Page 29 of My Ex-Best Friends

Logan sighed and looked away. “If she wants to go out with him, that’s up to her.”

“And if she wants to move out?” I prodded.

“Yeah. Sure. Whatever.”

Noah nodded. “Sure.”

I nodded, trying to be happy that I’d gotten my way. It was what I wanted, sending Brooke far, far away from us. She was dangerous. Flighty. She couldn’t be trusted and I was just looking out for us all.

24

***Brooke***

Iarrived back at Logan’s house that night and was surprised to see all three men were already sitting at the table, waiting on me. I grinned when I saw them and hurried to join them. Logan had texted me to ask if I wanted to join them all for dinner earlier in the day and I’d had a floaty feeling in my stomach ever since.

After Colt rescued me from Finn and the things that happened with Noah and Logan, I was feeling like maybe taking a chance wasn’t such a bad idea. Things were different. We were older and we all knew what we wanted. I was older and knew what I wanted. Mostly. Sure, I was scared shitless, but I knew that being around them made me happy again. Being around them made me feel safe and beautiful and like I could do things like finish the mural. It was silly, maybe, but they’d been like parts of my body growing up. Without them, something had always been missing. Important somethings.

I dropped my purse next to the island and stopped to pull my hair into a bun before sitting across from Logan. “God, this smells good. I haven’t eaten yet today. I got busy with the painting and I probably would still be there if Aunt Karlene hadn’t driven by and screamed at me.”

Noah smiled but there was a stiffness to it. “What’d she scream?”

I ignored the strange tension. “Um. Something I’m not going to repeat. It was embarrassing.”

Logan laughed. “Of course, it was.”

We passed around bowls of potatoes and gravy while Colt used a big pair of tongs to put grilled chicken breasts on our plates. Noah motioned to the salad at the middle of the table so I put some on my already full plate. It was a delicious looking spread and I was starving so I hungrily shoved a bite of everything in my mouth.

“So, you know how we were going to coach you in finding a good guy?” Noah started slowly, his fork gripped tight in his hand.

I swallowed and took a drink of water before nodding. Was this it? Were they going to tell me they were thinking the same thing I was? I didn’t need help finding good men because there were already three in front of me. “Uh huh.”

“Well…” He trailed off.

Colt growled. “We set up a date for you with a teacher at the high school. Logan and Noah know him and vouch that he’s a good guy.”

The food I’d just swallowed felt like lead in my chest. My fork slipped from my hand and banged against my plate loud enough that I flinched. Oh, god, I was an idiot.

“He’s a really nice guy.” Noah volunteered.

“Funny, too.” Logan cleared his throat. “There’s always a football game at the fair. We’ll all be playing but Billy can meet you outside of the fair.”

They’d set me up on a date. After the things that happened with Noah and Logan, they’d set me up on a date with a man named Billy. I wanted to scream. My head immediately throbbed with a headache as I stared down at my plate. The food that had looked so delicious a few minutes earlier made me want to throw up.

“Maybe he’s the-”

I cut off whatever Colt was going to say and stood up. “I’m sorry. I just remembered I have something I need to do… I can’t believe I forgot it. Just… I’ll clean up when I get back later. Thanks for dinner. And the date… I’m… I’m sure it’ll be great.”

I had to get out of there before I cried in front of them and they read through my tears that I’d been hoping to datethem. How humiliating. I was on the front porch when Noah called my name. I didn’t turn back to see what he wanted. I pretended I didn’t hear him as I hurried to my car. I hadn’t grabbed my purse and my keys were in my purse. I could feel them watching me as I stood there and I knew I couldn’t go back in to get it.

“Brooke.” Logan tried next.

I held up a hand in a wave and took off at a fast walk away from the house. My feet already hurt from standing all day but I would’ve walked over hot coals to get away from them.

I was so stupid. So incredibly stupid. Of course, they didn’t want to date me. I’d abandoned them. I’d turned into a failure and they’d turned into fully grown adults who had steady jobs and also happened to look like gods. I had nothing to offer them but sex and while it seemed they had no issue partaking in that, that was all they wanted.

I didn’t know where I was going but when I ended up outside of Aunt Karlene’s house, it felt right. She opened the door before I could knock and held open her arms for me.

“Oh, sweetie. I never said the road to happiness wouldn’t be full of potholes. Don’t you dare give up on them.” She held me tight and pulled me into her living room that also acted as her office for psychic readings. “Sit here and let me take care of you. You were right to come to me. Your mom and Jimmy are bumping uglies right now. Dakota had to go out of town to visit his mom’s sick cat so I’m free.”

---