Page 440 of His Virgin Romance Series

BRIE

Iwas scrolling through my Instagram feed when I stopped on a recent post of Jason’s. He was standing in a small group, between two women. Both women were attractive, but it was the redhead on his left that I zeroed in on.

She was tall and willowy, and she was wearing a short dress that displayed her long shapely legs. Her red hair had been blow-dried to a glossy sheen, and her smile seemed to light up her face. I felt my heart beat a little unevenly as I stared at her near perfect face.

I remembered the first time I had ever met Lizzie Strauss. She had accompanied Jason and Seth home one holiday while school was out.

I had been fifteen at the time and had been looking forward to their visit for months. I had stood by my window for two hours before Jason’s familiar car pulled up in the drive. I had watched expectantly, desperate for a glimpse of Seth. When he stepped out of the vehicle, my heart had skipped a beat, but the joy I felt had been short lived.

A few seconds later, the back door of the car opened and Lizzie got down. Even back then, she was all leg. She had been wearing denim shorts with a tie-dyed crop top that showed off her flat stomach, her belly button piercing, and the tattoo on her left hip. She looked like something out of a movie, an Amazonian beauty that reminded me of everything I was not.

I had watched with a sinking feeling in my gut as Seth had placed his arm around her and they moved into the house. I had suffered through the whole weekend, watching from afar as Seth and Lizzie exchanged little gestures of intimacy that seemed to cement their bond. I hated when she laughed at his jokes, put her hand on his leg, or leaned into his body as though she had a right to be there. I had felt physically sick the whole weekend. And at night, I would cry myself to sleep, wondering how I was going to survive knowing that Seth loved someone else.

The morning that Seth, Jason, and Lizzie were set to depart back to college, I had found Lizzie in the backyard overlooking the cornfield. I had watched her silently and enviously for a long while until she had turned around and spotted me watching her.

Her smile was sad, and perhaps that was what made me approach her. “Hello,” she said, as though we had just met.

“Hello,” I had replied.

“We haven’t spoken much this whole weekend,” she had said.

When I didn’t say anything, Lizzie turned her gaze back to the cornfield. “Don’t waste your time mooning after him, Brie,” she had said unexpectedly. “You’ll only wind up getting hurt.”

When I had looked at her quizzically, Lizzie had smiled knowingly. “You have feelings for Seth, don’t you?”

“I don’t,” I’d said defensively.

Her smile seemed to get wider and sadder all at the same time. “He’s charming and handsome and witty and smart,” she continued, ignoring my denial. “It’s easy to love Seth. But the only thing he really loves is his dreams. And unfortunately, his dreams are so big, they crowd you out.”

When I said nothing, Lizzie had given a huge, tired sigh and walked back into the house. I didn’t go out to say goodbye to them, and after that day I had never seen her again.

Until, of course, I had come across her picture on Jason’s feed. I was staring at her face, recalling that conversation with fresh perspective when I heard Gregory’s voice across the pool, calling my name.

I set my phone down and looked up. Gregory was walking towards me with a towel thrown across his shoulder. “Hi,” I said. “Are you here for a swim?”

“I certainly am,” he nodded. “But I also wanted to see how you were doing after last night.” He sat down on the lounge chair next to mine and stretched his feet out. I sat up and swung my legs down to face him.

“I’m sorry I cut out early, Gregory,” I told him. “I just didn’t think I could continue with dinner after that.”

“That’s quite alright,” he said, waving away my apology. “I had fun last night.”

“Did you?” I asked, incredulously.

“Of course,” he nodded. “It was actually quite an enjoyable first date…even if it was interrupted. And, even if it was completely fake.”

I felt a little spasm of guilt. “I shouldn’t have included you in this,” I said. “It was unfair.”

“I offered to be a part of it,” he reminded me.

“But still…you’re Seth’s business partner, not to mention his friend,” I pointed out. “It was wrong of me to put you in the middle.”

“You might not have discovered how he really felt if I hadn’t have gotten involved.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Um…did I discover how he really felt?”

“Of course,” Gregory nodded. “Seth definitely has feelings for you.”

“He denies it.”

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