8. Chapter Eight
Chapter Eight
H e couldn’t stop thinking about her . Brooke. He hadn’t seen her since the picnic. The start of school seemed so far away. He spent far too many nights with her on his mind, in his heart, a ghost he saw but couldn’t touch.
He wanted to call but didn’t know what to say. Overwhelmed by his need for her, the words stuck in his mind, evaporating in his throat before he could speak them.
He’d called a dozen times, hanging up before she answered.
Anxiety sucked. It made him second-guess himself. It made his thoughts spin.
The shyness he’d always felt around others trapped him in loneliness and a box he couldn’t escape.
Desperation to do something, be something else, find the strength, the bravery, hell, a single word to tell her he needed her, overwhelmed him and left him wanting and disheartened when he couldn’t find the courage.
He was weak, just like his father thought.
Soft.
But he was a problem solver.
She’d seen his number on her phone, how he kept calling and hanging up. If he found his voice and called her, she’d ask questions. He needed another way, a direct but private and easier way to reach her. She needed to know how he felt. He needed to tell her how he felt. Then she’d see. She’d know. He was the one who could be her everything.
She was that for him.
And she was anxious to see him again. That’s why she returned to school early.
He’d found her walking downtown with Mindy Sue a week ago. They’d gone into the salon and come out an hour later and he’d gasped with surprise, even as he went hard as a rod.
Gorgeous didn’t begin to describe her. Brooke had changed her hair. It framed her beautiful face. And her smile…she knew she looked good. She glowed with happiness and confidence.
Mindy Sue had hooked her arm around Brooke’s shoulders and pulled her along toward the drugstore.
He’d pulled out his new burner phone, tapped into his new social media account, and commented on a picture she’d posted of her and Mindy Sue eating pasta the other night.
@youseeme: You look even better today! The new haircut… Gorgeous!
He’d kept it simple. He didn’t want her to block him. He just needed her to know how he felt.