Page 138 of His Virgin Romance Series

“Why are you here, Rachel?” Brent asked abruptly.

I sighed. “I’m here because… I got married last month and my parents weren’t at my wedding. My brother wasn’t at my wedding and a part of me was sad about that. I came here because despite everything, I still care about you, Brent, and I wanted to see how you were doing.”

“Is Jared here, too?”

I frowned. “Yes.”

Brent nodded. “Is he still pissed at me?”

“He’s not the kind of man who holds on to anger,” I said. “To be honest, I don’t think he spends much time thinking about you. Jared and I, we have our own life now.”

“Is he still firefighting?”

“Yes.”

“And you, what are you doing?”

“I was promoted a few months ago. I’m a manager at one of Bradshaw’s larger retail departments now. And, I’m still working on my degree. I’ll be graduating in six months.”

Brent looked away from me, as though hearing about my life was painful to him. I realized that it probably was painful, knowing he was stuck here for the next few years.

“You can turn your life around when you get out of here, Brent,” I said. “You can change your future.”

He looked down. “I never had that kind of strength.”

“Well, try,” I said firmly. “You don’t really have a choice.”

“Thanks for coming to see me,” Brent said, as he stood up.

“You’re going?”

He looked at me. “Did you come here to hear me tell you I’m sorry?”

I hesitated for a second. “That’s not the only reason,” I admitted. “But it would be nice to hear.”

“Seems to me that if I say it, it would have to be sincere to count… right?”

I raised my eyebrows. “Right.” I nodded.

“Then I’m not going to apologize today,” he said. “But… I’ll work on it so that the next time you come, it will count.”

It wasn’t an apology, but it was a step in the right direction. I smiled and nodded.

“Will you visit me again?” he asked.

“Yes.” I nodded.

“Okay,” Brent replied.

Then he turned and walked out through the door he had been brought in from. I took a deep breath and headed out where Jared was sitting in the car waiting for me. He looked at me in surprise as I got into the passenger’s seat next to him.

“I didn’t expect you back so soon.”

“Brent cut our meeting short,” I replied. “But…it ended well, actually.”

“Really?” Jared asked as he started driving back to our apartment.

“Yes.” I nodded. “He’s still immature and selfish, and I think he still blames everyone else for his lot in life, but I think he also wants to grow. And I think he can, if he tries hard enough.”

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