GRAYSON
"Just don't get weird, okay?"
I frowned at Nessa's back as she led the way down the hallway to Bren and Madie's apartment. The carpet beneath our feet looked at least a few decades old and a musty thickness filled the air, but the building was charming in that retro sort of way.
"I don't get weird."
Nessa snorted in response, and my frown deepened. I didn't get weird. Not to be cocky, but I was notoriously well-adjusted when it came to social interactions. My parents would say they deserve the credit, given that I was raised in an emotionally available home that took playdates with other kids very seriously.
"You and I both know you get weird around Bren," Nessa said over her shoulder. "Because of—"
"Don't," I snapped, probably a bit too sharp. Taking a deep breath, I shoved my hands into my pockets as we walked. "Don't say it.
With a raised brow, Nessa gave me a look that said, see what I mean?
"Because of our history," she finished, making me feel stupid for thinking she was going to spell it out in explicit detail. Although, she'd done it before...
"Sorry," I said. "Just trying to avoid a spike in my blood pressure. I know how worried you are about it."
Turning around, Nessa smacked me playfully on my arm.
And I didn't catch her hand.
I was always able to catch her hand. But she turned around before I could wrap my fingers around her wrist and keep her close to me. Unease settled in my stomach as Nessa knocked on apartment 212.
Madie opened the door without delay and whisked my girlfriend away. The girls stumbled into what looked like a tiny bathroom, giggling. I could hear their laughter from where I stood near the front door, and even though it made me smile, I was eager to get this night over with.
I liked Madie. Her broody boyfriend, on the other hand? Not so sure about him.
Maybe I did get a little weird around him. Just maybe.
"Hey, man," he called, tipping his head in greeting when he noticed me standing by the door. Weaving around the stacks of boxes that looked like they were in the middle of unpacking, he opened the fridge. "Want anything to drink? We don't have much, but—"
"No, I'm good."
Drinks meant that we would be here for far longer than I wanted to.
Bren nodded, closing the fridge and walking over to me with his fists in his pockets.
"Is Nessa okay?" he asked, and I gritted my teeth at the calculation in the rise of his brow. It was like he didn't think I was capable of taking care of my fucking girlfriend. Like he needed to swoop in to save her. From me.
If he thought I didn't see how he'd tried to grab her wrist when she walked out of the cafe this afternoon, he was dead wrong.
"From earlier," Bren clarified. "At The Grounds. She—"
"Nessa's okay," I cut in, more harshly than I'd meant.
Bren must have caught my vibe because his eyes widened a bit, and he took a careful step back to lean against the kitchen counter.
Clearing my throat, I tried again. "She was just...upset that I'm still planning on playing football this year. She thought I'd take a year off, given my health and shit. We talked about it, though. She's okay. I promise."
Nodding, Bren ran one hand through his hair. "Glad to hear it. Just wanted to make sure my girl is good."
Staring at him, I bit down on my tongue hard. Hard enough that pain tingled to the back of my throat. Was this guy purposefully trying to make it hard for me to like him?
I forced myself to talk. "Yeah, she's good."
"Ready?" Madie's cheery voice cut through the tension between Bren and me. She didn't wait for an answer before brushing past us and into the hallway. Nessa followed, and if I didn't know any better, I'd say that she was putting a little extra sway in her steps. What a tease. What a way to make me remember all the beautifully dirty things she let me do to her earlier.
Bren cleared his throat.
Right. It was time to go. Staring at Nessa could be saved for later.
Striding through the door, I watched as the girls disappeared down the corridor. But after taking a step to follow them, I paused. If I had any chance of making it through tonight, something needed to be cleared up.
"Hey, Bren?"
He finished locking up the apartment and then straightened, shrugging into his jacket. "Yeah?"
"I'm gonna need you to stop calling Nessa your girl." I met his gaze without hesitation. "I really don't want to ruin our double date by accidentally punching you."
For a long moment, Bren stood frozen. His dark eyes blinked at me, and I held my breath, tensing. Maybe we were going to get the punching out of the way right now.
But then he laughed.
"Alright, man. I can do that." He shook his head. "She's always going to my friend, but I know she's your girl. You don't need to be so uptight. Seriously...chill. We want the same things."
