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She didn’t coy; instead, she stared at hiht, and shook her head "I’m so sorry, Brandon I had no idea"

He explained he was just there to pick up his old lad he’d run into her because there wasof meds for a moment then back at hi her right there in the o somewhere else to talk?"

"No way, Brandon," she said ie

He’d have to tell her here or forever hold it in "I’m in love with you, Sof"

The moment he heard his whispered words he knew he’d iant-sized boulder in his throat that had been building the entire past week as he watched his dad sloithering away But it was too late now It was too late to take it back, so he held it together, deterh school Last summer only confirmed it I almost didn’t re-enlist because of that kiss"

Her eyes welled up, but she said nothing She didn’t have to Her shaking head was enough, but the expression of pity on her face was just another blow to his already aching heart

"Don’t worry I know it’s impossible I just needed to tell you before I left" He swatted the one fking tear that escaped the corner of his eye away "I needed to say it to you if only once I’ot the chance" He didn’t wait for her to respond He couldn’t He had to get out of there now, but he couldn’t resist the urge to touch her just one last time, so he reached out and squeezed her shoulder "Good-bye, Sof"

That was it He couldn’t stand there for even another moment and look into those stunned eyes, eyes that said without a doubt he’d been co She’d never felt for hiht

Pushing through the front doors of the store, he nearly growled He was infuriated that he’d been so close to losing it in front of her, soo he’d never do, not when he’d had to watch his e, not when his dad turned that sae on hi, and certainly not over feeling his heart crushed by the only girl he’d ever had feelings for

Nothing had ever been so clear and so fast He felt like a co on the possibility that, deep inside, what he thought he felt from Sofie last summer had been real Even when she’d taken it back just before he left again,it clear she’d only been curious, his delusional heart was convinced she was just covering up--clearing her conscience

The painful truth had never been so infuriatingly clear She’d only been curious about what it’d be like to be with someone like him, someone she’d never take seriously in real life So she’d used the opportunity with his desperate ass to indulge that forbidden curiosity

Throwing his dad’swheel He’d al he’d proirl who never gave a shit about him He’d almost broken down

He finally understood what his father had meant all those years That kind of deep e his heart at thatthat should re it but yourself Showing it was a sign of weakness That’s exactly how he felt at that moment, like the weakest most pathetic idiot on the planet At that ain he’d never let anyone--no ain

~~~

It wasn’t even a week after he’d reported back to Georgia when he got the call His dad had passed, and just like that, Brandon was back on a plane to attend the services As expected, not too many people showed up His father had never made many friends, and as hardened and difficult as he’d become over the years, any acquaintances he did have once upon a tio

Brandon took solace in the fact that he and his dad had finally begun to actually have a real father-son relationship, even though his dad had passed too soon afterward He and his ain Maybe now he could rekindle that bond he once had with her His mom had been the only one in his life to ever show hih Brandon was deterativity that had built up all these years and live a normal happy life Now that it was just he and hisfor this change as long as he had

Days after the services, they so up the U-Haul truck with all their belongings Brandon would be driving it across the country He wished that on such a long drive he and his mother could be in the sa to know each other once again--talk about their new life and the neighborhoods they’d be shopping for their new ho their mini-van across the country

Brandon had been tempted to rent a trailer and just haul the van as well, not just because he was looking to really talking to his est drive she’d ever eles Still, she insisted she’d be fine