Crash Into Me | ✓

twenty-one

"Happy birthday!" I greeted her as she pulled me into a tight hug.

"I'm so so so glad you came," she squealed. The scent of rosé wafted off her breath. She turned to Nikki and did the same, as if they'd been best friends their whole lives, but close friendships came easily to Nikki. It was obviously the same for Ella, and I was envious.

"I'm just going to find the bathroom real quick." Brooklyn pressed a kiss to my temple before walking away, and I found myself warm under his lingering touch. It wasn't hard to figure out these were all people that knew Brooklyn (or knew of him) as he high-fived and greeted people he walked past, and yet he was comfortable enough with us together to show me affection in front of them. I let a self-satisfied smile grace my lips.

"Drink?" Ella asked us, eyebrows raised.

"Soda water," Nikki shrugged.

"Whatever you're having." I nodded to the fizzy drink in Ella's hand. I took a spot at the bar a bit removed from the group of Ella's other friends, who I learned were mostly sorority sisters or adjacent frat bros from the College of Charleston, where Ella went to school. On the outer orbit of their circle, Brooklyn leaned against the bar and spoke to a tall, well-built guy with a head of thick, wild chestnut hair and a playful smirk etched into his baby-faced features. He glanced over at us, and I swore I saw the guy wink in our direction, but it wasn't at me. Ella turned away and slid my drink over to me.

"Who's Brooklyn talking to?" I asked her.

Ella cleared her throat. "That's Ricky. Brooklyn's best friend from high school."

I nodded, but that sense of dread I'd been trying to swallow for weeks crept back up my throat. Why wouldn't Brooklyn have ever mentioned someone who was supposed to be his best friend to me? I didn't have time to mull it over too much

"It's cliché, but I think it's cute," Nikki chimed in again.

"What are you talking about?" Ella asked with an eyebrow raise.

"You know..." Nikki gave Ella her signature grin, devious and wide with twinkling eyes. "Having a thing for your brother's best friend."

Ella nearly spit her drink out, clearing her throat again and frantically shaking her head. Her dark, curled hair bounced around her shoulders. "No, uh...I mean, it's not what you think. We just...we're not. Never have, never will. I've known him basically since we were in diapers."

"Sure, sure," Nikki waved her off.

Ella scoffed and tried to play off her embarrassment with annoyance, but the way her eyes dimmed when she looked over at Ricky said more than enough. She glanced down at my empty glass. "Anyway...another drink?"

"Yeah, sure," I nodded. I felt the liquor pulse through my jittering veins as I continued to watch Brooklyn and Ricky with sheer fascination, although seeing them together, they looked more like an old married couple than best buds. I tried my best to lean closer inconspicuously, catching bits and pieces of their discussion.

"You don't understand, you really don't." Rough and deep. Brooklyn.

"Then help me understand. I want to help you." Smooth like velvet. Must have been Ricky.

"Now you want to help me?" Brooklyn snapped. "You shut me out, remember?"

Ricky sighed heavily, the dejection more than apparent in his voice.

"Hey," a voice beside me said, dull and nearly muddled up in the music and other voices. I turned to face a tall stocky kid with a shock of dirty blonde hair. "You're one of Ella's friends, right?" he asked.