Chapter 13
CHAPTER 13
HADLEY
When I open my eyes and see Brooks still sleeping beside me, everything about last night comes flooding back, but I don’t panic like I did that morning in his apartment. This time, I let the feelings settle over me.
I roll to my side and tuck my hand under my cheek, simply watching him. He might always be on me about working too hard, but it’s clear when he’s asleep just how much tension he holds in his body when he’s awake.
Sleep is the only time he can get away from the pressure he feels to help provide for his mom and sisters. And I hate that he feels that way, but the care he has for his family is part of why I fell for him in the first place.
God, he’s so good. He makes me want to do better. Be better.
“Are you finished staring or should I go back to pretending I’m asleep?” Brooks asks, cracking his eyes open.
I groan, rolling onto my back. “I wasn’t staring.”
He reaches out and grabs my hip, turning me to face him again. “Don’t be embarrassed, Hads.” He runs a knuckle across my cheek, which I know is flaming red. “I like looking at you, too. Love it, really.”
“Yeah?”
He nods. “Always have. That’s why I bribed Jason to switch seats with me in grade nine French. I wanted to be close to you.”
My jaw drops. “You did not . How am I just finding this out now?”
Brooks smiles. He doesn’t look one bit sorry. “I had to play it cool. Even though I had zero chill when it came to you.”
I roll my eyes, but a laugh slips out unbidden.
When I think about it too hard, doing… whatever this is with Brooks feels strange. But if I let my brain go quiet and simply sink into the moment, it feels right. It feels like it did before the urge to leave home and never return set in.
“You good if I grab a quick shower?” he asks.
I nod. “Go for it.”
His lips stretch into a sly grin. “Wanna join me?”
As tempting as the offer is… I shake my head, pointing an accusatory finger his way. “Individual showers only because I don’t have time to be distracted this morning.”
“What a goody-two-shoes,” he teases. But he presses a kiss to my cheek, and then he rolls away from me, sauntering across to the bathroom. I watch him go shamelessly.
I tried so hard to keep my distance, but I should have known it wouldn’t be possible. Not with him.
On my nightstand, my phone starts ringing, and I curse when I see that it’s Sam. She isn’t just calling either—she wants to FaceTime. A quick glance over my shoulder confirms Brooks is firmly shut away in the bathroom, so I answer.
“Hey,” I say quietly.
“Morning!” Sam says. “Why are you whispering?”
I shake my head, cringing internally. “I’m not whispering.”
Her eyes narrow. “You’re being weird.”
I slide out of bed, thankful that I got at least a little bit dressed last night. As in, I stole Brooks’s t-shirt. I keep the phone angled at my face so Sam doesn’t catch sight of the Dirty Dick’s logo on my chest. That would be hard to explain away.
“I’m groggy, not weird. You woke me up. ”
She studies my face, and I will myself not to start sweating. I go still when she lets out a little gasp.
“You had sex ,” she accuses, but a smile spreads across her lips.
“I did not!”
She waves a hand at me. Her shit-eating grin remains. “Yeah, you did. You look tired, but you’re all relaxed and shit. Like you spent half the night getting rail?—”
“Alright, we are not discussing this,” I declare, then clear my throat. “Pick something else or I’m hanging up.”
Sam sticks her tongue out at me, but she mercifully does as I ask. “How’s the interview process going?”
Did I say she was merciful?
I grimace. “Not great.”
“The candidates are all duds?”
With a sigh, I cross my free arm over my chest. “They’ve been fine , but not as great of a fit as I would like. They all have ideas for ways to improve the resort, take it to the next level, but…”
“But they’re not your ideas.”
I rear back, though I shouldn’t be shocked. My sister has never pulled any punches with me. “What does that mean?”
Sam chuckles. “Nothing bad, Hadley. I just meant that you’ve come to like the resort while you’ve been staying there, so handing over control wouldn’t be easy. Hell, at this point you might as well just keep the job yourself.”
Something Brooks said a week ago niggles in the back of my brain. Does it make you happy? Being Thiago’s assistant doesn’t make me un happy. But I’ve been operating under the idea that those are the same thing. They’re not, though. Or they shouldn’t be.
“Do you think I could? Be the manager?” I ask. The words are quiet, and I’m a little surprised I said them at all.
She only raises a brow, as if to say, Duh . “Hadley. You already are . You’d run circles around any of those candidates you interview. ”
My eyes narrow playfully. “You’re just saying that so I move home permanently.”
