“Hear me out.”
Brooke didn’t give me a chance to explain before following my sister.
And there was nothing left for me to do but to leave.
Chapter 22
Brooke
Tonight had gone from bad to insane. And I’d almost ended up completely alienated from the two people who meant the most to me in the world.
I’d managed to mildly repair things with Nellie, but she still didn’t believe that I wasn’t hiding anything. And why would she? I’d never had the ability to lie, especially to her. I felt like a despicable, conniving human being and could not understand how things had taken such a drastic turn.
After sitting in the Fields’s kitchen talking to Nellie for at least an hour, I’d left and headed to Corbin’s to deal with him. We needed to have a discussion, which would end with us taking some time apart. I needed to regroup and have some time to contemplate things. I’d basically jumped from Chase to Corbin. Now it was time to slow things down.
My knuckles met his door, producing a firm knock. I waited a few seconds before lifting my hand to try again when it opened.
Corbin stood before me, clad in nothing but flannel pajama bottoms, naked from the waist up. My mouth went dry at the sight of his gleaming chest. He was beautiful. Even though that wasn’t usually an appropriate adjective used to describe someone masculine, it fit.
My mind went void of all the words I’d prepared during the drive over. My bravado began to slip and fall. I couldn’t do this. My breathing hitched, and my voice became caught in my throat when I tried to speak.
“Bridge.” Concern laced his voice, and worry filled his eyes as he took a step toward me. I started to retreat, but he lifted his hand and rested it on my cheek. “Please, don’t. Don’t turn away from me.”
All the emotion that had eaten at me all evening came crashing down at once, leaving me completely overwhelmed. I was angry at him for lying to me and disappointed in myself for not being honest to the one person who’d always been there when I’d needed her most. I was sad that my relationship with Nellie now hung by a thread when we’d always been super solid.
My friendship with her was the one thing I wholeheartedly believed in.
But standing before me was the man I’d grown to care deeply for, more than I thought possible. He meant so much to me, his presence in my life just as important as Nellie’s only in a different way. The conflict was too much to bear alone. I needed him. My body fell forward, and I allowed myself to collapse in his arms.
“Corbin,” I half-sobbed, half-gasped. “I need you.” My mouth met his with urgency, but his kiss seemed to match in intensity.
Once he had me inside his place, I spun us around and pushed him against the door, causing it to slam shut. I feverishly kissed his mouth and then trailed my lips down his neck. Needing more, I began to lick my way down his chest until I was on my knees in front of him. When I reached the waistband of his pants, he pulled me back up and into his arms. I’d seen evidence of his desire, so I knew he sought the same thing I did. I wanted to be as close to him as humanly possible.
We stumbled toward the living room, and when we’d made it to the back of the couch, he turned me around so that I was facing away from him—the leather sofa in front of me, the hard planes of his chest against my back. He didn’t bother removing my clothes, just lifted my skirt and pulled my panties to the side right before sliding into me.
We’d had lazy sex before, desperate sex, passionate sex, and we’d even made love in the middle of the night. But this was the first time he’d ever fucked me. Yet even as he slammed into me from behind, hitting the perfect spot only he’d managed to find, I knew this was no different than any other time we’d been together. His grip on me might’ve been firm, but there was no doubt in my mind how much he cherished me.
His hips thrust forward, and I let out a pent-up groan I’d held back. The way he felt deep inside me was so delicious it should be illegal. I arched my spine and met each powerful push, knowing it wouldn’t take long to reach my goal. With him at this angle, my G-spot had started singing before he’d even found his rhythm, and now, with the momentum building, I wouldn’t be able to stop it.
“I’m going to come, Corbin. Oh, God!” My eyes squeezed shut and my toes curled.
He took one more forceful plunge forward, pushing me off the cliff of ecstasy, and by the sound of his guttural groan, I knew it had done the same to him.
* * *
After cleaning up, we sat, facing each other, on the very couch we’d just fucked against. I had no idea what had come over me, but nothing had gone as I’d planned.
“I’m not sure what to say,” I started.
“You don’t need to say anything. I’m the one who does. I have a lot of explaining to do.” Corbin scooted closer to me and took my hand in his. “I don’t think any of us expected what happened tonight, but it did. And because none of this would’ve happened had I not forced you into going with me, I’ll take the fallout. It’s not your fault.”
“What do you mean it isn’t my fault? It’s entirely my cross to bear. I lied to my best friend, and I’m fucking her brother behind her back. Plus, it’s evident your entire family wants you and Lindsey back together.”
“That’s not going to happen.” He shook his head emphatically. “Never. Even if you and I didn’t work out, I wouldn’t go back to her.”
“Okay,” I responded in an attempt to urge him to keep going.
“We were never a good fit. The only reason we ever thought we were is because of how it looked on the surface. Take anything at face value and it’ll look stellar. The truth is, we’ve never dug deeper with one another, probably because we both knew we wouldn’t be able to survive it if we did.”
