I Adore You // Braeden Lemasters

Chapter 15: I Don't Want To Talk

Braeden invited Natalie over to hangout for the evening. She let herself in and heard music coming from the bathroom. Braeden was in the shower, humming along to the Beatles.

She knocked on the bathroom door to let him know she was there.

"Hey," she said happily.

"Hey!" he shouted over the sound of the running water and the music. "I'll be out in a minute!"

Braeden's phone buzzed on the bathroom vanity. It was a text from Valerie.

The shower turned off and Braeden appeared in the living room, towel around his waist.

"Hey," he said, combing his hair.

"What's going on?" She asked, biting her cheek.

"What do you mean?" He said, setting the comb down.

"You just seem a little off, lately. I know we aren't like an official thing here, but I still feel like we should be transparent with each other, don't you?"

Braeden sighed. "You're right. A hundred percent, you're right. I'm sorry."

Natalie frowned a little. "Is everything okay?"

Braeden took a seat on the couch beside Natalie, "I ran into Valerie last week at Zencu, the sushi place downtown. I was having lunch with Cole, and she just kinda came out of nowhere. She came right up to us and started telling us what she's been up to. She's been blowing up my phone ever since."

Natalie nodded. "...do you miss her?"

"No," Braeden said confidently. "We were not a good fit at all. But I didn't know what to say to her when I saw her. I just tried to be polite."

"I get it." Natalie said. "How come you didn't just talk to me about it?"

Braeden sighed. "I don't know. I wasn't sure what to do or say. Like you said, I know we aren't like official right now, so I didn't wanna make a big deal out of it. But I also didn't wanna worry you or upset you. I just got you back into my life, I didn't want to ruin that."

"I'm not upset." Natalie said.

"Valerie is in a band... . They're playing a show at the Roxy this weekend, she's been pestering me to go."

"I see," Natalie said with a nod. "Are you gonna go?"

He cringed a little, "I don't really wanna go. I feel like it'd be uncomfortable, and I don't want her to get the wrong idea. I've been kinda beating around the bush about it. But I should probably just be up front about it and tell her no."

"What's stopping you?"

"From going to the show?"

"No, from telling her you don't want to go. How come you're beating around the bush?"

Braeden shrugged. "I don't know. I don't like letting people down. I have a hard time saying no."

"You should just be honest with her." Natalie said earnestly. "Imagine how she feels, waiting around for an answer."

He twisted his mouth to one side, thoughtfully.

"You're right. You're always right, you know that?" He chuckled, slapping a hand on Natalie's thigh and getting up from the couch. "I will text her right now."

Natalie smiled, pleased.

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A/N:

Hey y'all. Going back and editing some of the chapters and cleaning them up a bit. I changed Jennessa's name to Valerie, just out of respect for Jennessa irl and her privacy. Jennessa, I apologize to you and I should not have used your name in this story. ❤️