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“You won’t even let me say two words to you,” he says, frustratedly, running his hands through his hair.

“I told you! I don’t need you to say anything. I know what happened,” I say, crossing my arms. “There is nothing you can say that would make me want to listen to you.”

“Brooke…”

“She said no, Hayle.”

Chapter Twenty One

Grant

“I don’t think she needs you to speak for her, Anders.” He puffs out his chest, stepping slightly in front of Brooke, and I immediately see her eyes narrow in anger.

I smirk because my girls got fire and I’m here for it, but I will not keep letting this asshole get to her when she’s made it clear she wants him to leave her alone. It’s time I get the message across. “I’m not speaking for her, dipshit. I’m repeating what she said.” Shaking my head at him and notice Brooke bite her lip and look away, trying not to laugh at me, calling him a dipshit. “Try listening to her.”

“Quit telling me what to do.” He steps closer, sounding more like an angry child than a twenty-one-year-old man.

Brooke is shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot behind him. If she weren’t here, I would push his buttons and maybe get him to snap, but I don't want her to think I'm like that and want to spend time with her today.

“Carmichael,” I call over to his baseball buddies as they square up to Josh. “Come get your boy. He’s bothering me.”

Luckily for me, Flynn Carmichael and I are cool, and he swiftly comes over and puts a hand on Josh’s shoulder to ease him back into their group without too much drama.

“You’re going to regret that, Anders,” he shouts one last parting shot, not wanting to piss off his captain by starting a fight.

“Good to see you, Jim,” I call, giving him the middle finger.

“Saving me that time, huh?” Brooke asks with a slight smirk, arching an eyebrow at me as she steps closer, drawing my attention back to her.

“The least I could do for making you wait.” I grin as I turn to her and take her in. Her hair is loose and wavy, she's hardly got any makeup on, and she looks beautiful wearing casual jean shorts and a white long-sleeved shirt. I also notice she’s barefoot.

“Huh? So not only can I not handle myself, but I was waiting around for you.” She shakes her head, rolling her eyes and looking away from me.

“Of course you were.” I shrug. “These parties are way more fun with me around.” I thought I would earn another flirty smile, but she frowns instead.

“I made some friends,” she says, biting her lip nervously.

“That’s great, Brooke.” I smile down at her. “I know them?”

“No!” her voice rises as her eyes widen, and I frown“, uhh no, you don’t, but I’m going to get back to them; you don’t mind, right?” She motions behind her to the pool house, where I’m guessing she’s been hanging out.

Bear and Adam said they had lost track of her, and when I asked if they looked, they both hit each other over the back of the head like it was obvious the other should have done it.

“Oh, okay.” I’m trying to play it cool, but I thought we would spend the party together once I got here. Also, who are these friends? Are they guys? Is she interested in another guy, and she doesn't know how to tell me? “Come find me if you need anything,” I offer lamely, not sure what else to say.

“Sure.” She smiles, and I watch her walk away, hips swaying enticingly, and I wish I could walk up behind her and convince her to change her mind and spend the party with me, but I won't because she's finally finding her feet, and I don't want to ruin that for her.

“Come find me if you need anything,” Bear whispers next to my ear, appearing out of nowhere. I groan that they had turned up at the worst time, knowing it sounded lame.

“Yeah, you need anything…. come find me,” Adam joins in, chuckling.

“Ha, ha, ha, now come play beer pong with me, you idiots.” I punched both of them in the arm. “I need to catch up.”

We walk past the baseball boys who nod at us, and I glare at Hayle, silently giving him another warning.

Two hours later, I’m still in a funk. After we finished playing beer pong, we joined a poker game inside, where Adam ended up cleaning the floor with everyone. It’s dark now as we walk out into the backyard, Edison bulbs lighting it up. It’s cold as balls, but the pool house has steam drifting out the open doors, showing it is still warm in there. We walk in, and I notice Brooke straight away at the other end of the pool. She is sitting on a sun lounger and laughing with her two new friends, who I can breathe a sigh of relief are girls.

“What’s wrong, man?” Bear asks as we sit down in pool chairs with beers in our hands. Adams somehow has found a girl in his lap already, and she's attached to his face, so he’s not currently part of our conversation.