Page 1 of What If We Break?
PROLOGUE
BROOKLYN
Seven Years Earlier — Age 13
“Brooke, we need to talk,” Reece, my best friend in the whole wide world, said as he came marching into my bedroom without so much as a knock.
To be fair, Reece never knocked because I was used to him showing up out of the blue, and on normal days, I didn’t mind it. I had nothing to hide from him except maybe my feelings.
Even now, I didn’t mind him barging in here as if it was his right to be inside of my bedroom. However, the moment your best friend walked into your room without warning, saying the wordswe need to talk, that raised concerns.
So I sat up in a second, and my hands started to shake at the thought that he was about to say what I feared he would for a while now.
I couldn’t lose Reece. He was the only friend I had. Literally. I wasn’t exaggerating.
“Sure, what’s up?” I tried to play it cool, but I knew he could hear the tremor in my voice. He always did.
Reece was next to me in the blink ofan eye, his hand linked with mine. “First, take a deep breath,mi princesa. Stop worrying about me leaving because that’s not going to happen.”
My heart smiled at the nickname. It wasn’t the first time he called me that. In fact, he said it at least a couple of times a day ever since we were like six. Yet it still made me smile every single time.
I did as he said and took a deep breath. In theory, I knew there was nothing that would ever make him run from me. Our shared history was enough to secure me a safe spot in his heart for the rest of our lives, but try telling my anxiety the same thing. No matter how often Reece would reassure me we’d always stay friends, I’d always find a way to doubt it.
“Better?”
“A little.” A smile crept onto my face when I looked at him, and my heart pounded so heavily in my chest when he returned the smile.
I think I might’ve liked him for a while now, but I never wanted to tell him. I still refused to tell him because, again, I didn’t want to ruin our friendship. I saw what admitting feelings to your best friend did to all the girls in my school. They always broke up after a while and never spoke again. Or the other person didn’t feel the same, and now their friendship was ruined for nothing. I simply couldn’t risk that.
“So, what’s up,mon soleil?” I asked, regretting it immediately.
I never called him that before.
“Mon… soleil?” he repeated as his eyebrows shot up. Reece didn’t speak French, but I taught him a few things a while ago.
“I didn’t say anything.” My cheeks felt hot all of a sudden.
Reece’s older brother once told me that the nicknamemysunwas like a trophy in their family. Reece never felt like he earned the right to call me his sun because he was barely alive when Aiden—Reece and Colin’s older brother, who had sadly passed away way before Reece could form coherent thoughts—told his siblings about the meaning of the nickname.
Reece wasn’t going to use it on me, so he came up with his very own, very important and meaningful nickname for me. I figured the significance ofmy sunin the Carter family couldn’t die with Colin. So whether Reece wanted me to or not, I was going to pass it down for him eventually. Our kids would—oh… right. We weren’t a couple…
I had no right calling him that just yet. Or ever.
Reece took a deep breath, his hand loosening in mine. Was he pulling away from me? So, was he lying? No, Reece never lied to me before. He wouldn’t now, either.
“Demi told me what happened between the two of you yesterday,” he said carefully, changing the subject.
I rolled my eyes immediately. Demi, that cunt—sorry, I wasn’t allowed to swear. My father would quite literally have a heart attack if he heard me say that aloud.
“Can she ever shut up?” I pulled my hand away from Reece and moved a bit away from him. He followed me, though, his thigh pressed right against mine.
A tingle formed where our thighs met, and I wished I had magical powers to make these feelings go away. Some of the princesses in movies had cool powers or at least some kind of wand or a witch or fairy supporting them. Why didn’t I?
“You told her she couldn’t speak to me ever again, Brooklyn. That was so not cool.”
He used my full name… Reece only ever did that when he was mad.
A tear rolled down my face almost immediately.Confrontation and I weren’t really good with each other. Others got angry or defensive when confronted with anything, and well, I cried.
