Oh, God.
He was going to die, wasn’t he?
No.
I took a deep breath, feeling my hands shake and my legs slowly losing strength.
Reece was going to be alright, and I could go into Delta Chi without having a panic attack.
It was a stupid party with people my age—some a bitolder, some a bit younger—who just wanted to have some fun. We, okay,theywere here to get drunk, or smoke weed, or find someone to fuck, no biggie.
No one was looking at me. No one was interested in me. No one was judging me.
And Reece was going to be alright.
“Yo! Brooke!” someone screamed over the loud music as Rina and I entered what looked to me like a living room. A big one at that.
I looked around the room, trying to locate that voice.
The living room was surprisingly underwhelming. For its size, I expected fancy furniture and expensive artwork, but it was all so bland.
They didn’t even have a fireplace, but then again, perhaps it was a bad idea to give a bunch of eighteen to twenty-something-year-olds a fireplace.
“Who’s that?” Rina pointed across the room at a guy with black hair who was waving his entire arm back and forth to make himself noticeable.
“Oh… that’s Ming.”
“That’sMing?” Her eyes widened drastically. “Man, I thought you and Reece could pull some strings for me and hook me up with his friend so I didn’t have to flirt with tons of guys tonight… but that guy’s a virgin.”
“What’s wrong with being a virgin?” I asked, genuinely curious.
“Nothing, per se, but did you ever—wait, no, you didn’t. Honestly, I’m not even sure why I thought you and Reece could be my wingman and woman. You guys don’t even know what flirting is.”
I stopped walking in the middle of dancing bodies just to look at my best friend—lips parted and eyebrows raised at her obvious attack.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I spoke over the loud music.
Rina laughed but I couldn’t hear the sound of it as the music was swallowing it entirely. She leaned into me to make it easier to hear her. “It really shouldn’t offend you. You chose one dick and decided that’s it for the rest of your life. That’s one guy you ever kissed. One guy youflirtedwith. And I bet you didn’t even flirt with each other until you were like sixteen. You just dated at some point. You don’t know the dating struggle.”
My eyes rolled as I stormed past Rina and made my way over to Ming.
She wasn’t wrong, I knew that, but it sure sounded like she was judging me for the choices I had made.
Why was everyone so annoyed by Reece and my relationship? How was it any of their problems?
Fynn was constantly making fun of Reece for only ever having dated me. He’d been trying to stir up drama in our relationship for no goddamn reason, and I bet he aimed to break us up.
I had no idea why he even cared in the first place.
Even if he had a thing for me—which I doubted—that still didn’t guarantee I was going to start shit with the guy. The way he was behaving, that was an instant no. And I wasn’t one to fuck my ex’s best friend.
Then again, I never even—shutup, Brooke. Don’t let other people get inside your head.
“Where’s Reece?” Ming asked as soon as I reached him. He pushed a red plastic cup into my hand or tried to anyway.
The only guy I trusted to get me a drink was my fiancé. Plus, I wasn’t even allowed to drink tonight.
“Parking the car,” I replied.
