11. Chapter 11
I PULL into the parking lot at the arena and see many of my dance mates' cars already here.
“I’ve gotta go but I’ll call you as soon as we’re on the plane. I can’t wait to see you, Jo.” Joaquín’s voice echoes in my car over the speaker.
“I’ll wait up. And I can’t wait to see you, too. Good luck tonight.”
“Catch ya later, little Bunny,” he says, signing off the way we used to when we were kids.
“Go ahead and try, Bean pole.” I chuckle and hit end on the steering wheel, my smile still stretched a mile wide.
I’m so lost in thoughts of my surprise trip to see Joaquín that I don’t even realize there is someone near my car until a loud thump pounds against my window followed by a little “rawr”. I look over to see a tiny copper-headed T-Rex.
Brooke stands there with her arms tucked into her body close and waving her hands around.
I push open my door and step out. “You scared the crap outta me, you little weirdo. What are you doing?”
“Sorry. I fell asleep watching a documentary on dinosaurs and it just stuck.” She shrugs and adjusts her bag that hangs from her shoulder. “So where have you been? You weren’t at practice the other night.”
“I, um, flew out to Milwaukee to surprise Joaquín at his game.” I shut my door and hit the alarm button, causing the lights to flash.
“Heyyy. Needed some away game dick. I get you.”
I look at her and scrunch my face. “Away game dick? Girl, you and those damn euphemisms.”
“What? Everyone knows out-of-town sex is better than hometown sex. It’s just a fact.”
We pull open the arena doors and begin the walk to our practice room.
“I’ll take your word on it.” Our sneakers squeak as we walk through the tiled hallways and our voices echo.
“So I kinda need to tell you something,” she says, slowing her steps as we draw closer to the practice room.
I stop and lean back against the wall. “Lay it on me, sister.”
“So I slept with your brother,” she spits out.
My feet slip as I almost fall flat on my ass. I knew that they were cozied up and figured they made out, but I was not expecting her to confess that.
“Do you hate me?” Her body curls into itself and she scoots away from me as if I may reach out and strangle her.
“Hate you? Brooke. Don’t be silly. Of course I’m not mad at you. I’m just a little shocked by it. That’s all. Jordan had an awful breakup not too long ago, and it was pretty nasty.”
“Yeah. He told me about that. It’s kind of how we fell into bed. I told him about my cheating ex, he told me about that bitch he dated, and we both decided to console one another. Oh my gosh. He–”
I slap my hand over her mouth and stop whatever word vomit is about to spill out.
“Abso-fucking-lutely not. I most definitely do not want details. You keep that shit to yourself.”
Her smile turns to a pout and I shake my head. I don’t even want to know if my brother still has that heart shaped birthmark on his left butt cheek. There is nothing that she can tell me that won’t make me want to pour peroxide in my ears to clear that fungus.
“Fine, but you’re no fun. We’re supposed to share crazy sex stories. I’ll tell you how Jordan fu–made me happy,” she corrects after seeing the murderous glare on my face. “And you tell me all about getting double sticked. Double pucked? Oh gosh, those are bad. Forget that. Just tell me if Bram and Joaquín double stuffed your oreo?”
An arena employee passing by freezes like a garden statue and words fail me. I just look at her with a dropped jaw and bug eyes.
“I’m taking that as a no. Hey. That’s okay. We all have our thing. Obviously double stuffing isn’t yours. Anywho.” She skips along like she didn’t just singe the hairs off of that poor guy's ears.
“Ok. Wait.” I grab her arm and stop her from walking into the practice room. “I didn’t end up hooking up with them. I mean, we were in the middle of…stuff, when Joaquín flipped out and yanked me out of there.”
“I thought you said you did things you’d never done before?” She props her hands on her hips and tilts her head.
“Well yeah, that’s true. But I think our definition of that differs extremely. How about I tell you all about it after practice?”
She eyes me skeptically at first, then says, “Fine. But I want cheeseburgers, french fries, and tea. And I don’t mean sweet tea.”
“Deal. Now let's go burn some calories before we overdose on carbs.”
“Girl. That is crazy! I can’t believe you were a vir–” I reach across the small table and slap my hand over her little, but loud, mouth.
“Jesus, Brooke.”
“Sorry. I forget to use my inside voice sometimes. My mom always gets on me for it.” She takes a big gulp of her soda and continues. “So you and Joaquín have secretly been harboring feelings for one another since you were kids. He didn’t act on it because of your brother, and you didn’t let anyone pick your garden because you were saving yourself for him. Oh my gah. I love it. Please write a book about this. I so want to read it.” She picks up a salty fry and shoves it into her mouth while wiping away a non-existent tear.
“Yes, but please don’t ever use the phrase pick your garden again. I will stop being your friend and pretend I don’t speak English. That was worse than double stuffed oreo.” I wipe my mouth and toss the crumpled napkin onto my empty tray.
“What about Jordan?”
“Remember that game when Joaquín freaked out at that fan and got ejected?” She nods and pops the last bit of her cheeseburger in her mouth. “Well it seems Jordan was curious about his reaction and followed Joaquín into the locker room. Instead of telling Jordan it was nothing, he went and spilled everything. Not everything . Just that he and I were together. The two of them had a come to Jesus with Jordan confessing that he kept us apart because he thought he’d lose his best friend, and Joaquín forgave him. I’m sure they bro-hugged it out. But by the time I spoke with Jordan, he wasn’t as furious.”
As if summoned by the mere mention of his name, my phone buzzes from where it sits on the table and the screen lights up with a picture of Jordan in one of my dresses and a crown from when we were little.
“Speaking of Jordan,” I tell her and hold up my phone. I swipe at the screen and say, “Were your ears ringing?”
“Huh? No. Why?” I can hear the sound of his car door closing and wait for a second until his phone connects with his speakers.
“Brooke and I were just talking about you and like magic, you called.”
“You’re with Brooke? What…what are you two talking about?”
I roll my eyes with a smirk. “Oh she was just telling me that she too thinks your birthmark looks like a cute little heart.”
“Jesus, Jolie!” He shouts and I can help but snort with laughter.
“Chill out. We didn’t talk about your birthmark. But I do know you slept with her so now I have to warn you that if you hurt her, I will cut you.”
I look at Brooke and wink and she pumps her fist with a little “ yes. ”
“Warning understood. Well I was calling you to invite you over to watch the game and tell you about Brooke and me, but since you already know, do you just want to come watch the game?”
“Okay. Sure. Did you–”
Having twin telepathy, Jordan answers my question before I can finish asking. “I already talked to Brooke this morning. She has studying to do, so she won’t be able to join us.”
“Oh. Well okay then. Guess I’ll just see you later.”
“Yup. And bring dessert. I’ll order us something but you’re better at picking out desserts.”
I chuckle softly and tell him I know just what to get. When we hang up, I look at Brooke and find her smiling.
“What’s got you smiling?” I ask.
“I’d tell you but you said you don’t want to hear all the dirty deets about your brother and me, so.” She sips on her drink and diverts her eyes.
“Yeah. No thanks. Hard pass.”
“Fine but it’s your loss.”
“I think I’ll be okay,” I assure her and we share a few more laughs before we part ways.