Home > Bumbled Love(5)

Bumbled Love(5)
Author: Lila Rose

Still, friendship was good. She’d eventually forgive me for being a dick, and we’d become friends.

Yeah. Friends were what we were supposed to be.

Right?

So then why did the thought of Brooke going out and hooking up make me want to throw up?

Groaning, I slapped my forehead once again. I just had to walk out there and go with the flow. See what happened.

All right. Easy.

Stalking to the door, I opened it. “Whoa, I wouldn’t go in there for a while.”

You dickhead. Why didn’t you think of something else to say? Now they all thought I was in there crapping myself and stinking out the toilet.

Thankfully, students from the school Reagan worked at showed up and took the spotlight away from me. In the end they stayed and helped us unpack the truck before we rested for lunch and had a quick game of catch. Throughout it, I tried to talk with Brooke to settle into the start of our friendship, but she ignored me and moved away.

I was man enough to admit it hurt. Though, I couldn’t blame her.

As I tossed the ball to a kid, I asked Carter, “What do you think of Brooke?”

Carter caught the ball next and threw it back to one of the kids. “She’s nice. Funny.”

Nodding, I watched as the kid grabbed it out of the air. “Yeah.”

“Dust, don’t fuck around with her.”

Did he know something?

“I won’t. I think I hurt her feelings earlier.” My not noticing her wouldn’t have helped the situation I’d already dug myself in.

Carter stared at me like he was amazed at my stupidity. “You think?”

All right, I didn’t think it, I knew it. “Yep. She hasn’t spoken to me since. She’s good with Benjie.” I threw the ball back. But knowing she was good with Benjie wasn’t all I could think about. Even though I’d fucked up that day, she had gone with it and had taken on Benjie for me so he wouldn’t think she wasn’t there for him. Although, I would have done the same, embarrassed about the situation.

Seriously, I could still hit myself for it.

Reagan cried out one of the kids’ names, and I realized my throw had hit him in the nose and blood gushed.

Fuck.

At least he hadn’t seemed fazed by the hit, and after a little while, lunch still went ahead. We all sat at the outside table together, and my gaze kept drifting toward Brooke as she smiled and laughed with the others.

Yeah, I didn’t want her to go out drinking and hooking up because of something I’d done. But how could I stop it?

It wasn’t until we neared the end of the day, I had an idea. Tom had offered to give me a lift home, but as we got outside, I approached Brooke. “Hey, you mind dropping me home?”

She tensed. “I thought Tom was going to.”

“It’s out of his way. You’re sort of heading in that direction.”

Sighing, she asked, “How do you know I am?”

“I figured since we saw each other in that area, you were over my way.”

When Brooke winced, I regretted mentioning the day we saw each other on the street.

“Sorry, I can’t. I have things to do.”

Was that code for she had men to do?

“You can’t put it off? Benjie would love to see you.”

Her brow rose. “Isn’t he at his mother’s?”

Shit.

“Right.” I had to think of something else. “Look, I didn’t want to say anything, but I’m kind of scared of Tom knowing where I live.”

Her lips twitched when she looked away from me.

“Dustin, are you ready?” Tom called. He had a glint to his eyes, and I widened mine at Brooke while I held a finger up to Tom.

A soft laugh fell from her lips, but then she shook her head. “I can’t take the fun away from Tom, sorry. Besides, I work for the man, and if I take this away from him, he’ll make my life hell.”

I had a feeling she was right. Dammit.

Sighing, I scrubbed a hand at the back of my neck and nodded while I thought of something else to stop her going out tonight. If I asked her not to, it would make her suspicious.

“Good luck, Dustin. Tell Benjie I said hi.” Brooke turned and started for her car.

My gut gripped and I wanted to call out to her, but I couldn’t think of anything to say. I’d dug myself into this one, and I would have to deal with it.

For now.

Until we became good friends.

Then I could tell her not to go out and sleep with random people.

Right?

 

 

Chapter Three

 

 

Brooke


Tapping my pen to the notepad, I stared at Ariel and waited for her to tell me why she made an appointment with me. I waited some more as she looked around the room and drummed her fingers on the armrests of the seat.

Being the school counselor had its advantages of helping the students. It also had its disadvantages of time wasters just trying to get out of a class.

“Ariel, are you going to tell me what you needed to see me for?” When I first asked why she made the appointment, she’d said she needed to talk to me. Only she wasn’t talking to me.

She shrugged and bit at her thumbnail. “Things.”

“Great, that’s a start. What things?”

“Bell said you helped her with talking to her parents about her being knocked up. That’s really cool of you. I reckon if you hadn’t, they would have kicked her out.”

“I’m not sure they would have. Is that why you’re here? Are you pregnant, Ariel?”

“Eww, no. I’m not stupid.”

Frowning, I told her, “Ariel, are you calling your friend stupid for being pregnant? That’s not nice. Bell will need support not only from her family but her friends as well.”

She paled a little. “Shit, that was mean. I didn’t mean it. Bell’s not stupid. Accidents happen. At least she and Troy love each other.”

“Watch your language, please.”

“Shit—crap—ah, hell. Sorry, Miss Baker.”

Rubbing a hand over my mouth to hide my smile, I nodded. “That’s okay. But are you able to get to the point on why you wanted to see me?”

“Sure.”

She said nothing else and once again looked around the room.

“Ariel. None of your teachers have come to me, so I know you’re not struggling in class. Has something happened at home or within your friend group?”

“Nope, that’s all cool.”

Some days I wanted to wring their little necks when they were like this. Sighing, I dropped my notepad and pen to the desk and leaned back in the chair. If she wasn’t here to tell me something, maybe she wanted to ask for information. “Ariel. Is there something you want to know?”

Her eyes brightened. “Yes. You know how Miss Wild and Carter Anthony are living together, are they like together, together or just friends?”

Dear God. Didn’t the students have enough to deal with instead of wanting to hear all the gossip from their teachers’ lives?

“Ariel, is this really why you made an appointment to see me? To ask about a teacher’s life?”

Her cheeks pinked. “Well, you’re Miss Wild’s bestest friend. I thought you would have the inside scoop.”

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