Page 37 of A Little Bit Reckless
I almost felt his body relax under my embrace, and it definitely did when Bru reached around and squeezed Wells’s shoulder.
“That was all you, dude,” Bru said. His force hit my back, and I might have been crazy, but I believed I felt his cheek touch myhead too. That or his forehead or something I didn’t know. I was too busy swaying in the forest…
I was too busy drowning in the sea.
“Yeah, but without you guys there’s no way I would have gotten this shit. No way.” The sea was suddenly pulling away. Wells’s shirt had rode up a little. It always did when he extended. A sliver of his abs disappeared when he tugged the shirt down, and he wrestled with his hair before pointing toward the kitchen. “I’m going to go make you guys an omelet or something to celebrate.”
He was always making food. He was always makingBru and Ifood. The three of us usually met in the quad, and Wells showed up with some kind of peace offering. It reminded me of when we were kids, and he used to bring me candy, sweets.
Food was definitely Wells Ambrose’s love language, and I tried not to think too hard about that. Things weren’t like old times. Wells didn’t like me.
Wells hated me. And Bru didn’t like me either. At least, not in the way I wanted him to.
Bru studied Wells’s back as Wells left the room. A deep frown was etched in Bru’s face, but it disappeared by the time he faced me. I think Bru really did like Wells, and, like me, he was fighting an attraction he couldn’t help. And I knew for a fact that Wells Ambrose wasn’t easy to love.
I knew because I once loved him.
It was a love I had to let go, of course. It was too painful to love someone when they hated you.
“I guess while he’s doing that, let’s watch something on TV,” Bru said to me, smiling. It hurt to look at his handsome smile. To have feelings for someone when they clearly were into someone else. Bru sat back down on the couch. “You thinkJeopardyis on right now?”
We used to always watch game shows together and keep our own scores. Winner would often take control of our study playlist or something equally as silly.
I so missed Bru. He was such a good friend. I always did screw up my friendships, and it was a wonder his sister was still friends with me.
“It might be.” I sat beside him but not close. It hurt to be too close to him just as much as staring at his smile. He was always using it. Great at it.
“Let’s see what we can find.” Bru draped his long arm behind me. The hairs on his arm brushed the back of my neck, and I fought the chill in my body. A chill in a great way.
He’s not into you.
He wasn’t, and it didn’t matter what he said that day at Legacy House. He’d said that he was into me, but there was someone else. Even if there wasn’t, I’d be delusional to think someone like him could actually be into me. He was perfect, and I screwed things up.
Jeopardyturned out to not be on, and Bru ended up turning the TV to some regency show. Wells had dropped eggs into a skillet by then. I could hear the sizzle coming from the kitchen and whatever he was frying up with the eggs smelled heavenly.
Wells was such a great cook, and he really didn’t need to do his thirst-trap content. His cooking skills could be respected without it.Irespected him without it.
Wrestling with my hands, I forced myself to remain focused on what was in front of me. I think Bru gave up on finding something to watch because he ended up keeping it on the regency show. The couples were dancing in fancy ballgowns. I brought my legs up on the couch. “It’d be cool to dance like that.”
“Dance like what?” Bru asked, distracted. His dark eyes were back toward the kitchen, which could kind of be seen from the living room. The only thing separating the kitchen from theliving room was the bar, and Wells was in there dancing to his own internal beat while he fried the eggs. No music was playing or anything but the stuff on TV.
It was shocking to me how I didn’t notice there was something going on between them. I mean, Isaw that now, Bru’s eyes on Wells and that… tension. My stomach tightened before I pointed to the TV. “Dance like that.”
Bru faced forward. As I suspected, he wasn’t really watching TV. His eyes narrowed on the screen. “Dance in that ballroom style, you mean?”
I wished that were the case. I shook my head. “No, I mean dance in general I guess. Dance with someone in general.”
Bru was completely focused on me at this point, and I kind of wished he’d go back to paying attention to Wells in the kitchen. His mouth parted. “You mean to tell me you’ve never danced with a partner before?”
No, not really. My face grew hot. “I mean, I’ve danced with you guys.”
“Yeah, but that was in a group,” he said, probably referring to the high school dances we all went to. His head cocked. “You’ve really never danced with someone else before? Never danced with a girl or guy?”
Did his sister count?
That wasn’t what he meant though. He meant romantically, and, when would I have had the opportunity? I was into guys, but my brother and his friends made sure any romantic prospects stayed away over the years. They were really protective over me, and, even if they weren’t, Wells’s hate for me kept guys away. I sort of got male attention from guys at other schools, but once they found out about Wells, that faded away. My track record with guys wasn’t the best.
In fact, it was terrible.
