Page 17 of Mud, Love, and Chemistry

I let out a light chuckle and nod.

Sam holds on to me as he gets out of the chair, setting my shaky feet on the ground and taking my hand. He leads me through the slider and toward the bed. When he turns to sit, I don’t follow. Instead, I stand there, staring at the bed like it’s a ticking time-bomb.

He sighs. “Did you start thinking?”

“I told you, it’s what I do.” I shrug before I fold my arms across my middle in a self-hug.

“Can’t you, you know, not think?”

I bark out a laugh. “You don’t know me at all, Mudboy.”

“I’m serious. Why can’t you live in the moment?”

I lift my chin, looking to the ceiling. “Because I’m afraid of where the moment will lead me.” Dropping my gaze to the bed momentarily, I give him a knowing look.

Sam raises his hands as if surrendering. “Brynn, I’m not expecting anything from you.” He sighs, lowering his arms to his sides. “Do you want to hear a story?”

I nod. He pats the spot next to him, so I reluctantly sit down.

“Once upon a time, there was this guy named Samuel Eastman...”

I laugh, and he bumps me with his shoulder.

“Sam grew up in Wyoming, never really traveled much. So, when his long-term girlfriend had the chance to move to New York City, well, he was excited for her.”

A familiar pit forms in my gut. Even in Sam’s deliciously deep voice, that city still sounds like nails on a chalkboard. I’ve never visited, but Connor abandoning me to move there ruined it. I wonder if it’s ruined for Sam too? “You were excited? Not sad she was leaving?”

“I mean, sure I was sad. She and I had been together for a couple of years, but I couldn’t stop her from going.” He folds his hands between his knees. “Besides, we decided to try long-distance.”

I bristle. Connor wouldn’t even humor the idea of a long-distance relationship. He outright dismissed it and me.

Sam gives me a sideways glance, but continues his story. “It worked for a few months. We talked every night before bed, did video calls, and even made plans for me to come visit.”

“Did you ever make it out there?”

Sam hangs his head. “No.”

“So, what happened?”

With a deep breath, he raises to sit up straight. “Over time, our calls became less frequent. She wouldn’t text me back for a day or two. I honestly saw a breakup coming, but then she told me she was coming back to Wyoming for Christmas.” A sad smile tips his lips up. “She sounded really excited, and I thought everything was going to be okay.”

I grimace, but don’t say anything. I see where this is going; another person lost to New York City.

“When she came back, it was like nothing had changed. We fell into each other seamlessly. Spent the whole week of Christmas into New Year’s together. I convinced myself that we just went through a rough patch. Long-distance is hard, so I’d just have to try harder to make it work.” He sighs. “But she had other ideas.”

“Oh, no,” I whisper.

“Yeah.” He sucks in a breath, letting it out slowly. “Apparently, she had been planning to break up with me for a while, but didn’t want to do it over the phone. I appreciated that, but I didn’t appreciate her sleeping with another guy in the meantime.”

I feel like I just got punched in the stomach, and it’s not even my story. Poor Sam.

“Needless to say, she got what she wanted. Our relationship ended.”

“I’m so sorry, Sam. That’s awful.” I lay my hand on his, and he turns his head to face me.

“That was last January.”

“What?”

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