7. Brielle
Chapter seven
Brielle
“ S o what were you talking about earlier when I caught you talking to yourself?” Dax asked.
I thought the car ride was going to have an awkward silence, but Dax started a conversation right away.
I laughed. “Oh, that was nothing.”
“Come on. Share with me.”
I looked down at my intertwined hands on my lap. I tried to hold back my smile, but I know it fell a little. “I just, um. I went to a wedding on what I thought was a friend-ish date, but he failed to mention that he had someone else back at home.”
“What is a friend-ish date? How did he talk you into that?” he chuckled.
I chuckled back. “I told you, I didn’t know he had a girlfriend.
Honestly, he was just nice and friendly.
I haven’t dated anyone or even thought about dating since I was sixteen.
I…um…I just thought I was finally ready.
” I forced a smile and looked out into the night sky.
I couldn’t see any stars since it was cloudy, but the full moon gave the night a nice glow.
“It sounds like he was the one who wasn’t ready. Why would he bring you as a date to a wedding if he already had a girl? That’s just stupid.”
“Agreed,” I chuckled.
We pulled up to my college, and I directed him to my dorm.
“Thanks for the ride. I can give you some gas money when you pay me.”
He smiled. “That is completely unnecessary.” He stared at me for a moment. I was feeling super awkward now, so I started stammering.
“Well…I…um…thanks again.” I grabbed the door handle to open it, and I heard his door open.
He walked around the car, opening my door to let me out. He put his hand out for me. I looked down at his palm and grasped it gently. “Thanks.”
I was standing close to him now, but not touching him. I was straining my neck to look up at him since he was about a foot taller than I was.
“Brielle?” he said softly. His voice was unsure.
I swallowed the lump in my throat, and he must have seen it because he let my hand go and backed up, giving me a little space.
“Yeah?”
“I know this is wildly inappropriate, given the story you just told me and the fact that I am your boss, but at the end of my contract when I am no longer your boss, can I take you out for dinner?
“Me?”
One side of his mouth quirked up, and he looked around like he was looking for someone else.
“Yes, you would be Brielle, right?” He looked down at his feet, shut the car door, and leaned against it.
“As I said, I know it’s completely inappropriate, and it’s shitty timing, but I’ve been wanting to ask you for a while.
I won’t be the boss much longer so I figured I’d go for it, and if you’re not up for it we can just forge—”
“Yes.” I cut him off. “I would like that.”
He smiled. “Cool. Hopefully, in a few months, you will still feel that way.”
“Do we have to wait? I mean, we are both adults, right? Why wait?”
His eyebrows went up in surprise. “I mean, yeah, I’m cool with that if you are.”
“Just promise me you won’t treat me any differently when you realize I’m a quiet, weird girl.”
“No different treatments, I promise. Cross my heart and hope to die.”
I let out a loud laugh. “That was cheesy as hell.”
He started walking toward his side of the car as I stood on the sidewalk. “I try, I try.” He chuckled and winced. “That was pretty bad, huh?” I nodded. “I guess I will try to bring less cheese when we go out.”
I smirked and turned toward my building. I started walking up the stairs, looked over my shoulder at him, and yelled, “I like a little cheese with my meal!”
November
I have been on a few dates with Dax, but I haven’t told a soul other than Amani. He has been such a gentleman and kept to his word that he would not treat me any differently at work. I have been happier than ever since we started seeing each other.
Are we seeing each other? Is that what it’s called when you aren’t officially dating someone?
I woke up super happy today, and now I’m finally going to tell my sister about Dax. But I want to make her squirm and sweat it out a little bit. Funnily enough, Callie just texted me.
Callie
Are we going out after Thanksgiving dinner? I haven’t talked to Nick yet, but I think we should do something.
YES PLEASE (PS: I HAVE TEA AND YOU HAVE TO WAIT LOL)
Aubs
Spill, Bean. You know I’m too damn nosey to wait that long. Lol.
Callie
Brie, you can’t just drop that you have tea and say “oh but I’ll tell you next week”. What if we already know by then?
Aubs
BITCH, if you don’t tell me, I’m going to come to your dorm and make a scene.
There was a knock at my door, and it was my friend Natoshia from down the hall.
She came in so I could give her the notes from a class she had missed a few days prior.
She and I got into a conversation about what classes we were taking next year, and once Amani arrived, we couldn't shut up.
We talked for over an hour, catching up like we hadn't seen each other in days, even though we're in almost every class together.
Once she left, I sat down to work on a painting, but then I remembered I was texting Aubs and Callie.
Sorry, someone came over to ask me about an assignment. Unless you are me or Dax you wouldn’t know.
Callie
Who the fuck is Dax?
Aubs
WHO IS DAX? Is that the guy you work with? Isn’t he old?
Talk to you at Thanksgiving dinner. I promise it is worth the wait.
Aubs
BITCH I HATE YOU.
Callie
You suck.
Not yet. :-P
I knew they were going to have matching mini heart attacks when I told them.
I haven’t spoken to Callie very much since she called me after she was sexually assaulted while on her non-honeymoon.
She and I had a heart-to-heart conversation about it right after it happened.
That was last month, and she seems to be doing really well in therapy.
I know Nick is doing everything in his power to help her heal the right way.
