His Ever After (Love Square) by Jessica Ingro Read Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Jessica Ingro
outburst. Once she clears the threshold, I slam the door in her face instead of giving a flying fuck.
I wait a good twenty minutes or so to calm down and to make sure that Sam is gone before I go out looking for Brooke. When I eventually find her, she is alone in her apartment, curled up in a ball on her bed. Sobbing.
“Brooke. I’m so fucking sorry. Will you please talk to me?” I ask as she sits up on the bed and glares a look of death at me. There are mascara streaks running down her cheeks, and her eyes are red and puffy.
“Sorry? You’re sorry? Thanks to you, I lost our baby, Jacob!” She shouts hysterically in my face.
“What are you talking about?” Please God… don’t let this be true.
“After the show you put on, I got really bad cramps and saw that I was bleeding through my clothes. I had a miscarriage! You should just leave,” she says as she pushes me away.
“No. I’m not going to leave you like this. Please. Let me be here with you.” I reach for her, but she moves out of my reach.
I’m abruptly pulled from my dream when I feel myself being shaken.
“Jacob. You’re having a bad dream. Wake up,” Brooke says in my ear.
I blink slowly, coming back into reality. My body is covered in sweat. My heart is thumping wildly in my chest, and my hand has a death grip on the sheets. I hate remembering the night I realized I had to let Sam go for good. What I hate most, though, is remembering the night that I broke Brooke.
“Sorry. I’m alright now,” I assure her before heading to the bathroom to splash some water on my face.
Brooke follows and stands in the doorway. “You were saying her name you know. You were moaning and saying her name. Care to explain?” She hisses at me.
I wipe my face on the towel and look at her through the mirror. “There’s nothing to explain. It’s like you said, I was having a bad dream.”
“This shit isn’t going to fly with me much longer, Jacob. You need to tell me what the fuck is going on. Do you still want to be with her? Am I just the baggage that you have to carry along out of guilt? Is that it?” She demands to know.
I bow my head and stare at the sink. Her words slice through me because they hit so close to home. I want nothing more than to agree with her, but how do you tell someone that you’ll never love them the way they love you? That you are only with them because you feel guilty and scared that they might hurt themselves?
You don’t.
I raise my head, resolved to stay my course and look at her again. “I’m never going to be with Sam again. It was just a dream, a bad one at that. Can we please just leave it alone?”
She watches me for several long minutes before letting it go. “Okay. Come back to bed.”
I follow her to bed and spend the rest of the night staring at the ceiling.
Chapter Four
We pull up to Emma’s house, and I give Brooke a reassuring pat on her knee before getting out of the car. She isn’t wrong when she says Emma doesn’t like her. She thinks Brooke is cold and callous. She’s only met her a couple of times, but they weren’t under the best circumstances. Whenever Emma tried to engage Brooke in conversation, she was short and rude with her. It didn’t help matters when Brooke was clingy with me either. I know Emma tries for my sake. However, she still wishes I had ended up with Sam. They clicked the first time they met and even talked to each other on the phone a few times after that. Emma had high hopes for my future just like I did. Unfortunately, hers came crashing down right along with mine.
To say Emma was disappointed when I told her the whole sordid affair that happened between Brooke, Sam and me is an understatement of the century. She was beyond pissed at me for being so careless with Brooke and also for sleeping with a married woman. I received the lecture of a lifetime from her. She even threw in how disappointed my mom would be with my behavior. That’s digging the knife in
I wait a good twenty minutes or so to calm down and to make sure that Sam is gone before I go out looking for Brooke. When I eventually find her, she is alone in her apartment, curled up in a ball on her bed. Sobbing.
“Brooke. I’m so fucking sorry. Will you please talk to me?” I ask as she sits up on the bed and glares a look of death at me. There are mascara streaks running down her cheeks, and her eyes are red and puffy.
“Sorry? You’re sorry? Thanks to you, I lost our baby, Jacob!” She shouts hysterically in my face.
“What are you talking about?” Please God… don’t let this be true.
“After the show you put on, I got really bad cramps and saw that I was bleeding through my clothes. I had a miscarriage! You should just leave,” she says as she pushes me away.
“No. I’m not going to leave you like this. Please. Let me be here with you.” I reach for her, but she moves out of my reach.
I’m abruptly pulled from my dream when I feel myself being shaken.
“Jacob. You’re having a bad dream. Wake up,” Brooke says in my ear.
I blink slowly, coming back into reality. My body is covered in sweat. My heart is thumping wildly in my chest, and my hand has a death grip on the sheets. I hate remembering the night I realized I had to let Sam go for good. What I hate most, though, is remembering the night that I broke Brooke.
“Sorry. I’m alright now,” I assure her before heading to the bathroom to splash some water on my face.
Brooke follows and stands in the doorway. “You were saying her name you know. You were moaning and saying her name. Care to explain?” She hisses at me.
I wipe my face on the towel and look at her through the mirror. “There’s nothing to explain. It’s like you said, I was having a bad dream.”
“This shit isn’t going to fly with me much longer, Jacob. You need to tell me what the fuck is going on. Do you still want to be with her? Am I just the baggage that you have to carry along out of guilt? Is that it?” She demands to know.
I bow my head and stare at the sink. Her words slice through me because they hit so close to home. I want nothing more than to agree with her, but how do you tell someone that you’ll never love them the way they love you? That you are only with them because you feel guilty and scared that they might hurt themselves?
You don’t.
I raise my head, resolved to stay my course and look at her again. “I’m never going to be with Sam again. It was just a dream, a bad one at that. Can we please just leave it alone?”
She watches me for several long minutes before letting it go. “Okay. Come back to bed.”
I follow her to bed and spend the rest of the night staring at the ceiling.
Chapter Four
We pull up to Emma’s house, and I give Brooke a reassuring pat on her knee before getting out of the car. She isn’t wrong when she says Emma doesn’t like her. She thinks Brooke is cold and callous. She’s only met her a couple of times, but they weren’t under the best circumstances. Whenever Emma tried to engage Brooke in conversation, she was short and rude with her. It didn’t help matters when Brooke was clingy with me either. I know Emma tries for my sake. However, she still wishes I had ended up with Sam. They clicked the first time they met and even talked to each other on the phone a few times after that. Emma had high hopes for my future just like I did. Unfortunately, hers came crashing down right along with mine.
To say Emma was disappointed when I told her the whole sordid affair that happened between Brooke, Sam and me is an understatement of the century. She was beyond pissed at me for being so careless with Brooke and also for sleeping with a married woman. I received the lecture of a lifetime from her. She even threw in how disappointed my mom would be with my behavior. That’s digging the knife in