The Twenty Year Triangle

Chapter Twenty-Four

As I go downstairs the next morning, I can smell coffee brewing. It's welcoming after all the wine last night. Luckily, the power came back on late last night, and I cooked up a bunch of grilled cheese sandwiches so we could all absorb the excess alcohol and fare better in the morning.

I peek into the living room where Oliver had passed out on the couch last night, but he's not there. The blankets I gave him are folded nicely and sitting on the couch.

I head over to the kitchen, where I see a half pot of coffee, and help myself to a mug. The door to the back porch is slightly ajar, so I slip out it. I find Brandi sipping coffee quietly from the porch couch.

"Morning," I say as I plop down next to her. "Oliver leave already?"

"Yeah, he was already up and going when I woke up," she says with a yawn. "Said he'd call you later."

"Okay," I nod as I sip on my coffee.

"You know if y'all get back together, you're going to have the same problem you did before," she says and then gives a pointed look at the trailer out in the field.

"No one is talking about getting back together," I say with a roll of the eyes.

"Mhm," she mumbles as she sips her coffee. "That's why y'all disappeared for so long. I'm surprised Hunter didn't pull his hair out."

"We ducked into the barn to get out of the storm, and then we talked some. I told him how bad it broke me when he left."

"Seriously?" Her eyes widen.

"I know, right? I guess all the wine pushed my pride aside."

"What'd he say?" She asks. "I'm sorry, but I don't think there's any excuse. A year or two, sure, but at some point, he should've, I don't know, followed you on Instagram or something."

"I know, and I'm not gonna just forgive him for that. I can't, but I did see how bad he felt, and that helps." I bite my lip as his teary face comes to mind. "He told me he wants to reconcile our friendship now."

"Do you?"

"Of course I do. We were best friends from the time we were born. It's like a hole in my life without him. I just know it's going to be hard. There's still a lot of crap to sort through. I'm hoping for the best, but there are some things he and I will never agree on."

"Yeah, there are," she agrees. "I get it, but maybe with the time passed, y'all can talk about all that stuff now. You already got into some of it, it sounds like."

"Yeah, maybe," I say thoughtfully. "The thing is, he said he always wanted to reconcile our friendship someday, but he was scared to face me. He said I inspired the bookstore he's making."

"That sounds like the Olly I know," Brandi says with a wistful look. "I think you could find your way back to friends, Kinz. But.. I don't know if that'll ever be enough for him."

"Just because he sounds like our old Olly doesn't mean he is," I say slowly. "After everything... there's no path back for us as a couple, and I doubt he'd want one."

"I don't know about that, Kinz," she says and then laughs. "Shit, I feel like we just circled back twenty years."

"You do?"I let out a dry laugh.

"You must be reeling, like Olly showing up here ain't enough. To find out he basically blocked you and Hunter from happening too." she lets out a low whistle.

"Yeah, that's a mind fuck," I confess.

"Your brain already doing the what-if dance?" she asks.

"A little, but I don't know, even if Hunter had asked me to the homecoming dance. By the time summer came 'round, he'd have been over me. I would've been crushed by him either way, I guess. Maybe the never was, was a better hurt."