30
The next three hours creep by like a snail making its way home in the rain.
I try to concentrate on my training, but I keep finding my mind wandering to Brooks.
I picture Harper sitting on the couch beside him, with her legs draped over his lap.
He makes her laugh as she moves closer, placing her hand on his chest. He kisses her and tells her that he’s never felt this way with anyone.
At the end of my shift, I head to the back room to retrieve my bag and hastily dig around for my phone. Still nothing from Brooks, another missed call from Mum and one message from Luna.
A sigh creeps its way up my throat, knowing that this isn’t going to be good news.
Rushing into the apartment, I find Luna and Sam sitting in the living room. They both look up at me with sympathetic eyes.
“Tell me,” I demand, trying to catch my breath. “What exactly was she doing?”
“Here. I’ll show you,” Luna says, standing and dragging me over to the couch.
She channels her inner Harper by flicking her hair and laughing loudly.
Once she feels as though she’s perfected her imitation, she sits on my lap, wrapping her arm around my neck and swinging her legs across my knees.
She touches my chest, then slides her hand down to rest on my inner thigh, pulling herself closer to my body, and then places her head on my shoulder. I can’t handle this.
“Ok, I think I get it.” I push Luna off my knee and onto the couch.
The disappointment, hurt and rage start to bubble up to the surface.
Luna can’t judge anyone for acting inappropriately.
She’s with Gaia and still hangs off Sam like he’s her boyfriend.
Who is she to scrutinise and belittle what Brooks and I have?
She didn’t feel what I felt when he held me.
“So, basically, you’re telling me that they were acting like you and Sam do?” I snap, my burning hot cheeks no doubt revealing my irritation.
“No, nothing like me and Sam. For one, we have never fucked, we are not exes, and our relationship has never been and will never be sexual,” Luna snaps back, as she counts on her fingers with each point.
I can tell I’ve hit a nerve as she launches into defence mode.
“And lastly, I’ve never had my hand that close to his dick. ”
Sam brings his hand to his chest, pretending he’s been stabbed in the heart, wounded by Luna’s words. She laughs and throws a cushion across the room towards him. It hits him in the head and drops to the floor.
I can’t believe they’re making jokes right now. I exhale in frustration, catching her attention. She takes in my current mood and registers that I, unlike them, do not find this situation funny.
“Look, all I can tell you is what I saw. You’re going to have to talk to him if you want to know how he feels.”
“I will,” I bark, suddenly exhausted. I stomp off to my bedroom and close the door behind me.
I must look like a child throwing a tantrum at my mother in the grocery store, but I can’t help it.
Luna knows how much Brooks means to me, and in one afternoon, she’s ruined it.
I sit on my bed in a huff, sliding my shoes off my feet, when my phone pings.
I toss my phone behind me and throw myself backwards on the bed. I close my eyes in an attempt to force out the negative thoughts that are triggering my heart to crack.
The loud creak of the apartment door closing wakes me from an accidental nap.
I had no intention of falling asleep, but I’m lying in the same spot on my bed with my legs hanging off the edge, and now the sky has darkened outside.
I rub my eyes and slowly sit up, reaching for my phone to check the time.
For a moment, I forget what Luna told me about Harper, and my thumb moves to message Brooks until an image of Harper with her hand on his thigh forces its way into my consciousness, and I throw my phone back down on the bed.
There’s a quiet tap on my bedroom door, and I look up as it slowly pushes open to reveal Brooks, holding two bags of what smells like Chinese food.
“Hey, everything ok?” he asks. I stand, reaching out for him, and rest my forehead on his chest. He drops the bags on the bed and moves his hand to the side of my face, pulling it closer to his.
My body responds, and I lose any conviction I had to be wounded or angry.
His tongue pushes past my lips as he wraps his other arm tightly around me.
“I missed you today,” he says, pulling away from the kiss but leaving his mouth near mine so I can feel his breath on my lips as he talks.
“I missed you too. What did you get up to?” I ask, hopeful that he will tell me about Harper so I don’t have to find the courage to introduce the subject.
“Just watched the game,” he replies with a shrug. “Are you hungry?”
He catches my free hand and holds it in his as we walk out into the living room to find Luna and Sam with Sam’s blonde roommate and his intimidatingly gorgeous girlfriend. Dropping my hand, Brooks makes his way into the kitchen and places the bags of food on the bench.
“Hey, Abi, this is my roommate, Jeremy, and his girlfriend, Mai, who pretty much lives with us too.” Sam smiles with the same sympathetic look in his eyes as he had earlier.
Mai takes a step forward, her long black hair cascading down her shoulders, and wraps her arms around me. “It’s so nice to meet you. I’ve been hearing about you nonstop,” she says, stepping back to stand beside Jeremy. His eye is swollen and closed with dark bruising surrounding it.
“Well, it’s nice to hear he’s been talking about me.” I try not to gush, looking into the kitchen, hopeful that I’ll make eye contact with Brooks, but he doesn’t look up.
“Yeah, we can’t get him to shut up about you,” Jeremy laughs, elbowing Sam in the ribs. Sam’s face turns a light shade of pink, though I’m not quite sure why he’d feel embarrassed if Brooks were talking about me.
“How’s your eye?” Luna asks, screwing up her nose as she looks at Jeremy.
