Chapter Nineteen
Brooke
I squealed, then giggled when the frat boy picked me up over his shoulder. His bros were cheering him on, while Quinn and Riley watched from the edge of the group with disapproving looks. I was somewhere between shots five and eight, and the guy was insanely hot. Frat boys weren’t typically my type, but his muscles were a nice distraction for the night. It also helped that each time I took a shot, I was chanting ‘fuck Dom’ in my head.
“Let’s take another shot,” frat boy number two said while signaling the bartender. “Brooke, what do you want to take this time?”
Quinn stepped forward, and I waved her off. She was so sweet, but I wasn’t ready to stop yet. There wasn’t a chance in hell I’d escape this night without throwing up, but I didn’t care. Or I was too gone to care.
“Vegas bombs.” I whipped back toward my friends, my hair flowing behind me. I’m sure I was quite the sight—not sexy at all and a little possessed. “Why didn’t we just go to Vegas for the summer? None of this shit would’ve happened.”
My frat bro draped his arm over my shoulder and gave me a sleazy smirk. “If you had gone to Vegas, you wouldn’t have met us.”
“And that would’ve been such a shame,” Riley said dryly. “Last call for you, Brooke. I want to get home sometime before three tonight.”
I frowned. It couldn’t be that late already, could it?
“I think we need a new bar,” I announced after I took the shot.
The guys cheered. “Bar crawl!”
“Oh no, Cinderella. You’re going to turn back into a pumpkin if we don’t get you home soon.” Quinn grabbed my arm and tugged me away from the bar. The guys were too busy getting a second round from the bartender to realize I was gone. “Plus, you already made Caroline leave that super cute guy at the last bar. It’s time for your fun to be over for the night.”
I pouted. “Can I at least bring one of the cute bros home?”
She looked at me in a have you lost your fucking mind way. “That’s probably not a good idea. Dom would break him, and do you really want to wake up next to one of those idiots?”
I glanced over my shoulder. “But they’re so pretty.”
“That’s the beer goggles talking, honey.”
I stopped suddenly. “Wait. Did you say Caroline met someone?”
She laughed. “God, you’re slow tonight. Yeah, Liam. He’s pretty. Care won’t shut up about him. Apparently they’re already texting.”
“We should go back to that bar so she can see him,” I suddenly exclaimed.
She tugged me toward the door. “Not tonight. He’s meeting up with us on the beach tomorrow, though. You can meet him then.”
I took the bottle of water she handed me and followed behind her dutifully. “Do you think he has any cute friends?”
She stifled her laugh. “Come on. Let’s get your drunk ass home.”
I passed out in the car on the way home. The last thing I remember besides waking up and violently puking into the trash can next to my bed, was Dom carrying me to my bedroom. One of the girls must have gone inside to grab him since they couldn’t carry me up the steps.
Of course it had to be him.
Dominic Torres could take his half truth and lies and shove them up his ass.
***
The sun was an asshole. My eyeballs felt like they were melting into my face and my head held a jackhammer that wouldn’t stop. Quinn and Riley kept giving me knowing looks, which weren’t very empathetic. I was kinder to them when they were hungover. Every once in a while one of them would offer me a beer and I’d give them a go to hell look. Those bitches knew I was hurting.
It was one of the last days we would have at the beach, though, so I wasn’t willing to miss the time—hungover or not. Caroline had also introduced me to her friend, Liam. He was pretty. Quinn hadn’t been exaggerating last night. Plus, he seemed pretty taken with Care. As much as I thought men were the scum of the earth right now, I was willing to give him a shot if he made her happy.
I tugged a towel over my face and tried to take a nap, but as soon as I got comfortable ice-cold water covered my entire stomach and legs. I screeched and jumped out of my chair, making myself nauseous in the process. Josh was doubled over laughing with the bucket still in his hands. I sucked in a few deep breaths to calm my stomach.
“You are such a dick,” I said through clenched teeth.
He threw an arm over my shoulder and pulled me down, trying to noogie my head. I was going to kill him—just as soon as I knew I wasn’t going to throw up all over his feet. It would serve him right.
I shoved him off and stomped away, barely keeping the tears at bay as I did.
“Brooke,” he shouted from behind me. “It was a joke.”
I ignored him and kept walking. It didn’t take long for him to jog and catch up with me. I tried hiding my tears, but of course he caught me wiping at my face.
“B, I’m sorry. I was just kidding around.”
“It’s fine,” I mumbled. “I don’t feel good, so it pissed me off.”
He grabbed at my arm. “That’s why you’re crying? Because you’re pissed?”
I set my jaw and stared ahead of us.
“B, talk to me.”
“You don’t want me to do that, Josh.”
He tried to stop me again and this time I let him.
“My life is a fucking shit show.”
“We’re not kids anymore, Brooke. I want to know what’s going on in your life, even if it’s about my best friend.” Mercifully, he started walking again so I didn’t have to look him in the eye.
I filled my lungs with air. “Okay. Just remember, you asked for it. Your best friend is an asshole of epic proportions.” I paused, trying to gather my thoughts. “He told me he wanted us to try to figure things out, then he took his ex-girlfriend—the one he dated in the first place to make me jealous, I might add—to talk while I sat there waiting for him like an idiot.” Tears streamed down my cheeks, and it was because I really was pissed. “I went outside to sit on the deck and read—because I trusted him—and saw him kissing her. Last night I got so drunk I wanted to bring home a fraternity guy.”
Josh laughed at the way I said it. “Is that a bad thing?”
“The worst.”
I stopped and stared out into the ocean. Some days I missed being near the water so much I wanted to say fuck it and move back to North Carolina.
