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Elaine glances up from the compact she’d been staring at before blinking as her gaze lands first on her daughter and then on me. There’s the slightest furrow to her brow as she snaps the gold case shut and slips it into her purse.
Unfazed by the response, Brooke leans over and air kisses her mother’s cheeks. The older woman’s attention never deviates from me. Her stepfather rises and presses an actual kiss on Brooke’s cheek before drawing her in for a quick hug. He’s a bigger, burlier guy. Tall and broad in the shoulders. He looks like a man who would be comfortable wearing an expensive cowboy hat and five-thousand-dollar shitkickers. With an easy smile, he thrusts out his hand for me to shake.
“Garret Bollinger, and this is my wife, Elaine.”
His wife’s lips rise marginally. She looks none too pleased by my presence. But that’s tough shit for her. Little does she realize I’m here to stay.
“Crosby Rhodes. We met at the fundraiser over the weekend.”
He shakes his finger at me as recognition sets in. “Right. I remember.” He waggles the same thick digit between us. “You both attend Western, right?”
Brooke clears her throat and jumps in to answer the question. “Yes, we do.” She glances at me for a moment. “We’ve just started seeing each other.”
He grins as if that’s good news. “Well, isn’t that—”
“Inconvenient,” Elaine cuts in with a frown. Sort of. She spears her daughter with a glare. “I really wish you would have mentioned that you planned to bring a,” her gaze flickers to me, “friend.”
Brooke’s spine goes ramrod straight. “Does it matter?”
“Actually, it does. We’ve invited a guest to join us this evening. This will make it awkward.”
“Who?” Brooke’s eyes turn frosty.
Elaine doesn’t get a chance to respond before the hostess shows up with another person in tow. When my gaze crashes into Andrew’s, the smile falls clear off his face.
His brows slam together as he grinds to a halt five feet from the table. “Crosby? What are you doing here?”
When I slip an arm around Brooke and tug her to my side, his eyes flare before narrowing. Even though this isn’t how I intended for him to find out, it’s happening, and there’s nothing I can do about it.
“Wait a minute,” his hard gaze bounces between us, “you two are together?”
An uncomfortable silence falls over the table as I clear my throat. “Yeah. I’m sorry. I should have said something sooner.”
Another wave of shock crashes over his features as his mouth falls open. He drags a hand through his short blond hair before shaking his head. “So, when I asked you the other day if you were hooking up with someone, you were actually talking about my ex-girlfriend?”
A dull heat creeps up my cheeks. Not because I’m embarrassed or ashamed, but more because I don’t want her parents to know the intimate details of our relationship. It’s none of their damn business, just like it’s none of his.
“Yeah.”
He grits his teeth as his hands bunch at his sides. “How the fuck could you go after my girl?”
Brooke straightens her shoulders. “I’m not your girl and haven’t been since I broke up with you.”
A muscle tics in his jaw as Elaine shoots to her feet and slips around the table before sliding an arm around Andrew’s waist.
“I am so sorry about this.” She pats his chest. “Apparently, my daughter has yet to learn that we all make mistakes and are in need of forgiveness.”
“We’ve been through this before, Mom. He didn’t cheat just once. It was the entire time we were together.”
A wounded look flickers across Andrew’s face as he focuses on Elaine. “I didn’t realize what I had until it was gone. All I want is for her to give me another chance to prove how much I love her.”
“I know, sweetie,” she coos before glaring at Brooke. “I invited Andrew here tonight to help you two work through your issues and get back on the right track. I had no idea you were going to invite someone else.” She shakes her head. “You really should have informed me of this.”
“And you should have given me the same courtesy instead of ambushing me. I’ve told you repeatedly that I have no intention of getting back together with Andrew.” Her cool gaze flickers to her ex. “The trust between us has been broken, and you’re the one who did that. Whether you want to take responsibility for it or not. There’s no way for us to go back and rewrite the past. The only option we have is to move forward. And I will not be moving forward with you.”
Her mother’s lips flatten into a barely perceptible thin line. “Perhaps it’s time to say goodbye to your friend so the four of us can sit down and have a nice meal. I’m sure Andrew can see you back to school afterward. A little time alone would do you two some good.”