That last sentence did not make me feel....chill.
"I sure as hell hope we don't want the same things."
I wanted Nessa in ways that no other guys were allowed to want her.
"Dude, not like that." Bren sighed, ragged. "I meant—Jesus Christ. I meant that we both want Nessa to be happy. That's all. Okay?"
Relenting, I opened my mouth to agree, but Bren was on a roll now. He held up a hand, stopping me.
"And before you get weird, I know," he said. "I know you make her happy."
A nod to that. "Damn right I do."
Bren rubbed his jaw, an amused smile twisting on his lips. "You're a bit ridiculous, but I kind of like you."
I laughed despite myself. "I guess you're okay, too, man."
Pushing a hand through his mop of hair, Bren chuckled, and then we walked after the girls. My girl. And his.
****
The place we went for dinner was iconic for being a breeding ground for OSU hook-ups. On a Friday night a couple weeks before the beginning of the semester, it was teeming with college kids looking to get laid. There were a few reunions, too. Friends getting back together after a summer apart. But either way, it was busy. Freddy's was the local hang-out for a good reason, though: the pizza was cheap and hot, the music was good, and the walk from campus was short.
I was about four slices deep when Bren cleared his throat and pushed his plate away. He looked straight at Nessa.
"I have an idea to solve your roommate problem."
Curiosity and interest lit up in Nessa's eyes. "Yeah?"
"Remember Collins?"
I had no idea who that was, but recognition flickered on Nessa's face.
"Pretty sure we all remember who Collins is," Nessa said wryly, choking down a humorless laugh. "It isn't every day that your friend brings his ex-fuck buddy to a date with his girlfriend."
Bren grimaced, and I tried not to laugh as his eyes quickly flicked to Madie, sensing her reaction.
She was smiling into her glass of water.
"For Beau," Bren emphasized, saying it in a way that told me it wasn't the only time that he'd made that distinction. "I was bringing her to be Beau's date. Was just trying to do my guy a solid, okay?"
Images of Beau flirting with a curly-haired girl at the history department gala flashed through my mind. Oh. So Bren had gotten with her, too, huh? Apparently dude was more of a player than I'd initially thought.
"I know," Madie said softly, a smile still lingering on her lips as she put a hand on Bren's arm. "I know, baby."
Turning to his girlfriend, Bren tipped her chin up with a single finger before pressing a quick kiss to her lips. "You better know, Madeline."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nessa shake her head, shoulders shaking slightly as she tried not to laugh. I found a little bit of comfort in the fact that she provoked her friends every chance she got, too. It was just further proof that she never really hated me. Not one bit.
"So Collins as a roommate, huh?" Nessa questioned, leaning forward on the table with interest. She glanced at Madie. Silent girl-words were communicated across the table, noticeable enough that Bren was biting his lip nervously as he watched.
"I actually spent some time with her this summer, and I really like her," Madie said after a pause. Looking at me, she explained, "Bren has been working at a youth center called Directions for the past few months. It specializes in grief recovery support for teens, and Collins runs the program. They both met there when they were in high school."
I nodded, thankful for the rundown.
Laughing beneath her breath, Madie glanced at her boyfriend. "Collins gets Bren's ass in gear. Probably the biggest reason he's enrolling in school again this fall."
Bren rolled his eyes. "She's such a fucking hard-ass sometimes."
"She's not a hard-ass. She just doesn't sugar coat things." Madie had this gentle way of talking that could trick a person into thinking she was pure sweetness. But when I listened closer, there was a distinct firm line in her words. "Like how you could really make a career out of working with teens, but you needed to get the hell out of Fresno and back to campus."
"Yeah, well, I turned that around on her." Bren leaned back against the cushions of the booth we were sitting in. He tossed an arm around Madie's shoulders, hugging her close. "And now Collins is considering applying to OSU, but her biggest hang-ups are finding a place to live that isn't on campus with freshmen and finding a way to pay for it."
"Have you told Beau yet?" Nessa asked. Curiosity simmered in those brown eyes of hers.
Bren shook his head.
"If he knew, he'd have already sent her a check and an invitation to move in," she added.
