Unexpected (A best friend romance)

Chapter Four - I will cut it off

Evan

I wake to the sound of Brooke complaining.

“Evan, I swear to God, see if your morning wood digs into my ass for another second, I will cut it off.”

I laugh loudly because it is the same thing any morning, we wake up together. You would think she would be used to it by now. It isn’t like I am doing it on purpose.

“Always so aggressive in the morning, princess.” I tease, poking her side.

She pushes her elbow back, hitting me right in the ribs, “I am not aggressive. You are just a pain in my ass.” She whines.

I love annoying her first thing in the morning because she is always moody, which adds to the fun for me. Brooke goes to move, but I decided that wasn’t going to happen, not just yet anyway. I wrap my arm tighter around her and trap her legs between mine.

“No, stay put. It isn’t time to get up yet.” I protest.

I can’t see her face, but I know she is rolling her eyes at me.

“I don’t even know why I agree to share a bed with you because you are always so f*****g annoying in the morning. Next time you stay, you can stay on the couch, and I will lock my bedroom door so you can’t sneak in during the night.” She is trying to be serious, but a snicker escapes from her lips.

“Because you love me, sweetness. You love our sleepovers, don’t pretend like you don’t.” I say, kissing over her shoulders.

“No, I put up with you. You are like a lost puppy who follows me around, and I can’t tell you no,” she argues.

I unwrap myself from her, but only for a second. I bring her around to face me, slipping my leg back over her to keep her in place. Brooke glares at me; in return, I smile brightly and prod her nose.

“What time do you have classes today?” I ask.

“Not until eleven. Why? Shouldn’t you be working?” she questions.

“I am not working today. I am going to do Saturday instead. Do you want to go out for breakfast? My treat.” I suggest.

“Since you are buying, sure.” She says sweetly.

I reach in, planting a kiss on her forehead, “That is what I thought.”

Brooke grins up at me. I laugh, shaking my head at her reaction. I pull her close to my chest, hugging her, and she happily snuggles in.

“We can move in five minutes.” I didn’t want to get out of bed just yet.

She nods, agreeing with me. She is ready to move, either. I run my fingers up and down her back, and I swear she shudders under my fingertips, or maybe I am imagining it.

“I know I am a pain in your ass, Brooke, but you know I love you, right?” I whisper.

I know I can be over the top sometimes, and I sometimes wonder how Brooke has managed to put up with me for twenty years.

She nuzzles her face to my neck, “Of course I do, Evan. I love you too.”

I am happy she does put up with me because I would be lost without her. Brooke has always been the one constant in my life while everything else changes. She is my favourite person in the entire world, and I couldn’t imagine life without her. I think I forget to make sure she knows what she means to be at times.

We become silent. It is a lovely one, though. I tickle the small of her back because she always enjoys that. If she can’t get to sleep some nights, I do it, and it helps.

Brooke sighs loudly, burying her face deeper into my chest.

“Brooke, are you okay, sweetness?” I ask, concerned.

She lifts her head to look up at me, “Yes, fine. I know we need to move, but I don’t want to.” She pouts.

“Me neither, but I am so damn hungry.”

“You are always hungry. There is no filling you.” She exclaims.

I went to protest but ended up nodding because it was true. I love my food.

I let go of her, knowing we need to make a move. Brooke gets out of bed first and heads for a shower. I turn onto my back, staring at the ceiling. I grab my phone, seeing I have a couple of texts. One is from Tilly I met last night. I wasn’t expecting to hear from her so soon.

I open it to see what she is saying.

Hey, so I am wondering, are you free for either coffee or a drink on Thursday night? x

I rack my brain, trying to work out if I have any plans for that night and realise I don’t.

Good morning. It is nice to hear from you, Tilly. Yeah, I can do Thursday night. Coffee sounds good. I have work early on Friday morning, so no alcohol for me x

Coffee is a good start, and all goes well, then maybe drinks and finally dinner, but we will see how it goes.

Great! We can arrange details closer to the time x

I left the conversation there. I will text her later. I finally pull my ass out of bed, heading to the kitchen for a glass of water. I will hop in the shower after Brooke is done. She shouldn’t take too long. We would go for breakfast, and I will drop her off for her classes.

***

Brooke and I were finishing up our breakfast. Well, she was. I am busy chatting with the pretty waitress. She approached me. It would not have been polite of me to ignore her.

The sound of a chair scraping along the floor distracts me. I turn around and see Brooke standing and gathering her things.

“Where are you going?” I ask, confused.

Brooke didn’t answer me. Instead, she took money from her purse, lying it on the table, slung her bag over her shoulder and walked out. What the f**k?

“Did you say she was your friend?” the waitress asks, and I nod, “Why is she so mad then?”

“I have no idea, but I need to go. I am sorry.” I toss cash on the table to cover the rest of the bill and rush out after her.

I can’t see her, though. She has vanished. Where the heck did she go? I take my phone from my pocket, calling her, but she rejects my call. I sigh, opening a text to her.

What was all that about? Are you mad at me? If you are, I am sorry x

I stare at the screen, and it comes up as read, but no reply comes. Yip, she is pissed off at me. I guess it is because I was supposed to be having breakfast with her, and I spent the last fifteen minutes ignoring her. I felt like an asshole because I shouldn’t have done that.

I will give her time to calm down and call her later to apologise. I never used to do s**t like this. If I was out with Brooke, my attention was entirely on her, but now it seems like I get distracted by other women and ignore her. I seriously am a s**t best friend!

I groan in frustration, slipping my phone back into my pocket. I will make it up to her, one way or another.