Page 4 of My Ex-Best Friends

I stopped on the first step of the porch as I looked up and saw the three of them through the large windows that looked into the kitchen. My breath caught and I wanted to leave. They weren’t the boys I’d left. They were grown men with lives that didn’t include me. I’d been a horrible friend and I couldn’t imagine they really wanted to see me again. And then there was the fact that I was still in my wedding dress and was in ruins. I couldn’t show up like I was.

I turned and made it three steps down the walkway before I heard the door swing open and Logan’s deep voice. “Wow. You ran faster than I thought you would this time, little bunny.”

I froze and forced myself to turn around. He looked even sexier in the dim porch light with his hair wet from a shower. He’d changed into a pair of gray sweats and a simple black t-shirt and I wanted to cry. “I wasn’t running. I was just going to… I was…”

Noah Carter appeared at Logan’s side. “Just come inside, Brooke. You look like you need a stiff drink and a shower.”

I bravely held up the bottle of tequila I’d brought with me. “I’ll supply the stiff drink if you guys can provide the shower.”

When I got closer, I saw that Noah had changed just as much as Logan. He was taller and had filled out, his muscles straining against his t-shirt. His sandy blonde hair was trimmed and styled away from his face, so unlike the boy I’d known with theunruly hair that had always needed a cut. The deep blue eyes were the same, though. They still seemed to pierce through me.

I realized I was staring and cleared my throat. “Sorry. You guys have just changed a lot and my brain is struggling to catch up, I guess. Long day.”

Noah smiled and the dimples on either side of his mouth showed up. “This is a story I think I want to hear. It’s not every day someone shows up at our doorstep in a ruined wedding dress and hair the size of a small child.”

I groaned. “Maybe a walk into the ocean would be better.”

Logan lightly gripped my upper arm and pulled me into the house. “The tide would take you out to sea and somehow your mom and aunt would blame us. Not happening, little bunny.”

I had to walk in first because we couldn’t fit side by side in the doorway with my dress. Unfortunately, that meant I had no buffer between myself and a scowling Colton Hayes. I nearly swallowed my tongue at the sight of all his intensity turned on me. Colt had never been an easy-going guy and that’d been before I ran away and ghosted them.

“You look like shit.” He took a deep breath and then motioned for me to follow him. “Come on. You need a shower.”

I glanced back at Logan and Noah but they both just shrugged. I ripped into the bottle of tequila and took a swig before rushing to catch up with Colt. I wasn’t sure what to say to him and I wasn’t sure where to look, either. He’d turned into a fucking action hero with muscles so thick I felt like I could hang from them. I could see tattoos peeking out from under his shirt sleeves. Those were new, too. His deep brown hair was still thick and messy on top but the sides were shaved in some semblance of order. When he looked back at me to make sure I was following him, his green eyes were the same ones I remembered staring into so often.

They were all a mix of the boys I’d called my best friends and men I’d never met before. It made my heart race and butterflies go crazy in my stomach. I wasn’t sure what to say or why I was even there. They’d moved on and probably all had girlfriends or wives. The last thing they needed was a visit from me.

Colt led me upstairs and into a room that smelled like the ocean and man. It immediately did something for me and I was caught up enough that I walked right into Colt’s back. I grunted at the impact with his solid body and rubbed my chin.

“Sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.” God, I was a wreck.

“Shower’s through there. I’ll leave a change of clothes in front of the door for you.” He stepped aside and stared down at me. “If you plan on disappearing again, I expect my shit back before you go.”

I lowered my gaze to the floor and nodded. “Fair.”

He grunted. “Go on, then.”

I started into the bathroom and then froze.Shit. I wanted to cry. “Colt?”

“What?”

“I can’t get out of this dress.” I took a deep breath and squeezed my eyes shut. “I’m sorry. I just need help untying the ribbon.”

He moved behind me silently and his knuckles grazed my back as he gripped the ribbon. His warm breath brushed over my skin and left a trail of goosebumps. “Bet I’m not the guy you imagined undressing you on your wedding night, huh?”

A stab of regret and pain went through me at the anger in his voice. Even if Logan and Noah didn’t hate me, it was clear that Colt did. I wanted to say something, anything to make it better but before I could force my mouth to say the words, he was gone. My dress was loose and my skin quickly cooled from where his fingers had been.

Everything was different. I didn’t belong in their circle anymore. I’d been in that coveted spot once before and I’d thrown it all away. If I didn’t seriously need a shower and a change of clothes, I would’ve climbed out of his bathroom window and prayed for a soft landing before I jumped.

5

***Brooke***

After a scalding hot shower and a change of clothes, I felt human again. I carried the dress in my arms as I made my way down the stairs and just when I spotted Colt glaring at me from the kitchen I tripped and went down the last two steps hard. I landed on top of the dress and it softened the blow to my knees a bit but it still felt like shit. I groaned and sat back on my butt. “Worst damn day ever.”

Noah knelt in front of me and winced. “Let me see the damage.”

I kicked the stupid dress away and flipped it off before grabbing the bottom of the pants Colt had left out for me. Both the pants and the shirt were way too big but they were soft and smelled like him so I wasn’t saying anything. I pulled up the pants legs and frowned. Neither knee looked like anything had happened to it, at all.

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