Brooke & Ben: Before Fate Interrupted (8 page)

Chapter
Seven

Tasha sipped her
Jack and Coke as rock music floated down from the recessed speakers above. She
swallowed and set the glass down on the glowing turquoise table between them.
“I don’t know why you’re taking this so hard. I tried to go after him, too. We
didn’t know he was Mandy’s guy.”

“Try telling
that to Mandy.” Brooke crossed her legs and took another long drink. She shook
her head, replaying the whole thing all over again in her mind. “He said his
name was
Roger
but really it was
Ben
and Mandy was throwing up all night
and Ben and I ended up naked in her walk-in closet and she, not surprisingly,
walked-in
on us.”

“I remember,
Brooke, I was there. You don’t have to convince me. It wasn’t your fault.”

Brooke found
Tasha’s wandering gaze, desperate for her understanding. “You should’ve seen
this guy naked, Tash. I was powerless! He totally tricked me.” Her eyes drifted
to the bar and snapped back to her. “It was the punch!”

“That’s what got
Craig.” She leaned back into the tattered leather armchair and stared off into
space. “At least, I hope it was the punch.”

Brooke hid
behind her hand, like she was shielding her eyes from the sun. “I have ruined
everything and will never forgive myself.”

Tasha leaned
forward, scrunching her face up. “Are you crying?”

Brooke wiped
tears from her eyes. “No, I’m not crying.” She took a wet sounding breath that
fluttered her bottom lip, her eyes blurring her drink into a red smudge. “Everyone
else is moving on and making something of their lives and I’m going backwards.”

Tasha reached across
the table and took her hand. “Hey, quit beating yourself up over it, Brooke.
You didn’t know he was her boyfriend. Mandy should be pissed at him, not you!”

Brooke looked up
with watery eyes. “Do you think she’ll ever forgive me?”

Tasha stared at
her for a second or two. “Of course she will.”

Brooke’s face
went blank. “Are you lying to me just to make me feel better?”

“Yes,” Tasha
said flatly, her eyes roaming the bar again. “We’re never going to meet any
guys if you smear your mascara.”

“God forbid,”
Brooke mumbled, taking a long sip of her drink.

Tasha smiled at
her. “I can’t believe you’re still drinking those things. You’re so two
thousand and late.”

Brooke set the red
drink back down, briefly managing to shut off the waterworks. “I like cosmos.”

“Do you, Brooke?
Do you really like them?”

“Yeah, Tasha, I
really do.”

“You do know they
drink other drinks on
Sex and the City
,
right? They even sometimes drink beer.” A feigned look of shock rushed over her
face. “Oh the horror!”

“I’m not
drinking it because of
Sex and the City
.”

Tasha flattened
her lips. “That’s what you said about that jean jacket you bought two weeks
ago.”

A smile squeaked
past Brooke’s lips, the first one in what seemed like forever. She appreciated
Tasha’s attempts to get her mind off things and took another sip – determined
to stop thinking for at least an hour or two – and joined Tasha in surveying
the busy rock bar. Wooly’s was known for loud music, stiff drinks, and guys
with attitudes – all of which made Tasha’s to-do list for the night.

She scooted to
the edge of her chair. “I’m totally serious about testing someone out tonight.”

“You are not
sleeping with some strange guy just to see if he can get it up or not!”

“I didn’t say I
was going to sleep with him!” Tasha brushed a long strand of dirty blond hair
over her shoulder and tried to look regal. “I’m just going to give him a hand
job.”

Brooke shook her
head. “You make my problems seem small.”

Tasha craned her
neck to see past the pool tables. “How about that guy over there?”

Brooke followed
Tasha’s gaze and scrunched her face up in revulsion. “He’s three hundred
pounds.”

“I know, but if
I can’t get a guy like that hard, then I’ll know I’m cursed for sure and can
start working on a way to reverse it.”

“You’ll probably
give him a heart attack.”

“Don’t say that.
That’ll just validate the curse.” She picked up her glass and tipped it back,
sucking on an ice cube.

“Why do you
think you’re cursed?”

Tasha set the
glass back down and crossed her legs, hedging before speaking. “I just do.”

“Why? What did
you do to deserve such a
curse
?”

She swallowed
thickly. “I had sex with a married man.”

Brooke inhaled
sharply. “What?” she shrieked. “Who? When?”

“It was right
after Craig dumped me. I was out with Jo and Kim and on the rebound. Hard.”

“Did you know he
was married?”

Tasha nodded
slowly, shamefaced and unable to look Brooke in the eye. “I was drunk and
pissed and didn’t care. It was stupid! I know.”

Brooke leaned
back in the chair and let it all sink in. “That is so horrible.”

“I felt so bad
afterward and swore I would never do that again, but…” She trailed off to curb
the tears welling in her eyes. “But it’s too late for forgiveness now.”

“You’re being
ridiculous. There are no such things as
curses
.”

“That’s what
we’re about to find out. Hey, what about that guy with the hair? He’s kinda
hot.”

Brooke took a
casual drink and a fleeting look at the guy staring at them from across the
bar. His dark spiky hair and ear rings were right up Tasha’s alley.

“Look how he’s
looking at us. I bet I could get him hard as a rock.”

Brooke swallowed
an ice cube and started choking.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded,
coughing into her hand. “Wrong pipe.”

Tasha frowned.
“Don’t say wrong pipe! That’s a bad omen.”

“Hey, Tasha.”

They looked up
to see a completely different guy – this one with a blond ponytail and blue
eyes - smiling down at them.

“Long time no
see,” he said.

Tasha brightened
her smile and batted her long lashes. “Hi Ryan! How are you?”

