Page 60 of Broken Roads
My phone buzzes against the nightstand like an angry hornet, pulling me from a dream where I had so much more than Bradley's hands between my legs. I groan, burying my face deeper into the pillow, but the device continues its persistent vibration. Three short buzzes. Pause. Two more. Someone's blowing up my phone, and at—I crack one eye open to glance at the clock—seven-fifteen in the morning, there's only one person it could be.
Blindly, I reach for my phone, nearly knocking over the glass of water beside it. The screen illuminates, temporarily blinding me as I squint at the notifications. Six text messages…all from Tessa.
I unlock the phone and brace myself for the interrogation I knew was coming since the moment I left the community center last night.
Tessa:WELL? Did you talk to him?? What happened?? I need DETAILS
Tessa:Hello??? Are you ignoring me because you're busy getting it on with Cowboy McHottie??
Tessa:If you don't respond I'm going to assume you're either dead or doing something so scandalous you can't be bothered to check your phone
Tessa: *string of eggplant and water droplet emojis followed by a question mark*
Tessa:I'm giving you five more minutes before I drive out there
Tessa:HAILEY MONROE I SWEAR TO ALL THINGS HOLY
I can't help the smile that spreads across my face as I scroll through her increasingly desperate messages. I set the phone down long enough to sit up and push my hair from my face.
Rather than typing out a response that would inevitably lead to twenty more questions, I hit the call button. Tessa answers before the first ring completes.
"Finally," she exclaims, her voice carrying that particular blend of excitement and exasperation that only best friends can achieve. "I was about to send out a search party."
"It's barely past seven," I remind her, voice still rough with sleep. "Some of us like to sleep in when we can."
"Sleep? Is that what the kids are calling it these days?" The smirk is audible in her voice. "Come on, Monroe. Spill. What happened after you two left the center? And don't you dare give me some sanitized version. I want the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the—"
"We talked," I interrupt, trying and failing to keep the smile out of my voice. "Really talked. He opened up about his family, about his ex."
"Uh-huh. And was this talking horizontal or vertical?"
"Tessa." Heat rushes to my face, and I'm grateful she can't see me through the phone. "It wasn't like that. We sat on this benchhe built when he was a teenager. It overlooks the whole valley. It was... nice."
"Nice," she repeats flatly. "You're killing me here."
I fall back against my pillows, staring at the ceiling as I debate how much to share. The memory of Bradley's hands on me, his voice rough in my ear as he coaxed those sounds from me, feels too precious, too new to put into words.
"There might have been some kissing," I finally admit.
Tessa's squeal is loud enough that I have to hold the phone away from my ear. "I knew it. Tell me more about this kissing. On a scale from greeting your grandma to call the fire department, how hot are we talking?"
The laugh that escapes me is genuine. "Definitely leaning toward fire hazard."
"Yesss." Her triumphant exclamation is followed by a more serious tone. "So, what happens now? Are you two a thing?"
That's the question I've been asking myself since I slipped out of the kitchen and back to my room in the early morning hours, leaving Bradley with a kiss that promised more to come.
"I don't know," I admit. "I want us to be. I know that much."
"But?" Tessa prompts.
"But it's complicated. I work for his family. I'm still putting myself back together after... everything."
"Honey, listen to me." Her voice gentles. "Just take it one day at a time."
“One day at a time,” I repeat.
“That’s all any of us can do.” There’s a pause and when she takes another breath, I expect more wise words to follow. Instead she says, "Now, onto more important matters. What are you wearing today?"
