Reece let out a frustrated sigh, shaking his head in disbelief when I looked at him again. “That woman has some nerve.”
“I just… I can’t believe she had the audacity to tap on my shoulder and try to talk to me,” I said.
As soon as the traffic light turned from red to green, Reece shifted the car back into drive and continued down the road.
“What was she thinking? That Dad didn’t tell me what happened back then? That I’d just forgive her and hear her out?” Anger poisoned my blood, but I didn’t even want to be angry. It was pointless anyway.
Reece remained silent for a moment, his grip on the steering wheel steady as he navigated the car through the streets.
After a while, he spoke, “You don't owe her anything, Brooke. Not your forgiveness, not your time, nothing. She made her choices, and now she has to live with them.”
“I know.” Hopefully, that was the first and last time I’d see her.
I tried to recite Millie and my conversation to my fiancé. Each time I made a good point, he was smiling and throwingin a sarcastic comment to strengthen my argument, even though Millie wouldn’t know about it.
I really appreciated his support.
As we were nearing the party location, Reece said something that seemed almost too comical to be true.
“You know, it’s funny how she has the same last name as Erik now. It fits, though, they are both very awful people. She could be his mother for all we know.”
24
BROOKLYN
“Istarted to think you guys weren’t coming!” Rina said as she jumped into my arms the moment I got out of the car. “You said you’d be here at eight-thirty PM, not eight-forty-five PM!”
I chuckled. “We stopped for a coffee.”
“Well, don’t ever do this to me again, Brooklyn. If anyone here finds out I’m not a St. Trewery student, they’ll eat me alive.”
Reece laughed but he stopped shortly after, probably because Rina was sending him a death glare of some sort. She had a pretty good one.
“I’ll meet you inside, okay? Gotta find a spot to park the car first,” he said.
Rina finally let go of me, so I could turn around and look at Reece when I said, “I’m not going in there without you.”
“You’re not alone.” Rina sounded offended, or as offended as Rina could get. I’d never actually witnessed anyone offend her; and if they tried to, she simply wouldn’t let them.
“Ming’s inside,” Reece added, slightly cocking his head at me.
I’d gotten better at handling crowds… but I’d never been in a crowd without Reece or my family before.
Parties scared me big time. The only birthday parties I attended were from my family—including my dad’s friends’ families.
Birthdays were much different from college parties though, so if I couldn’t even do birthdays, I wasn’t going to survive a frat party. Sure, Reece was going to find me, but who knew how long it’d take to find a parking spot? Or how long it’d take until he got through the crowd of people who’d want to chat with him or the onslaught of drunk puck bunnies who were ready to drop to their knees right in the middle of the room.
Okay, the puck bunnies weren’t actuallythatscandalous, I knew that… in theory.
“Who’s Ming?” Rina asked with curiosity, already pulling me toward the huge Delta Chi house. “Is he cute?”
“I… I don’t know. I guess?”
Rina groaned, swinging an arm around my shoulders. “Why do I even ask? Your type is Reece and Reece alone.”
“Yeah.” I looked back toward Reece, but he drove off to find a parking spot.
I couldn’t even tell him to drive safely. What if he got into an accident because I didn’t remind him? It was unlikely but possible.
