Page 49

Brooke

It's been three weeks since New Year's, and Cami has barely spoken to me.

She never seems to be at the apartment when I am, and all my efforts to apologise are rebuffed when we are together.

I'm starting to give up hope. Bear and Adam have been going back and forth, trying not to take sides, but Gunnar is firmly in camp Cami.

Can't say it doesn't sting a little, but then again, he didn't know about Grant and me either, so I guess he's equally hurt.

And Grant.

That's a whole other problem, apart from the texts I sent that went unanswered. He finally texted me back to say he got the message on New Year's, and when I replied, I wanted to explain myself, but I received his last text before he blocked me.

Grant- I'm not having fun anymore, Brooke. I need to focus on hockey and ignore distractions from now on.

I guess I had thought he would be mad for a day and come over, we would talk it through, and I would explain myself better, but I guess he must have realised that I'm not what he wanted after all, and hockey was still his priority.

I've been focusing on the January drop and studying, but everything feels off now.

My drive is gone. I'm sitting at the library trying to edit The Drop, and the pictures aren't right; the clothes just don't feel special, and I must have had an off day shooting them.

Putting my head in my hands, I blow out the breath of air I've been holding, trying to think, picking up my phone in defeat and checking the hockey game I've been keeping an eye on since I sat down.

I know Cami is there because I saw her leave with her jersey on. They're down by two with minutes to go.

"Hey, Brooke." I look up and see Savannah standing by my table, holding a pile of books. I hadn't even noticed her come over.

"Hey." I smile, genuinely happy to see her. We had hung out here and there for study sessions, but I hadn't messaged her since before Christmas.

"You, okay?" she asks, sitting down opposite me and placing her bag and books on top of the table.

"Eh, kind of trying to work on The Drop, and I'm not feeling it." I sigh, shutting my laptop, feeling frustrated that it's never been this hard before. The Drop flows out of me so easily, and I enjoy the process, so feeling so stuck in the mud with it is killing me.

"I always find if you're stuck with something, take a break and come back to it later."

"Yeah," I say, closing my laptop. "That's literally where my brain's at."

"Perfect timing, the girls and I are heading to the bar for drinks. Come with?" She slaps her hand on the table and stands.

"I don't know. I was just going to head home." Shrugging, I stand with her, putting my stuff in my bag. "Grab some ice cream and think."

"No," she states, flicking her long hair behind her and linking her arm with mine. "We haven't hung out since before Christmas, and you look like you need a drink and good old girl time."

I shake my head as she leads us out into the cold, and I'm about to protest again when she puts the puppy dog's eyes on me.

"Please," she begs, and I laugh. It's not the worst idea to get out of the apartment; I've only left for classes and to thrift some more of The Drop before hiding out on the sofa, waiting for Cami to come home and hoping she speaks to me.

Wow, that sounds pathetic.

"Okay, let me drop this off at home first." I lift my bag.

"Yes! I'll drive."

We get in her car, and after a quick stop at the apartment, I change into a sweater dress and knee-high boots because Savannah's vibe is a lot more dressed up than the hoodie and yoga pants I've been living in.

I'm feeling like my old self pre-New Year's Eve evening as I get back in the car, tying my hair up in a messy high pony.

"Ooh, I love that outfit," Savannah gushes as we pull onto the road, waving her hand at me. "You're so annoying, you always look amazing."

I laugh her off, but I am secretly grateful for the boost I need, having not been out properly in 2 weeks.

We listen to some music and sing along before we get to the bar. It's so busy that we have to muscle our way through, and I spot Megan with some other girls I haven't met before.

"Girls, meet Brooke," Savannah announces, holding her hands out like I'm part of her magic act, making me laugh as Megan pulls me in for a hug and hands me a cup of the mixer on the table before adding. "She's the boss babe behind The Drop."

"Wow, that's not embarrassing at all." I laugh at her and wave awkwardly at the other girls.

"Oh my God, no! Own that, please, we love The Drop!" one girl gushes at me. "I can never get anything that sells so quickly."

We chat about school and fashion trends, as half the girls are majoring in it, when a cheer goes up at the front of the bar. We all turn as some of the hockey team pour in, most with their heads down. I hadn't checked the score again, but I'm guessing they lost.

"Going to go say hi?" Savannah nudges me, looking towards the team; she knows I'm close with all of them, so she's probably confused why I didn't head straight over.

