Page 97 of Broken on the Mountain
"Apparently."
The dart hits the board. Outer ring.Shit.
"And you're pissed she didn't tell you," Knox says.
Jamie's watching me with that look that makes me feel like I'm back in basic training, getting evaluated by a drill sergeant who can see every weakness I'm doing my damn best to hide.
"Oh dear. I know a fight when I see one. What happened?" he asks.
I retrieve my darts, taking my time, remembering it all. Betty hasn't left me alone all week after witnessing the way-too-public outburst we shared over breakfast on Sunday.
"I'm pissed she lied." The words rush out, desperate to escape after a week of being bottled up. "She stood there at the lookout, agreed to go to the Harvest Dance with me, knowing she'd already committed to Chicago. She let me—"
I stop.
She let me fall in love with her while planning to leave.
I don't say that part out loud.
Travis grabs another nacho, but he's not eating it. Just holding it, cheese dripping onto the plate. "Did you talk to her about it?"
"Yeah. Sunday morning, before her flight."
"And?"
"And I told her she had to choose. This or Chicago." I down half my beer in one pull. "And she chose Chicago. So here I am,mopingaround with you assholes."
The silence that follows is heavy enough to sink ships.
Then Brooke's voice slices through the tension, and all four of us practically launch ourselves into orbit.
"Are youkiddingme right now?"
I turn, heart suddenly racing from the fucking fright she just gave me.
"Brooke,fuck…"Jamie huffs, still clutching his chest. "You scared us."
She's standing at the edge of our table, still in her rescue doctor scrubs, hair pulled back in a messy bun, and she looks like she's about to murder me with her stethoscope.
Jamie stands, recovering from his mini-heartattack, dropping a kiss on her temple. "Hey, babe."
"Don't 'hey babe' me." She swats his chest, then rounds on me. "You gave her an ultimatum?"
"No." I grunt, stepping away from Brooke's advancing death stare. "I gave her a choice."
"No… you gave her anultimatum." Brooke backs me up against the wall. I swear to God her eyes are glowing red as she pulls her phone out with the kind of aggressive energy that usually precedes someone getting their ass handed to them. "AndIthought you were good for her. That you understood her. Do you have any idea how terrified she is of disappointing her parents?"
"She told me about the pressure—"
"And you responded by adding more?" Brooke's scrolling through her messages now, her jaw tight. "Real supportive, Chase. Well done."
Guilt twists in my gut, but I push it down. "She lied to me, Brooke."
"She wasscared." Brooke shoves her phone in my face. "Read."
I don't want to.
I really, really don't want to. I've been trying so damn hard to even forget that Piper exists this week. A text here and there, but not like it was.
