Page 119 of What If We Break?
“Brooke?” I heard Reece’s voice. “Can I come in?”
Within seconds, I sat up on my bed, holding my breath.
He was here. He didn’t forget about me.
A smile tugged at the corners of my lips, and for whatever reason, my chest felt lighter—not as tight anymore.
“Since when do you ask permission to enter my room?” I chuckled, cocking my head as I watched the door open slowly. “You usually just barge right in.”
His head poked into the room. “I didn’t think it was appr—Brooke, you’re in your underwear.”
I looked down at myself, laughing. “Yeah… I couldn’t find an outfit. But on the bright side, Iamwearingsomething.”
“Not a lot.” He finally walked into the room, closing the door behind him.
For just a second, my eyes widened at the sight of him. Reece wore a suit which he only did for special occasions and his hockey games as it was required. He looked so good in a suit, yet I wasn’t quite sure why he’d wear a suit for breakfast. Perhaps this was just his way of showing me that he was being serious.
I would’ve totally been underdressed.
Reece held a hand behind his back, but I knew he bought me flowers. He used to get me flowers at least once a week, and if they somehow died earlier than expected, it was more than once a week. I kind of missed it.
“Not a lot is better than nothing.” I shrugged.
My gaze was fixed on Reece’s arm, waiting rather impatiently for my flowers. He must’ve noticed because I could hear him chuckle, followed by him revealing a beautiful bouquet of white baby’s breath.
As a gasp left my lungs, my eyes snapped up to meet his blue ones. My heart wanted me to jump off my bed and run into his arms, but I was frozen in place, just taking in the sight.
The tiny white blossoms seemed to glow against the black fabric of Reece’s suit. A warm, fuzzy feeling spread through my chest as he smiled at me softly.
Oh, how I missed his smile—the old smile. The smile that wasn’t malicious or seemed to only be there because he knew that it would lead to other things if he pretended to be alright for me. It seemed real, honest, and even a little better than yesterday.
“You got me flowers?” I grabbed the next best shirt from beside me and threw it on before I got up.
“It was long overdue,” he replied while I was looking for a black skirt in the pile of clothes. “Between all that drinking and trying not to appear lost, I somehow forgot to ensure the one thing you could always count on—having fresh flowers.”
“Reece.” I finally approached him. “It’s okay. They’re just flo?—”
“Please don’t make excuses. It’s not okay, I know that,” he said. “It’d be a different story had I been too upset to get flowers or was too deep into grieving that I couldn’t physically leave the apartment. But I was simply too drunk and too unbothered to get them. They’re not the same excuses,mi princesa. The latter doesn’t deserve understanding.”
Perhaps not, but I didn’t want to talk about this right now.
With a delicate smile on my lips, I took the bouquet from him, my fingers brushing against his, sending a tingle up my arm. I brought the flowers to my nose, inhaling the faint, sweet scent. It was what I liked about these flowers—that their scent was so faint.
Roses gave me a headache, as did a lot of other too-strong-scented flowers. Baby’s breath was perfect, and they looked cute as well.
“Thank you,” I whispered, feeling my eyes well up.
Reece took my left hand in his, eyes briefly falling on the engagement ring I refused to take off before they were back on my own. No matter how hurt I was, I couldn’t bring myself to take it off. We were still engaged, and I was positive that we’d find our way back to a peaceful life together. We were certainly trying.
And it was going great so far.
Then again, it was our first time going out since we’d been staying at separate places.
“I’m sorry, Brooke,” he said, his voice carrying sincerity. “I want to make things right between us, no matter how long it will take.”
“I know.” Reece had apologized a lot since I temporarily moved back home, but he’d never said anything about wanting to make things right. Then again, it was quite obvious he would want to do that.
The Reece I knew could barely make it two hours without talking to me. While our conversations were short these days, I knew it was because he was learning to get back on his feet, not because he didn’t want to speak to me. Each time he called me in the evening, Reece wouldn’t greet me with ahello.Instead, he’d sayI missed you.
