Page 22

Brooke

I’m having a mini freak-out.

Well, I’ve been having a mini freak out since Saturday night when Grant invited me to the pool party.

Are we going as friends, or is it a date?

I’m confused and nervous about being around him after all our flirting.

The chemistry we have isn’t disappearing soon, and I like Grant.

I'm worried I like him too much. I haven't been broken up with Josh that long; I shouldn't be feeling this way yet.

Maybe I just need to get used to discovering who I am here now.

But then Grant and I have those moments together, and my brain just forgets all that.

Maybe cancelling wouldn’t be the worst. I could get some work done on The Drop.

Coach Bennett and my professor both think that going bigger will meet the demand that has built up from the previous one.

I’m glad I had the idea only to run one a month, giving me extra time to source clothing and shoot them.

I’m going to cancel. He won’t care, anyway.

I’m sure there are loads of people he wants to see at the party, but without me holding him back, he would be stuck with me again, since I don't know anyone. Or worse, he might ditch me to talk to other girls, and that’s not fun to think about, so it would be brutal to watch in person.

My phone chimes, and I pull it out of the back pocket of my shorts. Another solid reason for cancelling: What do you wear to a pool party in the middle of October?

Grant- You’re going to kill me.

Not exactly the text I was expecting to get from him today.

Me - Depends. How have you wronged me?

Grant - I failed my communications test, so Coach has spoken to my professor. He's given as a makeup essay, but it needs to be submitted today.

A familiar feeling hits. Josh always cancelled or postponed on me, and although I had been planning to cancel, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

Inbetween all the freaking out, I had been looking forward to going, and in the back of my mind, would I have cancelled? Even knowing Grant’s reputation, he didn’t seem like the guy to let a girl down at the last minute.

Another text comes through quickly after the first one.

Grant - I’m not cancelling.

Me- sounds like you’re cancelling….

Grant- I’M NOT CANCELLING.

Me- Jeez, okay, you’re not cancelling, no need to yell.

Grant- I just need to finish the essay first, and I’ll head straight there.

Here is my opening: the feeling of disappointment, when I thought he was cancelling, was a sign that I may like him a little too much to be one of his casual hookups, so I need to pull us back to friends.

Me- you know I’ve got a few things to do for The Drop; we don’t have to go.

Grant- I knew you would say that, but don’t worry, I’ve got it covered.

Me- Huh?

As I reply, there’s a knock at the door, and I frown, heading out of my room to the door. Opening it, I discover Adam and Bear's smiling faces dressed in board shorts, and Bear has a flamingo floaty around his waist.

“Please hold.” I hold one finger up to them. Narrowing my eyes, I shut the door and got my phone back out of my pocket.

Me- You could have just said you were sending your cronies.

Grant- Sure, and give you time to turn out the lights and pretend you’re not home?

Me- I wouldn’t have done that.

I totally would have.

“Brookie,” I hear Bear whine. “It’s cold out here. Either let us in or let’s go.”

I reopened the door and put my hand on my hip sassily. “What’s the deal?” I ask, keeping my gaze narrowed. Grant must have offered them something to be on Brooke’s babysitting duty.

He thinks I haven’t noticed that this keeps happening, but when I’ve been working a little too hard on The Drop,and he’s busy, he sends the boys over to keep me company, especially if he knows Cami isn’t home.

Adam and Bear show up more than Gunnar, but I’ve heard Sasha has been giving him a hard time again about not calling enough.Poor guy.

“No deal.” Adam shrugs his shoulders. “We want you to come and hang out.”

“Yeah, Brookie, you’ve been so busy with The Drop, we miss you.” Bear smiles as I move back into the apartment to let them in.

“You know a pool party in October is a terrible idea.” I give it one last shot to get out of this. “Let’s stay here and hang.”

“Brookie.” Adam, already warned of my attempt to back out, smiles and shakes his head at me.

“I need to work on The Drop?”

This time, it’s Bear who closes his eyes and shakes his head, crossing his arms.

“We should get to know each other better?” I plead, holding my hand out toward Bear. “Like why the nickname Bear, Bear?”

They both respond at the same time.

“It’s his name.”

“It’s my name.”

“Wait, your real name is Bear?” I tilt my head at him, confused, having assumed it was his hockey nickname. “Like on your birth certificate?”

“I’m one of six boys, Brookie. My mom ran out of names when she got to me.” He smiles proudly, puffing his chest out a little. “They called me bear cub, and it stuck.”

“How are you single?” I sigh, clutching my heart, finding it the cutest thing he’s ever told me; Cami and I have both agreed that Bear is a real catch, but he doesn’t seem to date or hook up.

“You know, I don’t know, I guess…” He smiles shyly and rubs his hand on the back of his neck.

“Woah, woah, nice try.” Adam steps between us, cutting him off and points towards my room. “Grab your bag.”

I stick my tongue out at him and head back to my room to grab my bag, throwing in my towel just in case by some miracle I end up swimming, and grab my jacket off the bed. My phone chimes again.

Grant- Trouble.

“SNITCH,” I shout down the hall to Adam and hear them both laughing in response.

Taking a quick look in the mirror, I twirled my hair around my fingers and let the loose beach waves fall around my shoulders.

I’m in shorts and a long-sleeved shirt, my bikini on underneath, and I’m going to wear my cowboy boots for some extra warmth.

Heading back out to the living area. “I've got to say, I’ve never worn shorts out in October before.” I scowl at them while grabbing my boots and slipping them on.

“It’s all part of the fun, Brookie,” Adam said from behind our breakfast bar, holding up the bottle of tequila that we hid from him.

“You’re getting too good at finding that.” I roll my eyes, finishing putting on the other boot and walking towards them at the kitchen island. “I’ll have to hide it in Cami’s room next.”

“Ooh, don’t tempt me with a good time!” He waggles his eyebrows at me and passes shots to Bear and me.

I let out a surprised laugh, shaking my head, reaching for it and holding it up to meet theirs in front of us.

“To Brooke’s first college party,” Bear cheers, but before he can drink, I correct him.

“I’ve been to college parties here and at my old college,” I remind him, quirking an eyebrow.

“Not like this, B,” Adam says. “I’m wearing board shorts and Bear is wearing a parrot floaty in October.”

“You know that’s a flamingo, right?” I cut him off before he speaks again, but he just rolls his eyes at me in annoyance.

“Details.” He waves a hand like it’s unimportant. “This is your first real taste of Huntington U parties, and you’re going to have a ball.”

I clink my shot with the boys and wince, wondering what I’m about to step into, and suddenly, I’m not so hesitant to go.