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She tries to fight a smile and rolls her eyes. "Right. Whatever you say, girl. If you want to be delusional today, I can do that too."
Tilting my head to the side, I purse my lips and raise an eyebrow. Brynn is definitely a ride-or-die type of friend, but I'm not being delusional. "Seriously, it's so stupid. I'm not being delusional. I'll admit that I'm attracted to him, but that doesn't change how I feel about him personally. He has the good looks, he just doesn't have the right personality."
"Yes, girl, be shallow," she encourages, laughing softly. Brynn's entire face lights up as she smiles brightly. "You're not lying, though. He is hot."
"Aria Reed?"
Brynn lifts her gaze to look behind me at the deep voice that just spoke my name. I slowly turn around, following the direction of her eyes until I see the person standing behind me.
"Well, if it isn't Griffin Carr."
I rise to my feet as a smile creeps across my lips. Griffin closes the distance between us and sweeps me into his arms as he half swings me around. Griffin and I dated while we were in high school, but that was almost ten years ago now. We broke up the summer before my senior year. Griffin had graduated and was going to university in England and we agreed we were better off as friends. We kept in touch at first after he moved, but then our contact kind of dissipated.
He smells like pine trees and he hugs me tightly before we break apart. Griffin's dirty blond hair is combed to the side and he's wearing a black crewneck sweatshirt with a pair of gray washed pants and loafers. He always had a good taste in fashion and was always well put together. I see not much has changed in the past ten years since we last saw each other.
"How the hell are you?"
Griffin smiles, revealing his pearly white teeth. "I am great. How about you?"
"I'm really good," I tell him before sweeping my arm to Brynn. "This is my friend, Brynn. Brynn, this is Griffin. I think I told you about her before?"
"You guys are birthday twins, right?"
Brynn nods and holds her hand out to Griffin. "Nice to meet you. I've heard a few things about you."
"Good things, I hope?" he says as I sit back down across from Brynn. She motions to the other seat at the table and Griffin pulls it out before sitting down with us.
"Of course," I assure him with a warm smile. There wasn't anything bad anyone could say about Griffin Carr. Everyone loved him—except for Leo. "What brings you back to Idyll Cove? Are you still skating?"
Griffin was one of the best figure skaters in our area back in high school. He and Leo were always swapping places of who was winning the gold medal. Leo was a poor sport, so Griffin naturally became his rival. I personally think he hated how likable Griffin was. He was at the top of his class and graduated with honors. Even though he was an exceptional figure skater, he never wanted to do it professionally.
"I came back to visit family. My grandmother had a little health scare, so I figured it was time to come back." He pauses for a moment, folding his hands on his lap. "I don't skate anymore, unfortunately. I didn't have the time to keep up with it, and you know it was always just a hobby for me."
"It looks like you've been doing really well for yourself."
Griffin smiles and raises his eyebrows at me. "So have you, Ari. Look at you, living your literal dream right now. It's so amazing, I'm so proud of you."
He's nothing short of genuine and it warms my heart. "Thank you, Griffin. I wasn't sure it would happen, but here we are."
Brynn is sitting in silence, watching the entire interaction happening between us. She knows about Griffin, although there wasn't a whole lot to say. Our relationship was your typical happy high school relationship. It wasn't anything deep or long-lasting. There was never any drama or fights. We shared a few sweet moments together and a few kisses, but it never went any further than that.
"So, Griffin," Brynn breaks into the conversation as there's an elongated pause. "How long will you be staying in Idyll Cove?"
He looks at her with a soft expression. "I'll be here for about a month and then I have to get back to England."
She nods with a look of understanding as I take a sip of my lukewarm latte. "I'm sure your girlfriend is probably waiting for you to come home."
I half choke on my drink and break into a coughing fit. Brynn raises an eyebrow at me, silently telling me to get my shit together. Griffin looks extremely amused and I'm not sure if it's from me almost inhaling my drink into my lungs or from Brynn and her forward statement.
"Actually, I don't have a girlfriend waiting for me at home," Griffin admits with a chuckle. He's not uncomfortable with any part of the conversation and I'm grateful for that. Brynn isn't exactly afraid to be forward with people and she tends to lack a filter.
Brynn tilts her head to the side. "Boyfriend?"
I fight the urge to kick her under the table as Griffin laughs a little louder and shakes his head.
"Nope. There's no one at home waiting for me, other than my cat who is currently staying with my neighbor."
"Interesting," Brynn says with a mischievous smile as she looks back at me. "Would you believe that Aria is also single?"