“I can’t trust him. And it fucking sucks, Josh. Because I really want to trust him.”
He rubbed my back softly. “He’s my best friend, but you’re my sister. I’m always going to take your side, but are you sure that’s what happened?”
I shook my head. “I couldn’t talk to him about it. Instead, I just screamed at him for always choosing everyone else over me. I wanted to be different with him. I’m so sick of being everyone’s last choice.”
Josh gave me a questioning look.
“He’s the kind of guy who has to make sure everything is perfect. You can’t be upset with him for wanting to be with me. Talia can’t be mad at him because he’s moving on. School has to come first.” I sighed. “I never really noticed it until now. He says he wants me so much, but I’m always his last choice.”
“That’s not what he does, Brooke,” he said softly. “He knows you’re okay because you’re always there with him. Dominic knows the second anything is wrong with you. Isn’t he the only one who can calm you down from one of your panic attacks?”
I couldn’t speak, couldn’t make eye contact with him because it didn’t matter what he said to defend his friend. My opinion wasn’t changing. Josh knew I was stubborn. He shouldn’t be surprised that I didn’t want to hear it when he sang Dom’s praises.
“It’s because he knows everything about you, B.”
I groaned. “Josh, if he knew everything about me, he would have made a move sooner. I’ve practically been in love with him since the first time we met. If you hadn’t run your fucking mouth about how I could never be just friends with a guy, we probably would have been together from the beginning.”
“And you probably would’ve broken up in a month. The reason you and Dom work so well together is because you took the time to get to know him.” He ran a hand down his face. “I’m sorry if I made you feel bad when I said that, but I didn’t mean anything by it. B, I just want you to be happy.”
He stared out at the tide with me. There were several families playing in the water.
“I’m going home for the rest of the summer.”
“What?”
“Mom and Dad bought me the ticket yesterday. I can’t stay here while everything is so fucking raw, Josh.”
He stepped in front of me so I had to look at him. “Are you throwing away three years of friendship for something you won’t even talk to him about? Please don’t tell me that’s what you’re doing.”
I looked away. “I just need some time.”
He ran his fingers through his hair. “I can’t believe you.” He walked a few paces away and whipped back around. “You have to tell him.”
I swallowed hard. “I can’t.”
“Damn it, Brooke. Quit running away. It doesn’t solve a fucking thing.”
I watched his retreating back for a few minutes. I wasn’t ready to join everyone and pretend I was okay, or look at my brother, so I stayed there, rooted to my spot. This summer was turning out to be one of the worst possible. The only highlight was knowing what Dom’s skin felt like against mine, which ironically was the part that hurt the worst. I wondered if I could get my parents to up the date of the ticket to tomorrow.
***
Dom stood in my doorway, watching me throw clothes into my suitcase, trying to get everything to fit like it did when we first arrived. It wasn’t working, and I was ready to scream. My emotions were like a cavity. The more you picked at it the worse it felt. I felt exposed and having Dom watch me like this wasn’t helping.
“What do you want?” I finally snapped.
“Are you ready to talk?”
“About what, Dom?”
He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. “What do you mean about what? Brooke, we haven’t spoken a word to each other in four days. I was trying to give you time to cool down. And now you’re running—sorry, leaving.”
I ignored that last part and threw one of my bathing suits down on the bed. “If I remember correctly, Dom, you didn’t have much to say to me when we last talked.”
“There’s absolutely nothing going on between me and Talia.”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course. Sure, I trust you.”
“What the—why are you acting like this?” He tried to touch my arm, but I shrugged him off.
“Don’t.” I moved to the other side of the bed so there was some space between us. Dominic’s presence was big and imposing, so it didn’t work, but it gave me a clearer head when his scent wasn’t filling my senses and making me insane. “I saw you kissing her.”
“Brooke—”
“No. I don’t want to hear your excuses or explanations. You should’ve said something the second you found me on the deck.” I rubbed a hand over my face. “We need to stop kidding ourselves. I’m sick of getting hurt and I can’t do it anymore, Dom. I told you that before, and you wore down my defenses. This time I mean it. We’re done. I can’t be your friend and feel the way I do about you. I’m leaving.”
“She kissed me.”
I closed my eyes and shook my head. “Does it really matter? There’s always going to be something that gets between us, Dom. Our timing isn’t right and we can’t force it.”
When I opened my eyes, he looked like he wanted to kiss me. Maybe shake some sense into me? God, this hurt. There came a time when self-preservation had to kick in and after three failed attempts at making something work, we were doomed. It was better just to cut off the dead limb.
“What do you mean you’re leaving?”
“I’m going home to North Carolina for the rest of the summer.”
He ran a hand down his face. “Because of me?”
I looked away. “Not just because of you.”
“Did you ever think this might actually work? What if I proved to you—”
“Aren’t you sick of the what-if’s? Everything has changed.”
He glared at me. “What I’m sick of is you running every time things get difficult. This is what you do every damned time, Brooke. You’re scared. I get that. Austin called me a coward, but seriously, you’re the one who can’t face things head-on. This thing between us could be amazing if you ever quit making excuses and just let it happen.”
“I can’t believe—”
“What? That I’m calling you out on your shit? That I’m sick of letting you get under my skin? Bye, Brooke, enjoy North Carolina.”
He slammed the door behind him, and I sank down onto the bed. I’d actually upset Dominic enough that he cussed. Twice. My hands shook as I tried to finish stuffing the remaining clothes into my suitcase. Leaving held more appeal that ever, and I couldn’t wait to escape everyone.
Caroline and her new boyfriend.
Quinn and her judgy eyes.
Riley and my asshole brother.
And most of all, Dominic Torres.