Page 31 of Fragile Heart

Jesus fuck, why the hell am I thinking about that right now?

“Bri, you came!” Camden waves at the women, and Brielle offers a small smile and wave in return.

Beau leans closer to me, dropping his voice as he says, “You should probably tell him that she’s not available.”

This time I don’t quite manage to bury the overbearing growl. Beau hesitates beside me. Emily’s conversation with her brother fades away. Even without looking toward her, I can feel her focus on me. Hudson raises a single eyebrow, his sweeping once-over seeing too much. The smirk falls away from his lips as he leans forward.

“Shut up, Beau,” he says, low enough it won’t carry beyond a few feet. Camden doesn’t even seem to notice.

Beau’s uncharacteristically obedient, dropping the entire subject between one breath and the next. Melissa pushes Brielle in front of her as they make it to our row. Her gaze catches mine, and there’s a small smile on her lips I’ve never seen before, like she knows a secret that she’s dying to share but isn’t allowed to.

Brielle settles on the bench beside Camden, and he hugs her, launching himself into her arms before she’s managed to get her small clutch tucked behind her feet. She laughs as he dumps half the bag of popcorn in her lap.

“Oops, sorry, Bri,” he says. He tips the bag more as he attempts to pick up some of the fallen pieces.

With a sigh, I grab the bag from him.

“How about I hold this for you, bud?”

He grins at me before focusing on the mess. Brielle helps him, popping a couple pieces in her mouth despite Camden’s protest. She smiles but doesn’t apologize.

“Just helping with clean-up,” she says with a smile. Camden narrows his eyes. She pops another piece in her mouth.

Camden starts to say something, but a high-pitched squeal drowns him out.

“Oh my gosh! I didn’t realize you’d be here!”

Olivia closes the gap between us, dropping into the seat beside Hudson. He wraps his arm around her, pulling her close, and then kisses the silver scar that sits nestled in the crook of hershoulder. Brielle turns, and her smile grows larger, lighting her eyes. Olivia shrugs out of Hudson’s hold.

“Olivia!” she says. The women hug each other, Camden caught on the outside. He doesn’t seem to mind, though, picking up a few more pieces of his spilled popcorn and focusing as the first event gets set in the arena.

“It’s so nice seeing you for something happy this time,” Olivia whispers. Brielle tightens her hold even as she closes her eyes, a look of pain crossing her features. “Melissa told me what happened. I’m so angry for you. But I’m happy you’re here.”

Hudson raises an eyebrow. He asks the question that’s perched on my tongue.

“You guys know each other?”

Olivia nods as she pulls away from Brielle. She grabs a small pill from her purse and nestles it under her tongue.

“Of course,” she says after a few moments, like it’s something obvious. “We spent an entire summer together when Brielle lived with Melissa while they were in school.”

What the fuck? Brielle lived here before?

The conversation beside me dies down as the rest of our group focuses on Olivia. She flushes as she realizes everyone’s paying attention to her.

“That… Oh gods. That wasn’t a secret, was it? I thought everyone knew that.” She sends a desperate look to Brielle.

Melissa cuts in. “Brielle stayed with Brandon and me the summer between freshman and sophomore year. Not a secret.” She grabs Olivia’s hand and squeezes it before turning to focus on the arena. “Just not something that’s really brought up. It was a long time ago.”

“It was.” Olivia nods. “But, gosh, it was so much fun.”

Brielle offers a smile but doesn’t say anything.

Olivia continues, “I’m sorry I haven’t seen you since you’ve moved back. I’ve been so sick, it’s been hard getting out of bed.”

I frown. Olivia’s been sick?

Hudson chuckles. “I thought we weren’t going to hard launch it.”

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