Page 50 of My Ex-Best Friends

Growling, I cupped the back of her head to pull her closer. “No. That never happened. You never touched another man besides us.”

Smiling, she just shrugged. “Anyway. I decided I wanted to see y’all naked and I made it happen. Iaccidentallyran into the locker room when I knew you were in there alone. I was supposedly hiding out from Principal Jimmy because I wasn’t supposed to be on campus after getting suspended for that whole cupcake thing that we’re not going to talk about.”

I jolted. “Holy shit. I think everything that followed made me forget that part. You little pervert.”

Her smile was more reserved and a little sad as she continued. “I thought I was just going to see you naked and figure out what everyone was talking about. Instead… Instead, I saw the bruises. You were covered in them, Logan.”

I’d dealt with the memories of the abuse so they didn’t bother me as much anymore, but I hated the way Brooke’s eyes filled with tears as she continued. It made me want to go back and protect her from ever seeing them.

“Your back… Every part of your spine had a bruise. I’d never liked your dad and I’d known he was an asshole to you but I didn’t know he did that. I never could’ve known. You hid it so well.”

I wiped her eyes and tugged her closer. “I turned around and saw you standing there, a look of rage on your face, and then you let out this animalistic sounding scream and took off. I knew exactly where you were going.”

“I wanted to kill him.” She said it quietly but with so much ferocity that I knew she still felt that way. “I sprinted all the way to your house. I don’t even know how I got in, but suddenly I was standing in front of your parents with a baseball bat in my hands and I was screaming.”

I swallowed, an image of her in that pose still one that haunted me some nights. He could’ve snapped her neck so easily. He was a giant of a man, as big as I was as an adult, maybe bigger. I’d sprinted out of the locker room after yanking clothes on and Noah and Colt had spotted me running like the devil himself was chasing me. We’d gotten to my yard when the screaming started. Brooke, barely at my father’s shoulder, was screaming at both my parents, threatening my dad for what he’d done.

“You know, I’d never fought back before that day.” I searched her face and cupped her cheek. “He went after you, though.”

She pushed the chips out of her way and crawled into my lap, straddling me right there in broad daylight on one of the busieststreets in town. “I couldn’t understand how he would hurt someone so special. I wanted to hurt him. If he hadn’t lunged for me when he did he would’ve taken a bat to the skull in the next few seconds. You saved me, though. You shoved me out of the way and you fought him.”

It hadn’t been pretty. Colt had to pull me off of my own father in the end. That night, father dearest had packed his shit and left, never to be seen again. Mom was angry at me for running off her great love, or some shit, and life had still been hell. It hadn’t been violent, though. “I’ve thought about that day so many times over the years. You never hesitated. It didn’t matter that you were a kid still and that my dad was massive. It didn’t matter that I hadn’t explained things. You just ran into battle for me. No one had ever done that for me.”

Her head dropped to my shoulder. “And then I abandoned you.”

I stroked her back. “Do you think you had feelings for us back then?”

When she looked at me, her eyes were full of sadness and regret. “I did. I didn’t know back then, I guess. I didn’t understand it. You three were my everything. My world rose and set around you. We’d been there for each other through everything. When I went to find my deadbeat dad, you were there. When Colt’s mom died, we were right there. I think I knew when I asked you guys to take my virginity. I wanted it to be special and not a horror story like the ones I heard at school, but I think I just wanted it to be y’all. After we’d kissed, though, I couldn’t go back to pretending.”

“You went cold after that night.” I cupped her face. “Why?”

“I was scared.” She let out a broken laugh. “I’m still scared. I’ve never seen a healthy relationship in my life, Logan. I don’t know what one even looks like, much less how to be in one. And I’m skipping from beginner level to fucking expert by trying tobe with all three of you. I feel like one wrong step and I can bring the whole thing down on my head. The only thing different is that I’m not a little girl anymore. I understand what the fear means now.”

I went still. “What does the fear mean, Brooke?”

She licked her lips and took a deep breath. “It means I’ve probably always loved you.”

40

***Brooke***

Ishowed up at the diner with two things I was hoping would soften Henry. I’d framed a small painting of the diner and I’d broken into Mom’s house and stolen back the walking stick she’d stolen from Henry when I was still a kid. He’d looked for his prized possession, the walking stick he’d carved out of the tree Mom first scared him from, for years, knowing it was Mom who’d stolen it but never being able to prove it. Henry had cut the tree down as a big middle finger to Mom and she hadn’t liked that. It was time to pull out the big guns to get Henry to forgive me so I could eat out again.

As soon as I stepped into the diner, Henry was right there, frowning at me. I shoved the painting at him before he could tell me to get out. “Before you say anything, Henry, let me just say how sorry I am. Here’s a painting I did of the diner. I even painted you in the window there, see? And if that isn’t enough, look what I found.”

His eyes widened as he saw the stick. “Betty!”

“I can’t say where I found her.” I smiled. “Is this enough to get you to forgive me?”

“You? Yes. The rest of your crazy family? Not hardly.”

I hugged him. “Honestly, that’s preferable. They’re nuts.”

He grunted and pointed at the table in the back where said family was sitting and watching, scowls on their faces. “I’ll bring you an extra waffle.”

“Hey! Why’d you let them back in so fast? Did they give you bribes, too?”

“Nope. They just showed up and getting them out of here is hard as hell.” He patted my head and then walked back into the kitchen.

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