"Why do you think I wanted to ask you first?" Bren asked with a laugh.
Nessa shrugged. "I'm down."
A little bit of relief washed over me. I was down, too. It meant Nessa wouldn't have a random roommate I'd have to worry about.
But then a bit of hesitation flashed onto her face. "I mean...did anything really happen between them?"
"I don't think so. And even if it did, I know they didn't keep in touch after the gala. Collins said she wasn't looking for that."
Nessa nodded, Madie raised a brow and took a sip from her glass, and Bren shrugged. And that seemed like the end of that.
I continued to relax as the night wore on. I felt that chill Bren had mentioned seeping into my bones. I didn't know if it was the music or the atmosphere or the way Nessa wound her fingers into mine beneath the table, but I felt it.
The night wasn't as painful as I was expecting. If I thought that Bren paid too much attention to Nessa, it was nothing compared to how he was around Madie. Any excuse to touch her, and he was there, to the point that I wondered if she would get annoyed by it. But no. I supposed it was sweet, but I couldn't help but wonder why Madie couldn't even use the bathroom without needing to hold his hand.
When I said as much to Nessa after they walked away from the table, she was quiet for a moment, spinning her straw in her drink.
Then she lowered her voice.
"Madie and Bren were in a bar like this one when she went to use the bathroom by herself and came back with Quinton's arm wrapped around her neck. He shot Bren that night."
Waiting outside the girls' bathroom on the other side of the restaurant, Bren kicked a foot up against the wall, and I realized how much of an ass I was.
"Fuck, I'm sorry. I can't even imagine what that must have been like for them." A sickly gnawing filled my stomach. Leaning over, I kissed the top of Nessa's head and then rested there, breathing in the scent of her.
"They're okay now," she said softly. But I didn't miss the slight shudder that ran through her body.
"You're okay, too, Nessa." Even though I was tempted to bury my nose in her hair, I pulled back, looking down at my girl. "You know I'd never let anything happen to you, right?"
Unsurprisingly, she brushed off the comment.
"I'm not the one with the crazy ex."
"Yeah, but fuck your ex. He might not be crazy, but he definitely treated you like garbage. And I'd kick his ass if I ever saw him even step foot in the same room as you."
She rolled her eyes up, but it was in an adorable I-hate-to-love-you kind of way that was distinctly Nessa. "You're so over the top sometimes, Grayson."
I chuckled. "Sometimes?"
"All the time," she corrected. "Ever since I met you."
Gazing down at her, I tried to find the words. After untangling our fingers, I clamped a hand down on her leg and pulled her closer. I needed her closer. "I don't know how to explain it, but I saw you for the first time, and my heart said...I have to protect this girl with everything I've got. So that's what I've been trying to do."
My pulse kicked up as Nessa stared back at me. Eyes wide and connecting with mine, hot and twisty.
She mouthed I love you, sending a pang straight to my chest that nearly extinguished all the air in my body. Her hand covered mine, guiding my fingers up her leg, sneaking beneath her skirt.
"Nessa..." I warned, feeling the temperature of my blood begin to rise.
But it was too late. I'd already grazed between her legs. And my fingertips were wet. Groaning, I swore beneath my breath.
"You're not wearing underwear, Adler."
She gasped softly as I touched her, and every muscle in my body tightened.
"They're somewhere on the floor of your car." Mischief swam in her eyes as she watched me. "Maybe we should go find them."
All of Nessa's clothes could stay on the floor of my car as far as I was concerned.
"I don't really think we should leave your friends," I said with a reluctant sigh, determined to leave tonight on a good note with Bren and Madie. They were important to Nessa, and anything or anyone important to Nessa was important to me.
But the brightness of her expression didn't fade. "Bren ducked into the bathroom with Madie, so I don't think they're going to miss us if we leave."
Pulling out my wallet, I threw down some cash that would more than cover our meal tonight. And then I was urging Nessa to her feet.
"Then I'm right behind you, baby."
And that was where I planned to be all night long.
💗
i don't know why, but this chapter was such a challenge! Phew okay.
Bren and Gray might be reluctantly getting somewhere though. And Beau is
getting a fun surprise 👀
Thanks for reading!
xoxo amelie