Never Say Goodbye Read online

  “Oh stop Liv, he’s hot and sweet. He’s on the team with Chad too. Plus, I think you two would be good together,” she says smiling.

  “Brynn, what have I been telling you? Just because you’re happy in a relationship does not mean that I want one,” I whine.

  “Liv, just meet him, if you aren’t interested then fine, but at least give him a chance. Okay?” she says with a small pout.

  “Ugh fine, but no promises,” I state matter of fact.

  “Great! Wait right here,” she says as she runs off to search for God knows who.

  “You asked for it Liv, you should have just said not interested,” Soph says with a laugh.

  “I did, did you not see me. Ugh, why does my best friend feel determined to find me a boyfriend?” I ask anyone who’s listening.

  “She’s just happy and wants you to feel the same say Liv,” Megan says softly.

  “I’m happy being single though,” I sigh. I’m not winning this situation against my best friend. Once she has something in her mind there’s no turning back.

  “Okay Liv this is Mike, Mike this is my best friend Olivia, but everyone calls her Liv,” Brynn says happily as she now stands beside me.

  I must say he is definitely a good looking guy. He’s tall around 6’1” maybe, blonde hair, blue eyes, and he’s built, he’s on the basketball team after all.

  “Hi Liv it’s nice to finally meet you,” Mike says.

  “It’s nice to meet you too, Mike,” I say with a smile.

  “Well, I’ll let you two get acquainted,” Brynn states and then walks away briskly.

  “So, this is a little awkward right?” Mike asks out of nowhere.

  I start laughing, “Yeah, you could say that, but that’s my best friend for you.”

  “Brynn’s cool and all, but when she’s determined there’s no stopping her,” Mike states.

  “Oh my gosh, you have that absolutely right. She’s crazy sometimes,” I say laughing. Our conversation actually goes really well and hanging out with Mike turns out to be fun. The rest of the night we laugh, dance, joke, and hang out with our friends who all happen to be mutual because hello, we are at the same party and do run in the same circles.

  “See …I told you Liv, he’s great for you,” Brynn walks up and states immediately.

  “Now calm down B, we just met, plus you’ve told me that multiple guys are great for me,” I say with a laugh, “He’s fun, but we’ll just see how things go. So no pressure, not on him or me Brynn do you hear me?” I scold her.

  “Geez, yes I hear you, I promise I will not interfere,” she says reluctantly.

  “Thank you B, you know I love you,” I say with a smile.

  “Of course I do, I love you too best friend of mine. I just want you to happy,” she says softly.

  “Brynn, I am really happy. I know things sucked after Ryan, but I’m good I promise. Things have been going well for me and being single isn’t actually so bad,” I say with a small giggle.

  She laughs, “Yeah right, being single sometimes sucks ass.” I just laugh.

  The rest of the night goes by in a blur. We get a little tipsy and she promises she’s going to spend the night at the dorm with me. We make our way out of the party and head home to crash for the night.

  “So what do you want to do today roomie?” Brynn asks the next morning.

  “What? You’re staying in today…no Chad?” I say totally shocked.

  “No, we need some girl time, I miss my best friend,” she says with a sad smile.

  “Well I miss you too best friend,” I say as I give her a big hug.

  “Why don’t we go and get pedicures and whatever else we want?” She says excitedly.

  “Sounds great, I’ll get in the shower now,” I say as I head towards the bathroom. An hour and a half later we’re at the salon getting our feet done.

  “We so need to do this more often Liv. Like once a week or something, this feels like heaven,” she purrs.

  “I agree, we needed this. So how’s the love life with Chad Myers?” I ask with a giggle.

  “Liv, I’m seriously in love him that it freaks me out. I don’t know what the hell to do,” she says looking terrified.

  “Brynn, it seems he’s quite smitten with you too, so I don’t really think you have anything to worry about,” I tell her truthfully.

  “That’s just it Liv, he seems like he really likes me, but those three stupid little words haven’t come out of his mouth, so it makes me worry. Maybe he doesn’t actually feel the same way as me,” she says sadly.

