Snow Place Like Home

Chapter Twenty-Four

Shonna

Shonna caught up with Braydon at the airport right as the plane was getting ready to board. She barely made it in time to check her bags and get Penny safely into a kennel below the plane.

"Hey, you changed your mind."

"About coming home, but not about us. I meant what I said. I care about you, and I'd like us to remain friends."

Shonna was looking for more than Braydon had to offer. She hadn't realized it until talking with Jason. He had confessed his love for her, and it caught her off guard. But it didn't scare her away like she thought it might. She wanted to be Jason. She wanted to explore her feelings for him. She didn't know if she loved him, but she knew she wanted to find out if she could.

"I understand. I feel the same way."

He pulled her in for a hug. Despite them not being the right fit for each other romantically, she cared deeply for Braydon. He was like family, which was odd since they had slept together. But they were bonded together in ways that would not be easily pulled apart. She would always be there for him, and he knew she could always count on him to be there for her.

The plane ride back home was long and loud. The baby that was sitting behind her was crying nonstop. The man on her right was coughing viciously through the entire flight and refused to cover his mouth. Somehow through all that, Braydon was fast asleep next to her, snoring through the chaos and the turbulence.

When they landed in Seattle, it was a two-hour layover before the next flight to Phoenix.

"Let's grab some food," Braydon suggested as they exited the plane.

They sat down at a little cafe. Braydon got himself a giant cinnamon roll, but the only thing Shonna wanted was a cup of coffee. She watched him devour his food, not once offering her a bite. It didn't bother her because she didn't want any. If she had, she could get her own damn roll. But the minor act made her realize how selfish Braydon was. Their entire relationship had been about him. They didn't spend hours in each other's arms. They had quickies without foreplay, and truth be told, she didn't always get to come before he finished.

They had known each other for a long time. Since he was Jackie's brother and basically like a little brother to Darren, they would always be in each other's lives. She couldn't believe it took her this long to realize how wrong he was for her. Perhaps she had been hung up on him for a while because he was the first guy that she'd had sex with since college.

She had been celibate throughout law school, determined not to let anyone derail her life or make her lose focus on her goals. She'd dated around casually after she graduated and was always attracted to ambitious, career-driven professionals like herself. But these men turned out to be arrogant, full of themselves, and selfish. She had grown to prefer her nights alone rather than on dates with obnoxious assholes.

Braydon was not ambitious or career-driven, but he was safe. Someone she could spend lonely nights with but who, on some level, knew would want nothing more from her than sex. Braydon was a trust fund kid who had never worked a day in his life. He graduated from law school per his father's orders, but he never did anything with his degree. He hadn't passed the bar exam yet and had no intention of being a lawyer. He was immature and needed to figure his shit out.

His father had been pressuring him to take over the family law firm, but he had been less inclined to do so since they had a fallout when he was a teenager. His father repeatedly cheated on his mother throughout their marriage. After she passed away from cancer, Braydon learned he had a half-sister that his father had known about and ignored. His mother had revealed the truth on her deathbed. Braydon took it upon himself to track down his half-sister Jackie who was a sophomore in college at the time, and they've been inseparable ever since. But he never forgave his father.