CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
AUBREY
“BREY, I just think it’s a fucking bad idea.” Katie followed me in as I unlocked the door to my apartment.
“What’s a bad idea?” Rome said from my couch.
I eyed him and Vick who were watching TV and eating some of the food I’d saved in the fridge for myself. “You two do know that you don’t live here, right?”
Rome shrugged and Vick smiled innocently before she said, “We were really hungry, Brey.”
I wanted to tell them to order their own food or ask if they wanted to eat mine. But I couldn’t bring myself to. It wouldn’t have been polite.
“Go get your own damn food, you freeloaders,” Katie said for me when she saw my face.
Rome waved her off. “That’s rich coming from you. What’s your latest sugar daddy’s name?”
She rolled her eyes. “Just ’cause the men I’m with can provide for me and you can’t provide for any woman ...”
Katie had a type she always looked for. None of us agreed with it because those types were ones who could provide extravagant gifts for her.
“You got it wrong, Kate-Bait. I provide something other than money and gifts to the women I’m with.”
“Gross, Rome.” Vick shoved him. She looked at us. “Come on, fill us in. What’s a bad idea?”
Katie spoke for me again. “Brey’s having Jax help her with this last class she needs to pass to graduate.”
Rome jumped off the couch. “What? What the hell do you mean he’s helping you with this class?” Rome paced my small living room, his muscles rippling.
I shrugged, and went to sit down next to Vick. We watched Rome pace toward Katie, united for the first time. She followed his lead. “Yeah! That’s what I said,” she practically seethed.
Vick leaned in and whispered, “I, for one, am totally on board with you doing this even if it is just to see these two like this. They. Are. Fierce.”
“Vick, the whole damn world can hear you even when you whisper,” Rome growled, crossing his arms over his chest as if accusing her of conspiring with the devil.
Katie aligned with him and crossed her arms too. The two of them stood on display. Tomb Raider and the darkest version of Gladiator.
I smiled at them both glaring at me. “You two would be kind of cute together.”
Katie’s eyes bulged before she spit, “Fuck you, Brey. Get your shit together. This is a fucking bad idea, and if Rome is the only one who agrees with me, so be it. Jax is a bad toxicology report waiting to happen. You were addicted once and the next time you get addicted, you won’t survive it.”
I wanted to argue, wanted to say she was wrong. Every person who survives heartbreak wants to believe they could survive it again. No one is ready to agree that the first break nearly killed them and that one more crushing blow could be the end of their heart.
I wanted to argue.
But I couldn’t.
Vick shot up, facing Rome and Katie. Her blonde hair swayed like usual, this time with warning. “You two need to back off! She needs this. Either of you heard of closure?”
Rome opened his mouth to argue.
She stepped up in his face and shoved her finger into his chest. “No. You don’t get to answer the question about closure.” She poked his chest again. “You don’t have closure. You used Brey as a distraction. You keep using every woman you sleep with as a temporary closure that just leaves a larger, gaping hole afterward—”
Katie cut her off. “Hey, that’s a little harsh. Rome and Brey had an understanding. No one got hurt.”
I nodded my head because it was the truth.
Katie continued on, “He does what he has to do. Everyone has their demons.”