  “Brynn look at me, it’s obvious to anyone how he feels, maybe he’s just nervous to say the words. Why don’t you tell him how you feel?” I ask, surprising the crap out of her.

  “Are you freaking crazy, you never tell the guy you love him first, he’s supposed to do that,” she all but yells at me.

  “B, it was just a thought,” I state awkwardly.

  “Well absolutely not. I will not say those words to him until he says it to me,” she deadpans.

  “Okay Brynn, I’m sure he’ll say it soon. You can tell he’s crazy about you,” I reassure her.

  “I sure hope so, because I’m freaking crazy about him.”

  “Okay, enough boyfriend talk, why don’t we go and see a movie next?” I ask trying to change the subject.

  “That sounds like a great idea, there’s a new comedy that I’m dying to see,” she coos.

  “Okay perfect,” I say with a smile.

  After the movies we have dinner and head home to hang out some more. We watch silly shows on television and bust out laughing at them. It’s great to spend the day with my best friend. It’s definitely something we needed to do.

  A little while later as we’re lying in our beds Brynn starts talking. “Hey Liv, when we move into the sorority house next semester can we still be roommates?” she asks sounding hopeful.

  “Umm duh, who else am I going to room with? You are my best friend B,” I look at her slightly confused.

  “Thank God. Don’t get me wrong I love some of those girls, but I still want us to room together,” she says looking relieved.

  “Yeah, they have it set that we are rooming together, so we’re all good to go when we come back from summer break,” I tell her.

  “Good.”

  I don’t ask her about what Chad and her plans are over the summer because it’s still a touchy subject, because he hasn’t spoken those three golden words. I’ll ask another time; we still have the rest of this semester to get through first.

  The next three weeks go by and my friendship with my best friend is restored. “B, I know you want to stay with Chad so you honestly don’t have to keep staying here to entertain me,” I state truthfully.

  “I know Liv, it’s just that things are a little weird with Chad lately and I’m not sure why. Plus getting to hang out with you every night is pretty great too,” she says with a half-smile.

  “Brynn talk to me, what’s weird with Chad?” I ask.

  “I don’t know Liv, he just seems distant lately. So when I tell him I’m coming home he always says okay, never asks me to stay anymore. I feel like he’s pulling away from me and I don’t know what to do about it,” she says sadly.

  “B talk to him, come right out and ask him. If you want to know, that’s the only way you’re going to find out,” I try telling her.

  “It’s not that easy Liv, what happens if he doesn’t want me anymore?” she says as her eyes are filling up with tears.

  As I wrap my arm around my best friend I tell her, “Then you find out now and move on, and if he does, I will kick his ass,” I say with a smug smile.

  “I’m just scared. I’ve never felt this way about anyone and the first time I do, it’s not reciprocated Liv, it sucks,” she says as a lone tear slides down her cheek.

  “Hey B no crying, you need to find out what’s going on first before you start crying. You need to talk to him honey,” I state while trying to comfort her.
/>   “I know, I guess I should do it as soon as possible. Can you have the chocolates and ice cream ready for when I get back?” she asks sadly.

  “B stop, you have no idea what’s going on. Stop thinking the worst,” I tell her.

  “Liv, I’m trying to be real here, can you do that for me please?” she says slightly frustrated.

  “Yes Brynn, I will get the snacks, but we may not need them,” I say trying to relax her a bit.

  “We will know soon enough, I’m going to get ready and head over to see Chad now and then I’ll be back,” she says looking defeated.

  “Okay well if you need me call me, okay? If not I’ll be here.”

  She shakes her head as she makes her way out the door to find out what’s going on between her and Chad. I decide while she’s gone that I better go get our snacks just in case we need them.

  I’m back within twenty minutes and no sign of Brynn so that’s a good sign right? I hope so. Only time will tell. I decide to work on some homework while I wait.

  I end up waiting for three freaking hours. My best friend now has me worried.

