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“I remember he proposed to you at a basketball game.”I almost felt bad for Brooke, because she only went to that game because Max insisted and she didn’t have the heart to say no.
“He thought it was romantic, and still to this day, I refuse to have him think anything different.I told him I loved his thoughtful proposal and meant it, but I do wish he would’ve done something I liked instead that night.Well, afterward we did do something I liked very much.”She got a naughty look and started to blush.
“I’m gonna pass on all the dirty deets for now, ‘cause just no.”I shook my head willing the thought away.
Brooke gasped and threw down the dish towel.“I have a brilliant idea!”she proclaimed.
“Oh, no,” I said.“Every time you have a ‘brilliant idea’ it’s a disaster.”
“But before it turns in to a disaster, we have a blast and you know it.”
Honestly, I couldn’t argue that point.She did have some crazy ideas, but it was never a dull moment.Except for that one time in college when I woke up with the worst hangover ever the night before my British Literature exam.My professor made me take off my sunglasses and sat me by the window where the sun was streaming in, brighter than usual if you asked me, just to prove a point.Man, I hated that asshole, Mr.Leeworth.Although, in retrospective, maybe I shouldn’t have been partying until 3 a.m.the morning of his exam.I smiled at Brooke, ready for whatever she had coming.“What do you have in mind?”I pulled off my gloves and dropped them on the counter beside the sink for later, then put my hair up in a neat ponytail to get the brown waves off the back of my neck.My tresses still falling in my face, though.
Brooke replied, “I say, you, me, and Rach hit the town, we can go to our old hangout.”
“M2?”I asked, getting all excited again like I was a teenager or sorority girl.But I couldn’t help it, M2 held some of the best memories for me.
She nodded.“The very one.”
“Wait,” I began, “Rach is in Miami?Since when?”I lost touch with Rachel after I left for New York.We had just graduated college, I took a job as a copywriter for a magazine in New York, Brooke stayed in Miami because she had just met Max and wanted to see where things were going.He had two more years left with the Army, but then he was done, and Brooke really liked him.Then, there was Rachel, who decided to follow in her dad’s footsteps and become an attorney.Her dad was a Harvard alum, so Rachel applied and got in, which was only natural because she was a mega genius, then off she went.
“About three years ago, actually.Her dad made her Junior Partner at the firm just last year.We have lunch together once a month to get together and catch up.It’s a date we never miss, and, yeah, I just thought it would be nice to get the three amigos back together.”
“Duh, what are we waiting for then?Let’s go.”Some of Brooke’s ideas were bonkers, but this one was one I could get on board with.I actually sort of missed Rachel and would love the opportunity to catch up with her.We were such good friends the three of us and it’d be nice to reconnect with more people in Miami while I was here.I heard a phone ring and looked around, wondering where it was coming from until Brooke handed me my phone from the table.“Here you go,” she offered.
When I saw the name on the caller ID I almost dropped it like it was on fire and I couldn’t stand to be burnt by it.“Excuse me,” I said and stepped outside, far out of the range of Brooke or Max.Neither one of them needed to be wrapped up in my affairs with Nick.Frankly, I didn’t need to be pulled in from the current of Nick’s bullshit choices.But here we are.I made my bed and now I have to lie in it.
I tried to phony it up again, “Nick, baby, what’s going on?”
“I wanted to check on you, see how you were doing.You didn’t call me when you got there.”
I huffed.“No need to check on me.I’m okay.It’s late, though.You still at the office?”I asked, already knowing the answer.
Nick confirmed my suspicions.“Listen, I’m not just calling to check in on you, I—”
I cut him off, “I know what you’re going to say and I agree.Something’s been off for a while now, really.You’re so busy with work, and I’m just getting my career off the ground.I think we should go our separate ways.”My hand was shaking profusely and my legs becoming jelly.I knew what I just did was only going to aggravate him, but I didn’t have another choice.I couldn’t keep pretending.I wanted to move on.
“Damn it, Scar.It’s too complicated now.Rafe’s not happy that you know about our venture.”He chose his words carefully it seemed.
Then maybe you shouldn’t be having business calls in the middle of our place.“What do you want from me?I’m not going to tell anyone.You know me better than that, Nick.I just want to move on.I’m not looking for any trouble.”
I heard him blow out a large breath and could tell he was getting annoyed.Frustrated, I could hear the tone of his voice change and imagined him gritting his teeth.“Scar, this isn’t over.You’re a liability.If you so much as say one word about what you heard, I’ll be forced to—”
Before he could finish, I reassured him, “I won’t.Believe me.No one will ever hear it from me.”
He didn’t even answer me, just hung up.My head was spinning from his call and I was a bundle of nerves.This wasn’t over.Far from it.I knew Nick, but more so, I knew the control Rafe had over him, and Rafe had never been a good guy.He gave Nick his first job on Wall Street, though, and Nick was eternally grateful.He would do anything for that man, even something illegal.I stuck around too long and now this was what I got.
I took a minute and sat down on the stoop of Brooke and Max’s house just praying that I got a miracle and Nick really did let this one go.Although, I knew Nick too well and he was like a dog with a bone.And anything that threatened his well thought out life plan was a liability, as he pointed out I was.He knew I was in Miami, so it wasn’t like I was hiding or anything.The only thing was for how long was I going to be able to stay here without trouble finding me?Rafe was resourceful and knew how to get rid of the problems in his life discreetly.If Nick couldn’t talk him down, then Rafe was bound to see me as a problem and want to get rid of me.
The door opened behind me and I quickly got up to find Max in the doorway.“Brooke told me to tell you she has something you could wear to the club.”
I nodded and made myself smile so he didn’t think anything was wrong.While he may have been highly trained and could usually tell when something was up, he’d been a civilian for years now and wasn’t on high alert like that anymore.Plus, he was so wrapped up in his basketball game, he had one foot in and one foot out the door.He wasn’t really looking to stick around and study my facial expressions.“Thanks, Max.”He left the door open and I slipped in behind him.
I shook off the call from Nick and decided to just enjoy my night and stop worrying.“Brooke, it better be good,” I shouted from the bottom of the staircase.
She yelled back, “Oh, it is!”
By the time I got up to her bedroom it was like a tornado had hit the place.“I could just go home and change into something of my own, really.”
