Chapter 16 #2
“Doesn’t matter, I speak the truth,” Nikki replied.
>> > <<
“You all right?”
I awoke with a jolt to the sound of Brooklyn’s voice. He sat up on the bed beside me, the light of blues from the title screen of Wish Upon a Star dancing across his face. Outside, the sun had completely set and a foggy night had taken over, the moon barely visible.
“What happened?” I asked, rubbing the side of my face to get some feeling back into me.
“You fell asleep,” he replied.
I sat up too fast and all the blood rushed to my head. “No, I mean you. You were gone for like forty-five minutes.”
“Oh.” He frowned. “Nothing happened. It’s fine. We were talking, that’s all.”
“You can talk to me, too, Brooklyn. You know that.”
Brooklyn slid himself back until he could lean against the headboard of his bed, and eased his eyes closed. “Nat, I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be so weird.”
Without giving it a second thought, I felt compelled to reach over and give his hand a gentle squeeze. “I know you don’t.”
“I had a bad conversation with my dad, that’s all,” he continued.
I didn’t want to say it, but I couldn’t help it. It just came out like word vomit (and suddenly I knew exactly how Cady felt in Mean Girls). “Does this have anything to do with the text message you got the morning you left my house?”
He let out a heavy breath, finally willing himself to look at me. He didn’t look at all angry; he looked upset, and that felt worse. “You saw that?”
“I didn’t mean to,” I insisted. “Your phone was going off, but I didn’t know it was your phone, I thought it was mine, so I grabbed it and there it was.”
He tensed up beside me, dragging his teeth along his lower lip.
“Brooklyn, if you’re in some kind of trouble—”
“I’m not,” he said bitingly, uncharacteristically venomous. When he saw me recoil slightly, he eased up. “Not anymore, anyway.”
I slid up to lean against the headboard beside him. “What happened?”
When I saw the hurt in his eyes, my heart clenched.
“I owed some guys some money. From before, way before. But I got nervous because I’m not really making any money right now, so I told my mom, my mom told my dad, and it turned into a shit show. But it is handled.”
I rolled my shoulders back as I processed Brooklyn’s story. I only really wanted to know one thing. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Brooklyn ran a hand down his cheek. “Nat, I don’t know if I’ve made it obvious enough yet, but I really like you. I don’t want you to think I’m this fucked up.”
“I don’t think that at all,” I insisted. “Brooklyn, I trust you, but you need to talk to me if you want this to work.”
I still didn’t even know what this was. We’d already passed the point of no return, but I’d been so caught up in the moment I hadn’t considered what came after.
“You’re right.” Brooklyn nodded. “Listen, everything’s fine now, okay?”
He finally smiled at me in that effortlessly endearing way.
He really could have convinced me to do anything when he looked at me like that.
He reached up and gently caressed the side of my cheek, and all of the tense, hard edges of our night fell away.
It was like the rain had come to extinguish a fire.
“Okay.” I felt myself melt into his touch. “Because I really like you too.”
“God I hope so,” he whispered, leaning over and softly brushing his lips over mine. “You know, what happened the other night, that’s a big deal to me, and I don’t want it to be something that happened and then we forget about it.”
“Yeah, me too.”
He smiled and brought his lips back to mine.
Even though we’d kissed quite a few times by now, it was as if we were kissing each other for the very first time over and over again.
I moved my hands to the nape of his neck, pulling him closer as he ran his tongue along the inside of my cheek.
He tangled his hands in my hair, and without breaking our embrace, we lay back into the bed.
I felt him everywhere, and the sensory overload consumed me.
His hands roamed my body, gentle but eager at the same time, finding my waist and flipping me so I was pinned underneath him.
I reached down and grabbed the hem of his T-shirt, pulling it off of him and tossing it to the floor.
He did the same, gingerly tugging my sweater over my head.
He smelled like vanilla and suntan lotion, and I was starting to believe that if the perfect summer romance had a smell, that was it.
A sharp knock on the door made us both jump, and in a knee-jerk reaction, I pushed Brooklyn off of me, sending him over the side of the bed and to the floor with a thud. I ignored his groans and jolted upright, patting around on the bedspread for my sweater.
“Brooklyn, I’m coming in,” Stella called from the other side of the door. She swung it open just as I was pulling my sweater back on.
“Hi, Nat.” She gave me a quick smile, either completely oblivious or completely indifferent to what she’d interrupted.
“Hey,” I greeted her with a weary smile.
“What do you want, Stella?” Brooklyn groaned as he stood up, tugging at his shirt, which was clearly inside out.
“You ass, I knew you had my phone charger.” She marched over to the wall beside the bed and yanked a charger out of the outlet, shaking it at Brooklyn. “Mine has electrical tape on it, so I know you stole it.”
“Well I, uh, lost mine, so . . .” He spoke through a grimace. “Thanks for letting me borrow it. Now leave, please.”
Stella turned to leave, but spun back around in the doorway. “Oh, Nat, we’re all going out for my birthday slash Fourth of July next weekend, so obviously would love for you to come. Your sister too. I like her, she’s funny.”
“Sounds great,” I replied. “As long as you promise not to tell her she’s funny to her face, it’ll go to her head.”
Stella grinned and nodded before twirling on her feet and walking out.
“Sorry about that.” Brooklyn gave me an apologetic grin. He put his hand on top of mine. “You’re still gonna make me watch this movie, huh?”
I smirked and elbowed him. “Yes, it’s a cult classic.”
June 30
Hey Dad,
I’m sorry we haven’t caught up in a while. I didn’t mean to go quiet on you, time’s just been moving faster lately. I used to roll my eyes whenever people said “time flies when you’re having fun,” but I get it now. I am having fun. For the most part.
There’s been a lot of small, good moments.
Things that don’t sound like much when I write them down—the way the ocean smells driving home from the bookstore, the way Nikki hums when she’s in a good mood again, the way Brooklyn says my name like he’s trying it out every time, to make sure he still likes the way it sounds.
But there’s also this other part. This buzzing, uneasy current under everything.
Weird little things I can’t quite name. Sometimes he goes quiet mid-conversation, like his thoughts disappear somewhere I can’t follow.
Sometimes I feel like I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it’s not mine, it’s his.
My brain keeps trying to warn me something could be wrong. But the key word is could, and my instincts, they say stay. This time it’s different. This time I’m doing it all right.
So, yeah. I’m doing okay. I’m happy, even. And I’m trying not to question it too much.
Love, Nat