  “Hey Liv, I’m so sorry I should have called you,” she says giggling into the phone.

  “It’s alright, is everything okay?” I ask curiously.

  “OH MY Gosh things are better than okay Liv. I will tell you everything in a bit, I promise. I’m going to hang out here for a little while longer than Chad’s going to drop me off,” she says cheerfully.

  “Okay good, I’m very glad to hear that. I will just see you later then B,” I say now smiling because my best friend is beyond happy by the sound of her voice.

  I’m glad they were able to figure out whatever issue was going on. Brynn deserves to be happy and Chad makes her happy.

  I decide to be lazy and just hang out at the dorm for the day, so I pull my iPad out to catch up on some reading.

  At some point I must doze off because I wake up to an all exciting, bouncy, Brynn who is super hyper. What the hell?

  “Brynn, can you tone it down just a notch please?” I beg while yawning.

  “Sorry Liv, but things are amazing,” she says bouncing over to my bed to sit on the edge of it.

  “Okay spill B, what happened?” I ask trying to sound a little cheery.

  “Get this…so Chad was nervous because he wanted to tell me that he loves me, but he wasn’t sure I felt the same way. So each time he would think about it he would get scared and back out and then would make excuses because he started to think I didn’t have those feeling for him, the bonehead,” she says with the biggest grin on her face.

  “See, you had nothing to worry about Brynn, he loves you,” I say sweetly.

  Brynn’s cheeks turn a pretty shade of pink and she sighs, “I know I can’t believe it. I did yell at him though, and told him that he was driving me nuts,” she says with a smile.

  “Well I’m just glad you guys got things figured out,” I say as I give my best friend a hug.

  “Me too and oh God the sex was out of this fucking world,” she states for the world to hear.

  I just laugh, because well, what can I really say to that.

  The rest of the evening is pretty low key. We eat the goodies I got earlier and watch some girly movies before calling it a night. Class comes way too early Monday morning.

  Chapter Eight

  “Liv, I know what you’re going to say, but please just hear me out,” Brynn practically begs, “Please, pretty please, come with me to spring break. It will be so much fun I promise.”

  “B, you guys leave in like 3 days, there’s no way I can possibly get a room or anything now,” I say, hoping she lets it go.

  “You can room with me silly girl,” she says with a laugh.

  “No, you’re rooming with Chad remember?” I say reminding her.

  “No, best friend of mine, Chad is rooming with Evan and you are rooming with me, we already decided,” she says with a smug grin.

  “Who decided? “ I ask curiously.

  “Chad, me, and Evan duh, who else?” she says like I don’t count.

  “Brynn, don’t you think you should have included me in this little conversation that’s about me?” I state slightly irritated.

  “Oh please Liv, we both know you would have made up some excuse and now you can’t, so get packing bitch, we leave in 3 days,” she says with the biggest smile on her face. I hate when she does this.

  “Really B, I don’t wanna go,” I say defeated.

  “Liv, seriously why not? We talked about this for over a year now,” she says looking intently.

  “I don’t know, things are just different now I guess.”

  “Liv seriously, talk to me. What’s going on?” She says in a calmer tone.

  “Nothing really, I’m just not in the mood to party and get wasted every day for a week. I just want to enjoy no school or sorority stuff, that’s all.”

  “What if I promise not to make you drink, we can just go and have a good time and get our tan on. Plus we can definitely check the hotties out in Miami,” she says practically jumping with delight.

  “B, remember you’re with Chad and he’s going along, so you need to behave,” I happily remind her.

  “Oh, I know and trust me I’m looking forward to seeing him in nothing but swimming trunks too. That man has such a sexy body,” she says looking off in the distance.

  “Earth to Brynn, where’d ya go?” I say laughing as I’m snapping my fingers in front of her face.

  “Hey sorry, was just thinking how hot my boyfriend is naked,” she says in awe.

  “Okay, well that’s nothing I want to know or hear about, so talk about something else please,” I beg.