He is the type who would never push her to heal faster than she can.
He is one of the most amazing guys I know.
I had a little crush on him when he first met my sister, but I never said anything since he immediately looked at me like a sibling.
Dax reminds me of him a little bit. He seems very patient, especially since we still haven’t kissed. He has given me several hugs and kissed my hand a few times, but other than that, he seems to be letting me take the reins when we do things.
The next day, after work, Dax drove me home. He got out of the car and opened my door, as he had done every time I had been in his car.
He kissed my forehead and looked down at me.
“I can pick you up after class tomorrow if you want to do something. I happen to know your job is closed tomorrow.” He smirked.
“Oh yeah?” I said slyly. “My boss must be really nice to close on a Saturday.”
He pulled me in closer with that same smirk. “Well, yeah, he does seem like a pretty cool guy.”
“He’s great.”
His smile fell and his look became more intense. He gazed into my eyes as his voice dropped to almost a whisper. “I want to kiss you.”
My stomach dropped in anticipation, but I didn’t have to think about it.
I raised onto my tiptoes as my lips finally brushed his.
I intended it to be a chaste, quick kiss, but he took it as a full-fledged go-ahead.
His fingers brushed the side of my neck and dug into the hair at the nape, pulling me into a deep kiss.
His tongue brushed mine, and it felt amazing.
His hands moved from my neck, one coming around my body and pulling me in deeper.
Anxiety flooded me, so I broke the kiss.
His chest was rising and falling quickly. I looked up into his eyes. Before I could say anything, he kissed my head again. “I can’t wait to do more of that again tomorrow.”
I leaned back in jest. “Oh, and who says you are doing that again tomorrow?”
He pulled me back, giving my lips that chaste kiss I’d hoped for the first time. “Oh, we are. You don’t get a say.”
He said it with a smile, so I gathered he was joking, but it just didn’t give me the warm and fuzzy feeling I think he intended. It actually set off some major alarm bells.
After getting into my dorm, I took a long shower to wash away that weird feeling. Amani wasn’t home but texted me that she would be soon. I lay on my bed looking at the ceiling, replaying his last statement, “You don’t get a say.”
I really wish he hadn’t used those words. If I can't get past this, will it ruin the whole thing for me? It was an innocent remark… Right?
Elijah-Christmas
The tour had been stressing me out more than I anticipated, so I didn't hesitate to accept Lincoln's invitation to spend Christmas with him. It would be nice to give myself some space from the guys. It also didn’t hurt that I knew I would see Brielle again.
The day went by so quickly, but it was nice to see everyone again.
Brielle mostly avoided me because she was busy helping Aubrey.
I didn’t even get to say goodbye to Brielle when I left because I couldn't find her.
I tried to play off that I was looking for something I dropped when I was going from room to room.
A few minutes after I left, I received a text.
Unknown
Will you be around for New Year’s and the surprise engagement?
I was planning to be there.
Unknown
I’m glad you are coming.
Who’s this?
Unknown
Your worst nightmare. lol
Brielle, miss me already?
I saved her number.
MP
You just admitted you dream about me, lol, and you wish. Lincoln told me you will be my counterpart for all the wedding stuff. You will be mighty busy on your time off helping me plan everything, young man.
Young man? I am eleven years older than you, LITTLE GIRL.
MP
Damn, I guess it’s Old Man then.??
Eh, I don’t like that either lol
MP
Oh well, get used to it. I am not calling you sir or some shit like that lol.
I don’t think my boyfriend would like that. I am going to make this surprise engagement perfect for my sister and nothing is going to ruin it. Send me your tour schedule so I can make plans for things.
Hopefully, you will be available to help more than I think you will.
Boyfriend?
I will do what I can.
She didn’t say anything else, so I called her. I definitely shouldn’t have. The drinks from dinner hit me hard.
“Hello?”
“So tell me, Briebaby, why do you hate me so much that it took you all this time to message me?”
She laughed. “Why would I hate you?”
“I don’t know. It took you almost a year of having my number to finally message me. Plus, everyone eventually ends up hating me for one reason or another.”
Her voice changed and got more serious. “I don’t think you could do anything to make me hate you, Elijah. I mean, we barely know each other.”
“You’ll see.”
It was quiet for a moment before she spoke again. “I really hope not.”
I let out a hum.
“I think I am going to head to bed…sweet dreams, Eli.”
“You too, MP.”
“MP?” she asked.
“You will figure it out eventually. Night”
I shouldn’t have, but I went and did something that would for sure make someone like her hate me, and I didn’t even know the girl’s name. All I knew was that being with her made me forget everything, even if it was only for an hour.
My brother found me passed out on the tour bus the next day.
“Dude, you can’t do this anymore. It’s getting ridiculous. The Ryders are making it big; we can’t do this without you. Just get it together, man.”
I waved him off. “It was just a bad night.”
He eyed me curiously. “We have that pop-up show tonight. Are you going to be able to keep it together?”
“Fuck off, dude. Let me shower. I will see you later.”
I looked in the mirror after my shower. Staring back at me was someone I didn’t recognize.
Instead of questioning myself, I reached into the duffel bag next to me, grabbing one of the many nips of whiskey I was hiding.
If I was going to spend the rest of my life alone and in pain, I was at least going to attempt to numb the ache.