Winding Roads (BWWM)

Chapter Twenty

Brielle~ 15

"So, you're just a big partier now? Think you're so cool?" I teased Daxton. We were sitting in his bedroom; I was laying across his bed swinging my feet in the air. Daxton was rummaging through his closet, looking for clothes to put on for a party. He'd just finished a shower and was in nothing buy a towel—slung low around his defined body. The V cut at his lower abdomen, very much visible and looking very delicious I might add. His body still wet, hair still dripping from the steamy shower he had just taken. 

"Come on, Cheese. It's not like I've ditched you or anything. You're still my best friend" he held up shirts for my opinion, but I rolled my eyes and turned over on my side. He comes over and kisses me on the forehead, then asked again. I pointed to the black V-neck polo and went to his drawer to grab a pair of dark blue jeans. 

"Is your...girlfriend going to be there?" I emphasized my disgust on the word girlfriend.

Emilia Kovach. She was a senior on the soccer team and I guess she couldn't get a guy her age. She threw herself all over Daxton to get me out of the picture. Daxton and I were inseparable, even more so than any of our other friends. It wasn't until her started dating her and her minion Heather accused me of having a crush on Dax, that I backed off. Gen and Lina were already really close, I'd just joined them when Dax started dating Emilia. He didn't push me away or anything, he wanted me around. In fact, when they told him I liked him, he'd defended me and came to tell me that he loved me. However, fifteen-year-old Brie was not so sure about how sincere fifteen-year-old Daxton was. 

"Why don't you like her, Brie? You know your opinion matters most to me" He said pulling up his boxer briefs under his towel and sticking his head out from the closet. He threw the towel out into one of his many clothes bins. 

"She's evil and she bullies people. And well, what do you see in her anyways? I mean, she's pretty, but..." I trailed off, not seeing the point in arguing with a teenage boy about his pretty girlfriend.

"Don't be jealous, Brie, you're beautiful" he placed the back of his knuckles on my cheek and gently stroked it. I scoffed and moved from his touch, but only slightly. "Did she do something to you? You could tell me if she did."

"Why? So, I'd be a snitch? A crybaby?" I swung my legs over the edge of his bed and sat up to face him. "I don't think so." He sat down on the bed and flopped back beside me. 

"No. I'm your best friend. I—" I cut him off be for he could finish

"No. You were my best friend. Emphasis on were. I barely see you anymore. Lina and Gen are my best friends" I playfully teased him. I really wanted him to get the gist, but I didn't want him to know that I was hurt. He sighed and sat back up. 

"Come with me tonight."

"What?" It'd been a long time since him and I hung out together. Without his brothers and sisters, my sister, our friends. Together. 

"I miss you. Okay? I know things have been weird between us, but they don't have to be. I said what I said. You don't feel the same. Does that mean we can't be friends anymore?" He stood up and walked to his phone, typed something out and then waited for me to respond. 

"So... what then? I hang out with you and your girlfriend and all y'all new besties?" was my snarky reply.

"First off, I said come hang with me. Second off, she's not my girlfriend. She is a good fu—"

"Yo, D! Where's the party?!" Axel barged into the room, spinning a basketball on his finger. Following him was the rest of our friends. 

"Wait! We were talking" I snapped at Cade who was shoving me off the bed. "A good what? She's good for what? Were you going to say fu..." I look around the room. "Sex?"

"Duuudddeeee" Declan chuckled. "Who?"

"Emilia?" Kolton joined the conversation

"Boys are idiots. You know how vulgar and offensive this conversation is?" Maya snapped at them.

"Oh, come on" Axel sighed at Perrie, Maya and Lina who were joining in the argument. Gen sat in the corner quietly—but not so quietly—flirting with Johnny. 

"Yeah, that girl's been passed around the entire football, baseball and soccer teams. She's only just getting through with at least half of the basketball team..." Caden argued

"Cállate pues, estúpido! Do you know how rumors like that ruin a girl's reputation!" Catalina scolded Cade.

"Could everyone just get out, for a second. Jeez, we were talking—about more important things" I tell them calmly, hoping it'd work without my true feelings giving way. It worked, they left...well all except Johnny and Gen. "You had sex? And didn't tell me? You're having sex now?" I asked him nonchalantly. 

"Cheese, it's no big deal" he whispered it to me, gently placing a hand on each of my shoulders. I hated when he'd touch me while I was angry. It made it hard to think.

"No big deal? Just... no big deal. That's it? It is a huge deal, Dax! You promised to tell me, to talk to me first. We both promised" I breathed, rubbing my hands together. 

"Brie...babes, relax. Kay?" Gen warned from the corner. She knew. Almost everyone knew about my feelings for Daxton, though I never confessed them. Honestly, I didn't need to. 

"Is our friendship that far gone that we don't tell each other everything anymore? That's rich" I chuckled. "You were just telling me that we still do that" I was and sometimes still am bratty. 

"I didn't want to brag about sex to you. Girls are weird about that kind of thing. Besides, you don't care about what I do remember" he was referring to the fact that I said I didn't love him back. He was beginning to become a jerk with his tit-for-tat mentality. He was challenging me. He knew the truth. He always knew. 

"Right. Well, since sex isn't a big deal to you; I guess I don't care. Can't care about someone I don't know." I turned from him to leave the room but he stopped me and told Gen and Johnny to get out. 

"You know me better than anyone. Like I know you. It didn't matter, because she doesn't matter. You really think she cares about me? We used each other. After you rejected me. That's how I've been coping. Screwing a couple girls here and there. No. Big. Deal." He shrugged

"You're right. None of my business. Sorry for over reacting" I licked my lips, something I do when I'm trying to think rationally. Something he knows. When I looked back up to see him, he was smirking at me. 

"Baby..." it was the first time he'd ever called me that. Low, breathy, husky, deep, rich sultry tone. Sent chills down my spine and tingles all over. He placed a hand gently on my bicep and pulled me in closer, then touched his forehead with mine. "Say it."

"Say what?" His breath was ghosting over mine, our lips so close...just barely touching. 

"Say it, Brielle. Say it and I'm yours" he chuckled. "Who am I kidding? I've always been yours. Say those three little words and I'll always be."

"I can't."

"Let me know when you're done being scared to let me love you."

"Let me know when you're smart enough not to break my heart. When the only reason you'd hurt me, is because that's the only choice left. And even then, it's the last choice you'd ever make. The last one you can make. That I'm not dispensable. I do know you, Daxton. Yes, you may love me, but not the way I deserve. Not yet." I pulled away, just enough for him to know that I'm not running. That I'm not hiding. Enough for him to see my face. "Enjoy being a hoe right now" I smirked at him before leaving the room, giggling.