"Um, no, I'm kind of staying away for a bit." I smile tightly, and she gets the message and wraps an arm through mine.

"Want to talk about it?" she squeezes my arm before refilling our drinks, and I decide to tell her because being the only person with the complete picture is useless when everyone else won't hear you out.

"Then he told me he wasn't having fun anymore, and he needed to focus on hockey, and that's it. He's not speaking to me, and Cami won't even look at me," I finish sighing as I take a sip of my drink.

"Oh, Brooke," she wraps me in a hug, and I feel like I could cry because I have finally said the whole thing out loud. Someone had listened, and it didn't sound as messed up as I had made it in my head. It was just complicated, "so you haven't spoken to him at all?"

"Nope." I pop the p and shake my head. "Or Cami, I've just been a hermit," I snort.

She laughs along with me before pulling me into her side, "You can always call me, or no, that's stupid, I can call you, I should call you!" I hug her back because it's not always as easy as reaching out when I feel crummy.

"That means a lot, Savannah, thank you" My eyes are watery, and I try to blink them back because I've had a drink and I'm all emotional.

"We're friends. Call me Sav.”She winks and knocks her drink against mine a little too hard, and we spill some on the floor, before I get a chance to grab napkins to clear it up, I hear a whine behind me, "Brookie."

Turning to find Adam and Bear carrying a pitcher of beer and another cooler.

"Boys!" I throw my hands up and hug them both. I've barely seen them. Between hockey and keeping the peace, it doesn't leave much hang time for us.

"We've missed you," Adam says, swaying with me in his arms. "Sorry, it's been tense lately."

Bear rubs my head, and I throw his hand off. "But we brought a peace offering."

He extends the cooler, and Megan grabs it. "You're forgiven," she says over my shoulder and smiles at me before handing me a cup.

"Hmmm, I was going to make you two sweat a little longer," I huff, but sip the fruity drink. "I guess I can let it slide."

A cough comes from next to me, and I turn to Savannah and smile.

"Boys, this is Savannah." I gesture to her, and my eyes narrow at Adam. "Off limits," I hiss at him as Bear introduces himself. "Ha, sure she is." Adam nudges me out of the way to talk to her, and she smiles at him as they chat.

Now I know how Cami must have felt when I met Grant. I feel like I've just fed a goat to a T. Rex.

"You know Cami's just as miserable as you," Bear nudges me.

"You think I look miserable? Gee, thanks, Bear." I nudge him back, trying to steer the conversation away from the subject. I don’t want to talk about Cami again because it will just make me sad, and that's not why I came out tonight.

He laughs and pulls me in for a hug.

"I wish I could fix this," I mutter into his side as he embraces me. "It's not like I haven't tried."

"We know, trust me; it's just that she's stubborn." He pulls back and looks down at me, and I nod in agreement before taking a long sip of my drink and sighing. "But that's part of the reason we love her, right?"

"Sure is." He smiles, winks, and squeezes my arm one more time before letting me go. I’m about to ask him about the game when I hear someone behind me. "Grant, let's dance," I bristle at his name, let alone that it's a girl saying it.

I get nudged forward, slipping on the drink I spilt and my current drink tipping down my front.

"Oops, sorry." A girl giggles. I turn, and she's reaching behind her, trying to pull someone forward. "Didn't see you."

"Sure," I bite out, shaking my wet hand out as I look back up and come face to face with Grant.

"Grant," that grating voice comes again, "you said we could hang tonight." She tugs his arm.

His eyes don't leave mine, and I can feel my face turn red out of embarrassment. Why had I ever thought I was more to him? I feel stupid.

"Yeah, Grant, why don't you go hang," Bear spits out, nudging me towards the bar. "Let's get you another drink, Brookie."

Putting my head down. I don't want to look at him again as we near the bar. Rising on my tiptoes, I tell Bear that I'm going to head to the bathroom to wash off my jumper.

Trying to wash the sticky drink off my front with paper towels is useless, so I quickly walk out into the hall, just as swiftly as I walked in. Suddenly, I run straight into a wall of muscle. Grant grabs my hips and spins me against the wall, and I gasp at the familiarity of his touch.

"What are you doing?" I whisper, looking up at him, my body betraying me and feeling a rush of excitement at being near him after so long.

"That wasn't what it looked like," he replies, gazing down at me intensely, his hands still gripping my hips.