn away from her and reach for my hand again, she blurted out two words that made my heart drop to the pit of my stomach.

“I’m pregnant!” 

“Pregnant? Did she just say pregnant?” I whispered to Ryan.

“Fuck!” was all Ryan could say. 

I heard Becca gasp behind me. Yes, she said pregnant. I felt my legs giving out. 

“And I care because?” Brandon said to Christy.

“Because it’s your baby!” she snapped.

“Oh hell no!” I heard Jason say behind me, too.

 “Ryan…” I said, still whispering to her.

“Yeah?” Ryan didn’t even turn to look at me. Like me, our eyes were glued to the disaster in front of us.

“Pinch me.”