I nodded but kept quiet. What he said made sense.
“As far as you lying to your best friend…you haven’t lied. You just haven’t disclosed all the details about us, but that doesn’t mean you’ve told untruths. I may be naïve, but I think your relationship can grow stronger after this. What did she do when you told her about us?” Corbin’s eyes looked full of misery.
“Tell her about us? I didn’t tell her anything!” I covered my face with my hands. “I couldn’t. It would kill her.”
“So what did you say when you went after her?”
I shrugged and then met his sincere gaze. “Nothing we haven’t already said—she’s making a bigger deal out of this than there needs to be, and how I didn’t tell her because I knew she’d overreact. She reiterated her reasons for not wanting you to be with any of her friends, but most of all, me. I apologized, we hugged it out, and that was it.”
“Why ‘most of all’ you?”
“Because I’m her best friend, and she’s worried she’ll lose me like she did when I was with Chase. She feels like you’ve always gotten everything, and I’m the one thing she can say is all hers, that you don’t have any part of. It scares her to think of coming second to you in my life.”
“Well, I can understand that.”
I covered his hand with mine on the cushion between us. “You need to fix things with her. You nearly killed her tonight.”
“That’s a tad dramatic, Bridge. But I know I do, and I will. We’ve made it through fights worse than this. We’ll be fine, don’t worry.” He kissed the tip of my nose and said, “You have the cutest nose.”
Which caused me to wrinkle it. “It’s crooked.”
“It’s perfect.”
I rolled my eyes, yet I couldn’t help but swoon on the inside.
“Now…can we talk about this date with Heather?” I tried my best to sound unaffected by the thought of him with another woman, but the truth was, it crushed me, and I refused to analyze the reasons for that at the moment.
“I didn’t go out with her, Bridge.”
I so badly wanted to believe him. “Then why did you tell Nellie you did?”
“Listen, she came to my office on Wednesday, and I was having a shitt
y day. I was disorganized, and my mind was all over the place. She was literally in my office when I came back from a meeting with my boss—a meeting that hadn’t gone over too well thanks to a member on my team completely botching a deal at the end of the quarter—so I told her whatever I could to get her to leave so I could catch up on paperwork.”
“So you haven’t met her for drinks yet?”
“Babe…I’ve been with you almost every night. When would I have had the time?”
I couldn’t argue with that, except there was one flaw to his alibi. “I wasn’t with you Wednesday night, and we barely texted each other that evening.”
“Yeah, because I was at the office until after seven, and then I took the rest of my work home to finish there. I knew you were busy, so I figured I’d take advantage of the opportunity to get caught up. That way I could have the rest of my evenings free to see you.”
Well, if he were lying, at least it was a good one.
* * *
Monday, Funday.
I made sure to get here early tonight on purpose, hoping to catch Nellie alone. Last night, Corbin had promised he would reach out to her today and apologize. I just hoped he had; that way, things could go back to the way they were. Before the fallout at dinner last night.
“Brooke.” I instantly recognized Nellie’s voice before her face came into view.
“Hey.” My voice wobbled a bit, thanks to the nerves that had set in.
“What are the specials tonight? Did they change?” The questions and her tone were normal, but something felt…off.
“Yup. Same ol’, same ol’. Just how we like it.” I giggled in an attempt to lighten things up and test the waters.
She perused the menu and debated what drink to order before finally putting it down and turning to me. “Corbin called me today. Everything’s fine,” Nellie stated. Yet everything didn’t feel fine. Either she was hiding something, or she was still pissed at me.
“Are you sure? Last night got pretty hairy.” I wanted to believe her so badly that I almost let myself, but something was still amiss. I just couldn’t put my finger on it.
“Yup. You know how siblings fight. Well, you don’t have siblings, but you’ve seen us over the years. This wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Tempers flared and things were said. Now it’s time to move past it.”
“Okay.” Even though Nellie said all the right things, I couldn’t seem to get over her mood. And as much as I wanted to accept what she was saying, I couldn’t. “I’ve got to be honest; you still seem angry.”
“Honest? You? Really, Brooke?”
“I don’t know what you mean, Nellie.”
She knew. She had totally figured it all out, and now, I was toast and left to face her all on my lonesome. I gulped in preparation of what would come next. Did I outwardly lie my ass off and deny, deny, deny? I had no clue what to do.
“Hearing that you and Corbin have been hanging out so much behind my back took me by surprise. I mean, you never mentioned that he was helping with the house renovation. And it’s a big deal because it’s not the first time you’ve been around him without telling me. I understand why you didn’t—I get that you were worried I’d freak out—but how else do you expect me to react when I find out the truth? Do you honestly think you and Corbin can do things together without me finding out? He’s my brother, Brooke. And you’re supposed to be my best friend.”
That stung, and I doubted I’d been able to hide my reaction. “I am your best friend, Nellie. Not supposed to be. I am.”
“Then act like it.”