  “So what ever happened with Mike? You saw him for like what two dates or something and then poof he’s gone?” She says looking at me all confused.

  “Ugh seriously, that reminds me next time you try to hook me up DON’T. He was an ass,” I say with a disgusted look. Just the thought of him makes me want to punch him in the face and I’m not the angry type.

  “Okay wait a minute, what happened? He seemed like a great guy?” she asks with a slight frown.

  “Yeah B, he was so great we hung out twice and one time after that I went with Soph to a party and he was playing tonsil hockey with an ugly looking tramp. When I went home I made sure to wash my mouth out,” I say with a gross face.

  “Ewe, I’m so sorry he didn’t really seem like the douchebag type Liv. I’ll make sure to do a proper background check next time,” she says smiling but looking all serious.

  “Whoa, No, No, No Brynn, you aren’t hooking me up on any more dates. I will find a man when I’m good and ready. Right now let me just have my fun,” I say as I head in to the bathroom not giving her a chance to say anything.

  The next three days go by fast and before I know it we are loading the cars up and heading to Miami for a week. I’m actually looking forward to the warm weather and the beaches, oh yeah and the hot men who’ll be running all around. Yep, can’t wait.

  I’m driving down with Chad, Brynn, and Tony, a friend of Chad’s. He’s not on the basketball team with Chad, which I’m thankful. Had I been forced to listen to talk about basketball this or basketball that for an entire drive down south; I would have gone nuts, but thankfully I didn’t. Now don’t get me wrong I love basketball, but I think I started loving football more. What can I say my ex was great at football and I just got into the games more. Maybe given more time that will change, but who knows.

  The drive to Miami isn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. We finally make it to the hotel and head to our rooms. There is a group of twenty of us re all on the same floor so I can already tell how this is going to go. Oh well, you only live once right?

  “Wow, look at this view,” Brynn coos.

  “Holy shit, that’s amazing. You want to head down to the beach?” I ask hopeful.

  “Sure, let’s not tell anyone right now and just hang out for a bit, just us two,” she says
with a smile.

  “Sounds good to me,” I say as I grab my swimsuit out of my luggage and head into the bathroom.

  We get our things and sneak out of our room to head to the beach. It’s nice to not have to worry about anything or anyone right now. I just want to enjoy the fresh salty air, warm weather, and peaceful waves on the beach. We make our way down the beach then set up our towels and settle down to work on our tans.

  “I so needed this, thank you B for making me come,” I sigh to her.

  “Anytime best friend. This feels amazing. I could stay right here all week,” she says all but whispering.

  “Me too, how about we do that?” I say as I close my eyes.

  I don’t know how long we stayed like that, but Brynn continues to remind me to lotion up, which I do, who wants to get burnt on their first day of vacation? Not me, that’s for damn sure. After what feels like forever, we decide to head back to shower then go grab dinner.

  “Where the hell have you guys been? We’ve been looking everywhere for you,” yells an angry Chad.

  “Calm down baby, I told you we were heading to the beach,” Brynn says as she leans up to kiss her boyfriend.

  “Oh shit, I completely forgot,” he says shaking his head.

  “Really, you forgot she told you she was heading to the beach, seriously dickhead?” says an irritated Evan.

  “My bad man,” Chad says with a small smile to his friend. Evan just walks away heading towards his room.

  “Baby, I can’t believe you forgot where we were going,” Brynn says with a laugh.

  “Shit, I can’t believe I did that,” Chad says while running his fingers through his hair.

  “We are going to get showered. Then how about we all go get dinner?” Brynn asks sweetly.

  “That sounds good.” Chad says kissing his girlfriend again.

  “Well while you two suck faces, I’m going to take my shower first,” I say with a smile and walk to our room.

  “You better hurry your ass up in that shower bitch, because I’m starving,” Brynn yells down the hall at me. All I can do is laugh as I enter the room.

  Before we know it we’re all sitting in the restaurant stuffing our faces with some amazing Italian food. This restaurant, Italiano Delight is amazing.