12. Brooke
Chapter 12
Brooke
Being this bored as an adult must be a crime! I had no one to hang out with today because all the people I considered friends had their own lives. Marie had finally agreed to go out on a date with Matthew , and I was okay that they went out. To be honest, I thought they would be a great couple together.
Marie was the extrovert, lively, and she brightened up any room she entered. Her green eyes were the star of the show, her short brunette hair and her friendly soft voice made me approach her in college; who would’ve known that we would end up being best friends?
Matthew was more of an introvert, but he was kind, as well. They were perfect for each other; as much as it hurt me to admit that, I knew it was the truth.
I had to resist myself from texting Marie because she told me she would update me when she arrived home. Why was she denying me pleasure?
This won’t do. I got up from my couch, got changed into a cute little number, and did my makeup, as well. I would go out there and find my own fun! I applied my glittery lotion because it was summer, and I was going out to be around other people!
After taking a few mirror selfies and sending them to Marie for approval, she sent a few gifs and I knew I had made the right decision.
Marie : Where are you going??? -_-
Me : Out and about. Later , baby! 3
Marie : Make sure you send me pictures. Here’s a little hint: it’s going good so far ^_~
Me : That’s great! Make sure you take pictures together. M’byeee baby girrl!
I locked my phone, and I walked out of my apartment, ready to go entertain myself somewhere with people. This was probably a bad idea.
“ Brooke !” I heard her call as she rushed toward me and hugged my waist.
“ Anne , how are you?” I hugged her back, and noticed her father standing with a man who was almost his height but a few inches shorter. Who was he? His grey eyes met mine. His long hair was tied into a manbun at the back of his head, and his beard was trimmed neatly. It was clear that he took great pride in his appearance.
Oh , he is hot!
Both of the men were dressed in Hawaiian shirts, but only Asher’s shirt was buttoned up while his companion’s wasn’t, revealing his very toned body.
“ Hello !” he greeted, waving his hand as he approached me. “ I’m Jax , Asher’s closest friend and colleague, and you are?”
He’s a bit forward.
“ I’m Brooke , nice to meet you.” I offered him a smile, and he took my hand, pressing a kiss on it.
“ I’m the gentleman between us.” He pointed to Asher who stood behind him, rolling his eyes.
“ Cool ,” I laughed as I pulled my hand from his.
“ Where are you going, Brooke ?” Anne tugged my dress, and I smiled as I took her hand in mine. Anne was the best neighbor I had ever had. Her father was the worst.
“ Yeah , you seem dressed and ready; what are you doing for the day?” Jax asked, and I wondered if anyone had ever told him that he was quick to familiarize himself with new people.
Asher sighed and leaned against the wall as he watched us instead of joining in the conversation.
“ Oh , I’m just going to the mall to get a few things.” Yup ! That was my “being with other people” plan for the day. The mall.
“ That’s a terrible way to spend your day; come to a BBQ with us at the captain’s house,” Jax offered, and Asher looked totally done with his friend.
“ I don’t want to impose,” I declined respectfully, and Jax clicked his tongue, waving away my response.
“ You wouldn’t be imposing. Come to the BBQ and have fun with us. You shouldn’t be shopping when you could be snacking on ribs and burgers,” he reasoned, and Anne giggled, pulling my hand as she jumped.
“ Yeah , Brooke . Come with us, it’s going to be fun!” she squealed, and I really wanted to go, but I also didn’t want to seem too eager.
“ You sure?” I asked softly, and Asher’s eyes met mine, his mean deadly glare letting me know that he didn’t give me permission to go with them. Well , good thing he wasn’t the one inviting me! “ I’d love to come!”
Of course, Asher expected that as he huffed and began walking toward the elevator, calling for Jax and Anne to hurry up.
“ Great ! Get a bathing suit because we’re gonna be swimming!” Oh , how fun!
I quickly got my bikini, sunscreen, and towel, throwing a few extra items into my tote bag before joining the people who had offered the cure for my Saturday boredom!
We got to Jax’s car, and my eyes widened when I noticed Asher sitting in the passenger seat of an Audi RSQ8 . Jax opened the door for both me and Anne .
I made sure that Anne was buckled into her booster seat, and she expressed her excitement with a squeal and told her father to play some music in her uncle’s car.
“ Aren’t you glad I brought the Audi today, darling?” Jax joked as he looked at Asher with a silly smile, and I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing.
“ Just shut up and drive, you moron,” Asher grumbled, and Jax blew him a kiss before he pulled out of his parking spot, and we were on our way.
I was going to spend my day not obsessing over my best friend’s date with my ex-crush, and I’d get to disturb Asher’s peace because there was nothing better to do!
We finally arrived to the captain’s house, and I was a bit nervous because the only people I knew properly was Asher , Anne , and Jax a bit.
There was a fair number of women and children that balanced out the lawn that was swarmed with burly firefighters. Anne immediately joined the children that were running around, and I smiled when I saw her hug a girl who might’ve been a few years older than her. It was cute!
Jax immediately grabbed a beer and passed me one as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder, calling for everybody’s attention.
What was he doing?
“ Everyone , this is Brooke , Asher’s neighbor!” he introduced me, and most of them seemed to have a knowing look on their faces as they nodded.
“ Hello , Brooke !” and “ Oh , so, she’s Brooke ,” was the response, and I was both shy and confused.
What did they mean by “she’s Brooke ?” I looked at Asher , and he avoided my gaze as he grabbed a beer as well and approached another group.
“ Yeah ,” Jax said as he looked at them. Was it some sort of an inside joke?
“ Hi ,” I greeted softly, and they all welcomed me, but I couldn’t shake off the feeling that they already knew who I was.