To this, she mimes drawing a halo over her head, complete with a smile full of angelic innocence. “I would never . But you have to admit it would be nice to actually see each other every once in a while. I’m bummed we’ve both been so busy.”
For the past eight years, it’s been a visit here and there between us. Sam has flown to Brazil a couple times, and she’s met up with me when I’ve been in the States or Europe with Thiago. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss her terribly.
“That would be nice,” I admit. Then I chew on my lip as I mull it over, before ultimately shaking my head. “No, I can’t. Mr. Oliveira needs me.”
My sister all but growls at that. “You have been making that man’s life exponentially easier for the past five years. He’ll be just fine if the worst thing he has to do when you quit is hire a new assistant. You have to think about you .”
I sigh. “I’ll consider it.”
She nods. “Good. That’s all I ask.”
We spend a couple minutes talking about her job and her new girlfriend. But then the bathroom door opens, and steam billows out ahead of Brooks. I fight to keep my expression from shifting, but shit, I need to end this conversation fast.
I open my mouth to say goodbye to Sam, but I’m too late.
“Hey,” Brooks says as he saunters my way. Thankfully, he’s half clothed and not only wearing a towel. “Do you wanna grab breakfast before?—”
Sam gasps. Loudly. “Oh. My. God .”
In a fit of panic, I throw my phone facedown on the bed. Brooks looks on in amusement, not at all sorry that he outed us. But I’d like to see him unexpectedly face his sisters and their unrelenting inquisition about the status of our not-a-relationship.
“Hadley Marie Knight! You filthy liar !” Sam yells. Her voice is muffled by the sheets. “Pick me up! I wanna say hi.”
Now Brooks full-on laughs beside me, and when I don’t make a move to retrieve my phone, he does it for me.
Throwing an arm over my shoulders, which I know he’s only doing to make my face turn even redder, he holds the phone up so we’re in frame.
“Hey, Sam,” he says, casual as ever.
My sister shakes her head. “No way. You don’t get to be casual about this! This is not casual news!”
“Please drop it,” I plead, hands covering my eyes.
“No way in hell is that happening.” She laughs. “I want details! Okay, wait. Definitely not those details. But you’ve gotta give me something!”
I remove my hands to glare at her. “Can we talk about this later?”
Or never, preferably. Sam and I tell each other almost everything, but this isn’t something I’m ready to share. Mostly because I don’t even know what this is .
“Fine. Only because Brooks is taking you to breakfast,” Sam replies. “But you might want to give him his shirt back first.”
My lips clamp shut as Brooks hides his face in my hair, trying to keep his laughter at bay. I attempt to shove him away, but his arm tightens around my shoulders.
“One more thing,” Sam says. “ You’re welcome .”
I roll my eyes. “ Goodbye , Samantha.”
“Bye. Love you the most!”
I hang up without saying it back. Serves her right .
Ignoring Brooks, I throw my phone back on the bed and then start gathering my clothes for the day. When I get to the bathroom, I strip out of Brooks’s shirt and ball it up, then toss it toward him before shutting the door.
I take my time in the shower, washing my hair thoroughly and scrubbing every inch of skin as I stew in my embarrassment.
Sam knowing that we’ve been sleeping together shouldn’t change anything. She’s the last person who would judge me. Yet for some reason, I feel on edge .
It hits me then. This is exactly how I felt when Brooks and I started going out in high school. The moment we let our friendship shift into something more, it took me a while to stop feeling like I was doing something wrong. Like the very act of being vulnerable enough to love someone was a point against me.
But it turned out alright back then—post-graduation breakup aside. So it should be fine now. Right?
Besides, we aren’t dating. We’re fucking. There’s a difference.
Once I’m dressed, I brace myself to face Brooks. I’m not exactly proud of how I ran off to the bathroom to hide. I’ve been making a lot of cowardly decisions as of late.
The creaking of the bathroom door as I exit causes Brooks to lift his head. He stands from the edge of the bed, meeting me halfway.
“Sorry,” I say quietly. “I was freaking out again.”
His lips quirk up into a wry smile. “I gathered that.”
When I step forward, face pressed to his chest, Brooks doesn’t waste any time wrapping his arms around me. We stay like that for longer than we should, considering I still need to blow dry my hair and do my makeup. But I can’t seem to let go.
“Feel better now?” he asks after a couple minutes.
I pull away from his chest and nod. “Yes. And if the offer’s still good, I’d like to have breakfast with you.”
Brooks chuckles. “The offer stands.”
“Good.” I rise up on my toes and place a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you.”
“Always,” he says.
And I know, without a doubt, he means it. Even though I don’t deserve it.