I gripped her hand tightly in mine, as if trying to convey exactly how important she was to me. “I can’t bear to have you mad at me, Nellie. Your friendship means everything to me.”
“I know, because you mean the same to me. Let’s not fight anymore,” she suggested.
I instantly agreed, and then we hugged it out.
Mady and Julie hadn’t even shown up yet, and I was already drained and ready to go home. It was going to be a long night ahead.
Chapter 23
Corbin
With it being Friday and most of the higher-ups in a conference, a lot of the support staff had opted to take the day off, which left the atmosphere relaxed. That meant it was a good day to get caught up on work.
Except I couldn’t manage to stop daydreaming about Bridge. Everything seemed to make me think of her. The green folder on my desk reminded me of her eyes. The chocolates Emily ate while typing up my notes were the exact color of her hair. And I swear, someone walked by wearing her favorite perfume. I’d become fixated on her, and nothing was able to distract me.
So I finally decided to text her, hoping that by doing so, I’d be able to move on and concentrate on my actual job.
Me: How’s your day going so far? Thinking of you. xxx
I knew she wouldn’t answer me until her lunchbreak, so I placed my phone on my desk and tried—for the third time—to finish the profile sheet in front of me.
Less than twenty minutes later, when I heard the familiar chime of my texts, I excitedly reached for my phone, but it wasn’t from Bridge. And my excitement quickly turned to annoyance.
Nellie: Hey bro, how’s it hanging?
I groaned; this was not the distraction I was hoping for. Then again, I really shouldn’t have been looking for any distraction, but oh well. That didn’t change the fact that dealing with my sister wouldn’t help matters.
Me: Status quo. You?
Nellie: Last I checked I don’t hang, but I’m doing well. How are things going with the plan?
For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why my sister was so damn interested in my progress with Heather. I realized she’d been the one who initially roped me into it, but ultimately, the details were between Bridge and me. Aside from the fact that this whole “plan” was for her best friend, she didn’t have any part to play in it.
Me: Good. I went out with her last night and we made plans to see one another again next week.
Nellie: Have you told Brooke yet?
Me: No, I haven’t spoken to her.
Although now, I definitely planned to discuss it with Brooke, just to ensure Nellie didn’t say anything first. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but she was up to something. And I’d be damned if she tried to cause trouble between Brooke and me again.
Nellie: Have a good weekend.
Me: You too!
Usually, when Nellie contacted me, it was for a reason, one she never made me wait too long to discover. Which meant, this conversation had been nothing but a fishing expedition. She would probably text Bridge and tell her the news; if I didn’t hurry up and tell her myself, I’d be questioned the next time we spoke.
I spent the next ten minutes debating about sending Brooke a second text. She still hadn’t read the first, so I didn’t want to come across pushy or needy, worrying that might turn her off, but at the same time, I needed to say something before my sister took it upon herself to whisper in her ear about Heather.
Pushing aside my fear of annoying her, I sent one anyway.
Me: Just heard from Nell. Call or text when you get a break. I’m in my office all day.
And then I set about trying to finish my work.
Emphasis on “trying.”
It took me less than forty-five minutes to accept my utter failure, though. I’d only managed to get through the first page—out of eleven—in that time. It wouldn’t have been too bad if it weren’t the first of nine profiles I had to deal with today. At this rate, I’d be here all weekend, which couldn’t happen. Not only did I have full intentions of leaving on time today to spend the evening with Brooke, but it was also the weekend of my parents’ Easter party. They wouldn’t care if I missed it due to work, but I would. For the first time in my life, I actually found myself looking forward to one of their parties.
Realizing that I needed to get something done, I put that profile to the side and grabbed the next in the stack, hoping I’d be able to
get through this one faster and just save the other for last. But again, I stalled out before finishing. Although, I’d at least made it to the third page this time.
This profile was from a company who was in search of a way to market their products to lower-income shoppers. While their products weren’t considered high-end merchandise by any means, they were gadgets that weren’t needed—meaning, they wanted a marketing strategy to sell useless crap to people who, not only couldn’t afford it but also, didn’t need it.
Honestly, it pissed me off.
Which had been the entire reason I’d stopped going through it.
It made me think of Phyllis and the families at Brooke’s school, like the little boy’s mom who’d cried tears of sincere gratitude for the few dollars Brooke had given her. Sure, I could come up with many ways to convince them to spend fifty bucks on an air freshener that can be controlled by an app, but that would mean I’d be taking money out of their already-tight grocery budget or gas bill. Which did nothing but make me sick to my stomach, because I used to do just that. I couldn’t recall how many accounts I’d procured over the years by creating ads aimed at convincing low-income or middle-class shoppers to spend money they should’ve saved on things they didn’t need.
Rather than finish with the profiles—any of them—I grabbed my phone and scrolled through my contacts, realizing now more than ever what I needed to do. It’d been on my mind for a while, but it was time to do something about it.
The unEXpected Plan Page 24