“ You can hang out with anyone you want; they’re all nice people,” Jax told me as he took a sip of his drink. Well , okay, this should be simple. I basically talked to strangers almost every day for work.
“ Come , I’ll introduce you to the wife club. Who knows, maybe one day you’ll join them.” He winked, and I laughed as I rolled my eyes. Man , Jax was really forward.
“ Thank you for the offer, but I think I’ll go introduce myself,” I told him, and he looked at me for a second before he nodded and motioned toward the women, and I walked away from him.
“ Hey , pretty girl, I was wondering when you would get away from that player,” one of the women said, and I laughed as I pointed to the empty chair, and they all nodded, allowing me to sit down.
“ So , you’re Brooke , huh?” another one questioned, and I nodded.
“ Yes , I am Brooke . From your tone, it seems I’m already known?”
“ Oh , we know all about you - the careless neighbor. I’m Maya ,” the first woman introduced herself.
“ And I’m Natalie .”
“ Judie and June are the twins,” Maya pointed to the women who stood by the grill, and they waved their hands.
“ And the one on babysitting duty today is Toni ; she’ll join us in a few,” Natalie said.
“ Well , nice to meet you all.”
“ There’s more of us, but some probably sneaked off with their husbands. Those horny bitches.” Maya rolled her eyes, and I laughed.
“ So , is it true you almost set your apartment on fire?” Natalie had a bit of an accent, and I groaned as I covered my face.
“ Of course he would tell everyone.”
“ Oh , no, no; he told Jax , and Jax told everyone. Asher ought to know better,” Maya told me, and I giggled. Jax did seem like someone who had a loose mouth.
“ I met my husband after starting a small fire; oh, he was pissed!” Natalie rolled her eyes, and raised her eyebrow at me. “ Was Asher pissed?”
“ Furious ! He even started a petition to get me kicked out of my apartment,” I told them, and they gasped.
“ Now , we don’t know that little bit of information. So , will you be getting kicked out?”
“ I don’t know, it’s been a while since he sent me an update.”
“ Oh , he’s warming up to you!” Maya squealed, and I shook my head.
“ The man hates me, and I believe that is his part time job; there’s no warmth there,” I told them, and they gave each other a look before laughing.
“ Firemen like to act pissed, but they’re actually really big softies,” Natalie said as if it were a fact, and I was pretty sure they had never met Asher before.
“ You guys sound like you don’t know Asher ; the only time I’ve ever seen him crack a smile is when he told me that he was gonna get me kicked out, and every other time he reminded me of his insane plans.”
“ No , sweetie, you’re the one who doesn’t know him. Asher is a nice man.” Maya shrugged, and my eyes widened.
“ And he’s never going to get you kicked out. If I know Asher , and I have for the past five years, he threw away that petition, and that’s why you haven’t gotten any updates.”
“ Don’t give me hope, bestie,” I took a sip of my beer, and they laughed.
“ Just give it time; you’ll be alright, sweetie.” I could listen to the both of them talk for hours; they were so nice and full of wisdom. I enjoyed being around them.
“ Sorry , ladies, can I please borrow her for a while?” Jax asked as he passed them a platter of different kinds of meat, and they stared at it before Natalie moved forward and grabbed it.
“ If you do anything to her, we’ll kill you,” Maya threatened as she grabbed a BBQ skewer. “ We like her.”
“ I promise to return her in one piece,” Jax placed his hand on my back, and I got up, following him to the pool, and he suggested we dip in our feet.
“ Is there a reason you pulled me away?” I asked him, and he smiled as he sat down beside me, placing his beer between us, which created some space.
“ Nothing much, I just wanted to get to know my buddy’s neighbor and find out why he’s so—“ he seemed to think of the word before he nodded. “ Interested . So , what makes you interesting, Brooke ?”
“ Besides the fact that I almost burnt down my apartment and basically groped Asher when I was drunk?”
“ Yes , besides those very amusing incidents. Something that doesn’t concern Asher .”
“ Hmm , now that’s an interesting question.” I hummed as I lifted my legs from the water just to dunk them back in. It was a hot day, and I was glad that I had always been a fan of dresses rather than pants on summer days.
“ Is it a bit too difficult to answer?” he asked. He picked up his bottle and sipped as he watched me from the corner of his eyes.
“ Not really. There just isn’t much to say about me,” I said as I leaned back on my hands. “ Although I am curious to know how much firefighters make so that I can join and get a car as beautiful as yours!”
“ Well , we don’t make enough to buy that car, but I basically have rich parents and an inheritance,” Jax shrugged, and I nodded slowly.
“ Anyone you spending your wealth with?” I asked him, and he laughed as he shook his head.
“ Not at the moment; are you offering?”
“ I’ve been known to make a great friend when I’m not burning apartments down or getting drunk.”
“ I bet you are.” He bumped my shoulder. “ So , what’s your story?”
“ I’ve been thinking this since we met,” I said, and he tilted his head to the side.
“ I’m curious.”
“ You’re a bit forward and nosy, aren’t you?”
“ Yeah ,” he smiled brightly, and I laughed. “ Money does that to you sometimes.”
“ Would you say it’s your personality or a mask?”
“ Ay , are we getting deep now?” He leaned in close, and I did, too.
“ In case you didn’t notice, I tend to be a bit forward and nosy, too,” I informed him, and he squinted his eyes.
“ Can you feel your neighbor’s eyes on us?” Jax whispered, and I nodded subtly.
“ He’s probably thinking of ways to kick me out,” I spoke softly, and Jax burst out laughing as he shook his head. I took that opportunity to look at Asher who stood with some of his colleagues with a beer in his hand.
His glare was cold, and he clenched his jaw when our eyes met.
What did I do now?