Page 69 of What If We Break?
Brooke stepped closer to me, keeping her voice down as she said, “They’re your friends.”
“This is college,Brooke. And we were at a party,” I began. “We’re no longer in middle school where hiding in another room means you’re pissed off at your friends. Finding a room with someone else now means you’re hooking up.”
“I’m sorry…” Regret glistened in her eyes as she looked at me. “Reece, I swear, I didn’t?—”
“I know.” It took everything in me not to drop the tray just to hug and kiss my fiancée. “You’re too pretty to cheat on me.”
Brooke’s mouth opened and closed again, blinking at me.
“Seriously. Guys are intimidated by beauty,” I added, forcing myself not to laugh at my speechless Brooke.
As we reached our friends, I set the tray on the table and Brooke seemed to have found her voice again. Sliding into the booth, she frowned at me. “You weren’t intimidated by me.”
I took my fries off the tray. “You weren’t…”
Brooke stole my fries, holding them over the floor and threatening to drop them. “Finish your sentence, Carter. I dare you.”
“What did Reece’s fries do to you?” Ming asked, then shoved his veggie burger right into his mouth.
“He was going to say I wasn’t pretty when we met.”
“So not true,” I vetoed, crossing my arms over my chest. “I was going to say that you just weren’t intimidating, is all. My love for you was bigger than your empty threats. After all, I was ready to marry you right on the spot, remember?”
Honestly, I couldn’t remember, but Colin told me that one of the first things I ever said to Brooke—aside from baby blabber—was: “We’re getting married tomorrow.” Tomorrow was now eighteen years ago, but technically, I never clarifiedwhichtomorrow it was going to be. Obviously, I meant tomorrow in twenty years.
Brooke laid my fries back down on the tray, then had the audacity to steal one and pop it right into her mouth. She had her own fries.
“Even your fights are adorable.” Ming sighed, then looked at Rina. “I promise, my queen, I’ll love you like these two idiots love each other.”
“Oh, my God.” Rina laughed, covering her face with her hands. “Just eat your burger, Ming. And stop annoying me.”
“As you wish.”
Rina took a sip of her sprite, then snapped her fingers once before turning her head to look at Ming. “And, please, stop flirting with me. You’ll regret it.”
I sorta felt like Brooke and I weren’t supposed to be here for this. Basically all our lives, people were third-wheeling us… it felt weird being on the other side for once.
Was this still third-wheeling if Rina was about to turn Ming down?
“Why? Because you’d fall in love with me too quickly?” Ming retorted.
Rina shook her head. “I’m not made for relationships.”
“Why not?” Brooke asked, reading my mind. If she hadn’t asked, I would have. “Relationships are great. Well, minus the fights.”
“Yeah… except when you’re the kind of person who doesn’t want to be at home all day every day,” Rina said, now playing with her food. “I couldn’t imagine not going on a new date every weekend. I need the thrill. And relationships are just… boring. What’s there to do? You already know each other, and dates are just not that new anymore. They’re not exciting—if they happen in the first place. After a while, the exciting crush feeling goes away and all that’s left ischoosingto love the other person. You see their flaws and get annoyed more easily. I mean, some couples don’t even make it past the first three months because they were too stupidly in love to see the flaws right away. If all I see in my partner is their flaws, and maybe get a glimpse of the person I fell in love with every once in a blue moon, what’s the point? It sounds like a nightmare to me.”
“Relationships don’t have to be boring,” Ming muttered, the confidence in his tone far gone.
“No? Take Brooke and Reece as an example.” She gestured toward us. “If it weren’t for you begging Reece to come to a party, they would’ve spent all day inside their apartment, watching TV or something. What’s there even to talk about anymore? They’ve been together since they were kids. I don’t see how they could find a single topic to discuss other than picking fights. They love each other, you don’t even have to look at them to see it, and while that’s adorable, it’s just… not exciting. I’m happy for them, but that’s not what I want for me. They’re choosing to love each other. They’re choosing to stay together. And to be honest, if you really think about it, how unlikely was it for them to fall in love? When everyone in their lives was rooting for them, don’t you think it’s more manipulation and the fear of what their families would think if they broke up that’s keeping them together?”
Rina’s eyes ripped open when she realized what she’d just said, but it was too late to take back.
I could feel my breath getting caught in my lungs, but despite wanting to gasp, my entire system just shut down and left my head empty.
Everything inside of me tried fighting the intrusion of a thought I had refused to entertain ever since Brooke and I got together.
Sure, every once in a while I wondered if we really fell in love because we liked each other or if it was pushed upon us. However, every time that thought entered my mind, I shook it off because I didn’t want to believe, not even for a single second, that Brooke could’ve ended up with some other guy if our families hadn’t been so close.
