25. Brooke
25
***Brooke
I ’d stayed out of the way in the week leading up to the fair. I woke up early and left before the guys were awake and I made sure to stay gone until they were asleep. I was dead tired but at least I’d been able to avoid them. I’d even resorted to hanging out at Aunt Karlene’s house during the lunch time rush in Beaumont. I didn’t want to be accidentally caught by any of them. I was just going to go on the date they’d set up and deal with it.
The night of the fair I got ready at Aunt Karlene’s. She was all smiles and cheeriness as she dressed me in a tight dress with a fringed vest over it. My normal boots worked with it so I kept them on while she took the time to braid my hair, leaving small curls out around my face. I was tired enough that I even let her do my makeup. When it was time for Billy to pick me up I was pretty sure I looked like a western wear sex worker. There was no time to fix it, though, so when I heard the knock on the front door, I didn’t stop to glance in the mirror over Aunt Karlene’s entry table.
I pulled the door open and came face to face with a handsome man with a kind smile and a big bouquet of flowers in his hands. I smiled back at him, determined to have a good time. “You brought me flowers?”
His smile stretched wider. “It was flowers or a bottle of wine and I didn’t want you to think I was trying to get you drunk.”
I laughed, instantly at ease with him. I didn’t feel the spark I felt with Noah, Colt, or Logan, but that was fine. Everything was fine. “Don’t worry. The flowers are perfect. Plus, I think there are enough booths sneaking booze tonight that if we want to get drunk, we can just do it there.”
“Thank god. This is my first blind date ever. If I don’t get a shot of something in me, I’m bound to embarrass myself.” He held the flowers out and when I took them his eyes moved down my body quickly. His cheeks darkened and he looked away. “You look beautiful.”
I saw Aunt Karlene coming and shoved the flowers at her before closing the door and moving down the sidewalk towards his car. “I let my aunt dress me and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen offensive costume packages just like this one at every halloween store.”
He opened the door for me and laughed. “Well, either way, you look beautiful. You have a great smile.”
It was my turn to blush. “Thanks. So do you.”
When he climbed behind the wheel I took a chance to study him. He really was handsome. Curly brown hair, big brown eyes, and taller than me. If I wasn’t feeling emotionally wrecked by my roommates, I’d have to give them props for finding a guy I could’ve imagined taking home to meet my mother in another life. Well. Not my mother. I could imagine taking him home to someone else’s mother.
“Do I pass the inspection?” He smiled softly as he drove towards the fairgrounds.
“God. Sorry. I was just staring at you, wasn’t I?” I groaned. “I’m sorry. I…don’t have a good excuse for it. Wow.”
His laugh filled the car, an easy sound that felt right for him. “It’s fine. If I wasn’t driving, I’d be doing the same thing. It’s a weird thing, meeting new people. You have to catalogue everything without coming off too weird and it’s hard.”
“Yes!” I laughed with him. “You get it. How much eye contact is too much eye contact before you’re a creep?”
He chanced a look at me before turning back to the road. “You get me.”
I relaxed, comfortable enough with him to be friends, at least. He seemed like a nice guy.
We had to park at the back of the field that had been turned into a parking lot and walk the distance to the entrance but we talked easily about the weather and our prior trips to the fair. Once Billy paid for our tickets, we headed inside and made our way around the booths of games. I tried to knock a bunch of bottles down, Billy tried to get a ping pong ball inside a small hole, and we both took our chance at fishing a prize out of a kiddie pool. Then we stood in line for fried oreos and giant pickles.
Billy chose front row seats in the school stadium for us to watch the football game. It wasn’t what I would’ve chosen but he seemed excited to watch the game so I went with it.
I took a giant bite out of my pickle and glanced over at him. He was looking back at me, fried oreo shoved into his mouth. It was silly but we both started laughing. I nearly choked on pickle juice and he reached over to pat my back while I tried not to spit up pickle.
“Good god. That was embarrassing.” I grinned at him and shook my head. “Seriously, I think it’s pretty obvious that it’s been a long time since I went out on a date.”
“Same. You’re doing great, though.” He tapped his own pickle against mine. “To dating?”
“To dating.” I smirked. “May the bitch spend an eternity stubbing her toe.”
He threw his head back and laughed, drawing the attention of everyone around us. It was a big, happy laugh, and I realized that he reminded me of a big golden retriever. I wanted to ruffle his hair and pinch his cheeks. It sucked. He was an attractive man who made me laugh but I felt nothing romantic.
The game started on the field but I mostly kept my attention elsewhere. I could hear the announcer call out the three names I didn’t want to hear every so often and I made sure to keep my attention on Billy. He was into the game but we’d also settled into a light conversation about our dating history. It started out light anyway. And then I figured I’d throw my most recent failure out there.
“Yeah, so I don’t know if the guys told you but I ran away from my own wedding less than two weeks ago.” I watched his eyes go wide. “I caught him cheating on me with my boss that morning. It wasn’t just a runaway bride thing.”
He shook his head. “Good for you. Cheating is… I just don’t understand. If you want to fuck someone else, just break up with your partner. It’s not that complicated.”
I heard the pain in his voice and reached out to touch his wrist. “Sounds like you’re speaking from personal experience there, friend.”
He met my gaze and then looked away after a moment. I was watching him closely so I didn’t see the football until it was hitting him in the face. It scared the hell out of me and I screamed.
“Billy! Are you okay? What the fuck?” I picked up the football and glared down at the field. Standing with his hands on his hips was Noah, a dark frown on his face. I threw the ball back towards the field and leaned into Billy’s space to check on him. “Jesus. I’m pretty sure your nose is broken.”
“I thought Noah was a good quarterback? How the hell did he throw so far off course?” Billy pinched the bridge of his nose and kept his head back as blood trickled down his lip.
“Come on. There’s a first aid tent around here somewhere.” I wrapped my arms around his waist and helped him up. “Assholes.”
“What?”
I forced out a sigh. “Nothing. Sorry.”
“You know… I was wondering why Noah and Logan were glaring up at me, along with their other friend, Colt, but I think I get it now.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulder for support. “I just don’t understand why the hell they set us up if they clearly want you for themselves.”