“I’m good. What’s
it been? Two years?”

“At least.”

“You look
amazing.”

She blushed a
little in the bar’s soft light, her eyes traveling down his tight t-shirt, the
front of which was loosely tucked into his jeans. “So do you.”

He turned to
Brooke. “Hi Brooke.”

“Ryan,” she
said, her enthusiasm paling in comparison to Tasha.

His eyes floated
back to Tasha, who was running a hand through her blond locks. “You never
called me back.”

A look of sorrow
quickly replaced her bashful grin. “I’m so sorry, my iPhone was stolen and I
lost all of my contacts.”

Brooke made sure
Ryan wasn’t looking when she rolled her eyes.

“That sucks.”

Tasha patted the
chair next to her. “Have a seat.”

He looked over
his shoulder to a glass door leading to a patio where the table and chairs had
already vacated the premises for the impending winter. “Actually, I was just
going outside to have a quick smoke. You want one?”

“I quit, but
I’ll give you a
hand
.” She got up and
shot Brooke a sinister wink. “I’ll be right back,” she said, taking her drink
and following Ryan outside.

Brooke shook her
head and felt her phone vibrate in her purse. She pulled it out and read the
text message from Evy.

U still out?
Richie went to meet his friends and I’m bored.

Brooke texted
her back and slipped the cell into her purse, looking up to see the spiky hair guy
with earrings standing over her, a sly grin cutting into his dimply cheeks.

“You look so lonely
over here.”

She smiled
politely back. “My boyfriend’s on the way. He just texted me.”

“Maybe I should
keep you company till he gets here. Keep the wolves at bay.” He pasted a cocky
smile across his face.

“Probably not a
good idea. He has a short fuse.”

He chuckled. “Wouldn’t
you rather have a guy with a
long
fuse?”

Brooke arched an
eyebrow at him. “Oh come on, you can do better than that, slick.”

His dark eyes
tightened.

“I mean, I know
I’m not exactly royalty over here but I do require a certain amount of…
finesse
. What else you got?” She took a
drink and patiently awaited his response.

He ran a tongue
across his teeth like maybe he had something stuck in them, inhaled deeply and
opened his mouth to speak.

She shot a
finger into the air. “Please tell me you’re not going to ask if I come here
often, because that simply will not do.”

His trap slowly
shut. He glanced at her drink and opened his mouth again, bringing Brooke’s
finger rising back into the air like a pirate flag on a ship.

“No, I don’t
want a drink,” she said, cheering him with her cosmo. “Mine’s almost full.”

***

Tasha shivered
as a cold breeze swept past. She tried pulling her dress down lower but it
barely covered her panties. “It’s too cold out here. Let’s get in your car and
turn up the heat.”

Ryan stopped the
flame just before it reached the cigarette. His thumb let off the lighter. He
glanced to his car in the parking lot. “Yeah?”

She nodded
violently. “I’m freezing!”

He slowly
lowered the lighter, the unlit smoke dangling in his lips. “Okay,” he said,
pushing through a black iron gate.

She followed him
into the busy lot, her high heels clicking across the pavement. The headlights
and taillights flashed on a Toyota Four Runner in front of them and Tasha
wasted no time hopping inside. Ryan climbed in behind the wheel and brought the
engine to life, turning on the heater and her heated seat.

She blew into
her hands and rubbed them together. “Damn, I hate the cold.”

“Won’t be long
before we get some snow.”

“Don’t say
that,” she said, staring forlornly out the front windshield. “I miss summer
already.”

He snorted and
lit the smoke. “Me too.”

“It seems like
just yesterday I was prancing around in a bikini out at the lake.”

Smoke streamed
from his nostrils as he cracked a window. “Gotta love prancing around in
bikinis.”

She smiled and
nonchalantly followed his gaze to the hem of her dress, where a pair of lacey
purple panties were peeking out. She pretended not to notice. “Someday I want to
go to a topless beach. You ever been?”

He shook his
head, watching her adjust the dress’ low cut top. “Not sure I’m ready for that
kind of commitment.”

She laughed. “I
don’t care if people see me naked. I mean, you did.”

Ryan exhaled a
stream of smoke out the window, the car heating up already. “I certainly did.”

She grinned, the
seat warming her buttocks.

He grinned back.
“And if I remember right, you lounged around naked the entire next morning.”

“I hate wearing
clothes. My dad says that when I was little I was always losing my shirts.”

Ryan chuckled.
“Usually that doesn’t start happening until people discover tequila.”

She laughed and
gently slapped his arm. “Ooh, have you been working out?”

He fidgeted in
the seat. “A little.”

“You’re so strong,”
she said, squeezing his bicep.

An aw-shucks
grin slid across his face.

“So what else have
you been up to?” She kicked off her heels and put her bare feet on the dash,
giving him a much better look up her dress.

Ryan swallowed
hard, his eyes drawn to those purple panties like bees to honey. “Well, actually
I just started dating someone last month.”

Tasha made an
O-face. “Oh, that’s so sad.” Her hand casually came to a rest on his thigh in a
consoling type of gesture, like he had just told her someone had died. “What’s
her name?”

“Audrey.”

“Well, lucky
Audrey
.” Her hand eased down the inside
of his leg. “And where is
Audrey
now?”

Ryan scooted
against the door and quickly ran out of room. “She’s helping her sister move to
Minneapolis for a couple days.”

“And left you
here all alone?”

A sheepish smile
revealed his rows of white teeth. “I’m with my friends.” He nodded to the bar.
“In fact, I should probably get back inside.” He flicked the cigarette out the
window and sucked in a quick breath when her hand seized his groin. He pressed
against the door, eyes bulging. “What’re you doing?”