AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Agree. I like it when you stay home and knit,” I say, grinning at her. “Can’t you just do that tonight?”
“Nope, because I already finished my sister’s hat the other day. I promise, if I need you…I’ll call! This is just something I feel like I should do.”
They whisper a little longer before, finally, she takes off outside, and he smacks the wall next to the door when it closes.
“Fuck!” he yells. “I don’t want her there, man. Not one fucking bit.”
Smirking, I shrug. “So, give her a little time to hang out with her friend, and then we’ll head out.”
“What? And show up there?”
“Hell yes.” I nod. “I don’t want my Tater Tot with those creeps either.”
For the frat boys’ sake, they’d better be on their best behavior tonight. I’m already on edge about Bria. It would make me feel delighted to pound one of their faces in.
I might have made a pact on no fighting, but that was before Bria took off and left me, pretending like she was fine when she wasn’t.
Bria
Flipping from side to side, I growl into my pillow with frustration. I’m tired, but my mind won’t shut off. And I’m ready to go to sleep, except my body won’t allow it. It’s just stuck, thinking about Brody. Wondering what he’s doing or if he has any of the same feelings I do. And praying he isn’t off with some other girl, making her laugh or kissing her lips.
The last thing I want to do is ditch him just because our friendship is getting too complicated. I already know he has abandonment issues; it wasn’t hard to see that the morning he showed up after I ignored him the night before. But it’s slowly killing me inside to hide my feelings. I want to touch him. Kiss him. I want him to be mine, more than just this friendship we have.
I know he has issues. And it’s clear that he has some deep-rooted anger. But I’m not scared of him. With me, he’s a gentle giant.
A ping on the window startles me, and I wait before getting out of bed in case I imagined it. But when it happens again, I know I heard it right.
Sitting up, I roll to the side of the bed and drag myself out from the covers. I peek out the window just enough so that I won’t be seen, and there stands Brody.
Pushing the glass upward, I sigh. “What are you doing here? It’s eleven o’clock at night.”
He drags his hands over his buzzed hair. “I fucked up, Bria. I…I broke our pact.”
My heart sinks, and I immediately feel sick.He hooked up with someone else. Hell, it could have been my neighbor. I suppose it was only a matter of time.
“Oh,” is all I say, feeling my throat tighten. “That’s okay. I mean…it happens.”
“I had no choice. This frat dude”—he grimaces—“one I thought was a decent guy, he, uh…he attacked Tate. I had to teach him a lesson, Bria. You…you should have seen Tate’s face when she was running away from him.”
Feeling my stomach turn for this poor girl I’ve never met, I wave my hand. “Come inside. I’ll meet you downstairs.”
Closing the window, I quickly beeline it out of my room and down the stairs. Pulling the door open, I gasp when I see his knuckles and the blood all over his shirt. My eyes widen as I stare his chest.
“Are you okay?” I whisper, pulling him inside by his hand.
“It ain’t my blood, babe,” he mutters. “I know we had a deal. I just—”
“No! No, Brody. Don’t apologize. When it comes to doing the right thing, this was it. I’d say there’s a special clause in our invisible contract that says that too.” Pushing him down on the couch, I rush to the kitchen and wet a paper towel and grab some rubbing alcohol for his knuckles.
Sitting next to him, as close as I can get, I dab the paper towel on the open cuts. I expect him to hiss or wince. But he doesn’t. Instead, he shows no emotion. Nor does he look like he’s in any kind of physical pain.
“Is Tate okay?” I ask him, examining his hand further.
“Link’s with her now,” he utters. “He didn’t want her to go to that party to begin with. Neither of us did.”
“Did he…the frat guy…” I stop, swallowing. “You know?”
“Rape her?” he says quickly before shaking his head. “No. She punched him and got away before anything like that could happen.”