“It was so worth it,” he says with a chuckle, and Mai rolls her eyes. “Anyway, we’d better get going. It was nice to meet you, Abi. Sam, have a killer night.” He reaches for Sam’s hand, and they exchange a masculine-looking handshake. “Brooks, are you coming or are you hanging with Sam?”
“I’ll catch up with you later.”
Luna cocks an eyebrow and purses her lips, and I silently plead with her not to say a word. She rolls her eyes and raises her hands in defeat as Mai and Jeremy leave, closing the door behind them.
“Here, let me help you,” I say, walking towards Brooks and taking the plates from his hands to place them on the bench. Luna sits on a stool at the bench next to Sam while Brooks and I remain standing opposite them.
“Thanks for dinner. This all looks amazing,” I say, picking up my fork.
“So, tell me, Brooks,” Luna begins, the sound of her voice causing my fork to drop from my hands and clatter onto the plate. “I’m interested. When did you exactly stop hooking up with Harper?”
I beg her to stop with my eyes, but she’s either ignoring or not registering my pleas.
“I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” Brooks replies, rubbing the back of his head uncomfortably.
Luna has turned the atmosphere sour within seconds.
I’m used to her being protective, but I was hoping to learn a little more about Brooks’ complicated relationship with Harper and what happened today from him, not from her interrogating him.
The awkward silence is broken when a loud ringing cuts through the air, and I look in the direction of the sound.
Brooks reaches into his pocket, retrieves his phone and angles the screen away from me.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” he excuses himself, kissing me on the top of my head and heading to the front door, going out into the courtyard. I look up at Luna, who is watching suspiciously. I wish she wasn’t here. She’s ruining everything.
“Was that necessary?” I ask.
“You can ignore the fact that your man out there is a whore all you want, but someone has to have your back.”
I turn around, peering out the kitchen window, to see where Brooks is.
He’s still outside with his back to us, one hand holding his phone to his ear and the other resting on the top of his head.
He begins pacing back and forth in front of the window and appears to be speaking heatedly into the phone, gesturing with his hands in frustration.
He takes the phone away from his ear and presses the screen, ending the call.
“Fuck!” Brooks’ loud outburst causes Luna to jump. Brooks drops his phone back into his pocket and runs his hands through his hair.
“Sorry about that,” Brooks says as he walks through the door and rejoins us. I watch him, expecting him to tell me what the call was about, but he picks up his fork and begins to eat as if it never happened.
After a quiet dinner, Sam and Luna sit on the couch to watch a movie. I take everyone’s plates to the sink and walk to my room with Brooks following behind me.
“So,” I say, taking a seat on the end of my bed.
“So,” Brooks repeats with an amused crease in his brow. He leans down towards me, hovering his face above mine. I pull away, knowing that if I let his lips touch mine, we will never talk about what happened today.
“What’s up?” Brooks asks with a disappointed sigh and takes a seat next to me on the bed.
“What did you do today?” I ask again, providing him the chance to tell me everything.
“We watched the game,” he replies, repeating his previous answer. This time, he says it slowly, cautiously.
“And Harper was there,” I continue, raising my eyebrows slightly.
“And Harper was there with Sam and Luna.”
“I know you said she’s your friend, but from what I heard, you were both acting very much… not just like friends.” I hesitate, not wanting to say the wrong thing.
“Is that what Luna told you?” He rolls his eyes.
I wish we could skip this part, that he would just apologise, so I can be lying in bed snuggled up to his chest as he holds me and tells me everything is going to be alright.
“I had Sam, Luna and Harper over to watch the game. Everyone was having a good time until your friend in there started giving me shit.”
“I’m only saying what she told me.”
“I thought you knew what this was.” His thigh lightly grazes mine, and my breathing quickens involuntarily the second we touch.
“How would you feel if I slept with someone else?” I ask, not convinced I’m ready to hear his answer.
“You can do whatever you want,” he says dismissively.
My heart drops into my stomach. He places his hand on my knee and gives it a soft squeeze.
If I tell him that I don’t want him seeing Harper anymore, I risk him pulling away and losing him forever.
I’m not ready to not have his hand on my knee, to feel the cold vacant space that he’ll leave behind.
“Look, I’m sorry if my friendship with Harper upsets you.” He watches me for a moment, not saying anything.
A wave of panic washes over me, and I hold my breath. I can’t not be with him. I open my mouth to say the words while my heart is warning me to stop.
“I guess I could give this a go,” he says simply, motioning his hand back and forth between us. “I’ve never done this one girl thing, so you’re going to have to be patient.” He rubs his hand upwards towards my thigh.
“I can be patient,” I say quickly, before his touch causes me to lose all self-control. He looks down at his hand, and I let out a gasp as he draws circles on my inner thigh. My breathing becomes heavy as my panties grow wet. A devious smile quirks his lips.
“If this is going to work, you have to tell Luna to back off,” he says bluntly, his smile fading. He’s right. All of our problems aren’t just Harper. They’re Luna, too, stirring the pot as always.
“I’ll talk to her.”
“I’m in this with you. Not her.” His eyes burn into me.
I nod feverishly. “Now, stop talking and kiss me.” He shoots me that sexy, sly smile that I’ve come to love, and I obey, bringing my lips to his.
He reaches with his free hand to cup the side of my face.
I can’t wait any longer. I take hold of his t-shirt, pulling him closer as I climb onto his lap.