Page 36 (1/2)

Brandon would be leaving first thing SaturdayAt least that’s what she heard hinawed at her Not a day had gone by since the kiss that she hadn’t thought of it At first she kept wondering ould have happened if she had let it go on She knew thefoot in that ay again, afraid of what ht ask her again if she wanted to

After seeing Eric in Los Angeles, then again this past weekend, the answer to Brandon’s question was clear Absolutely not, and she wouldn’t hesitate to screaain But the fact still remained--she let hiuilt Why hadn’t she told hiave her the chance?

She lay down on her bed, certain she was in for another night of tossing and turning Eric had been so shen she spoke to hihed heavier and heavier with every conversation

Even though he was staying with histhe summer, they hadn’t really talked a whole lot since he’d been there His mom was an RN and worked different shifts every week She worked at two different hospitals and was gone a lot When she wasn’t gone, she was sleeping since her shifts were usually night shifts

The few conversations they’d had were as generic as all the conversations he re with her Work, school, his internship… she asked him about Sofia but he made it pretty clear that was not a subject he would elaborate on, so she hadn’t asked since Why should he share thein his life with her? He didn’t feel she deserved it

Most of the rilled cheese, or throwing cup of noodles in theit alone in front of the television or in the spare bedroom--the roo as he ever needed it So when he got hoht, he was surprised to see the s dinner

She smiled when he walked in "Hey, I hope you like roast! I was in the lanced around She’d made mashed potatoes and even had a bowl of fresh baked rolls He wasn’t sure how he felt about having to sit through an entire meal with her

"Can you grab that salad and put in on the table for ether "Is juice okay or you want milk?"

"Juice is fine" He placed the salad on the table and walked over to pull out the glasses from the cupboard "You want juice also?"

"Yes, please"

Eric poured two glasses and brought the set, they sat down to eat He made a few comments about the quality of the food, especially the dinner rolls which she’d made from scratch She must’ve had the day off to have time for all this Eric felt bad now; he’d been this close to passing and heading straight to his rooeneric conversation, hisup, he never dwelled on the fact that he didn’t have ahis dad when he was a kid where his mother was, but only out of curiosity It wasn’t until he was ten that his dad tried to explain to hi "issues" and her reasons for not sticking around, but he always assured him that she loved hi enough or lad that your father has been there for you and obviously has done an excellent job of raising you But I want you to know, I’ve always loved you"