Crushed (Torn #7)(45)

It wasn’t necessarily lying, I thought. Come to think of it, I did like Carter in every sense of the word. He had an amiable personality, and after getting to know him more in Athens, I was glad our friendship had blossomed into something more meaningful. So, in some ways, it wasn’t a white lie; it depended on how the counterpart perceived it, which wasn’t difficult to decipher given how strongly he had reacted to me staying in Carter’s bedroom.

Therefore, his doom and gloom didn’t come as a surprise. Also just as I expected, Brody released me as if he had just discovered I had cholera.

I still had my back against him, so I wasn’t sure what was going on with him, but from the sounds he was making, he felt like a ticking time bomb, ready to explode.

“Brody?” I croaked out meekly, knowing I had crossed the line with him, but it couldn’t be helped. He was asking for something I couldn’t give him.

Instead of responding to me, I felt his body shift before I heard the shuffle of the sheets and him sliding off the bed. Only then did I choose to turn my body to look at him, and the moment I did, I felt my heart break from the stone-like expression that greeted my eyes.

“Where do you think you’re going? We’re in the middle of a discussion,” I huffed out, perplexed at his harshness towards me by choosing to ignore me. Then, if I wasn’t shocked enough, he immediately got dressed with him barely buttoning his pants before he walked out of the room.

Maybe it was low blow to throw Carter’s name in the midst of this, given that the man had been kind enough to let me use his place while he was in training in Brazil, and there I was, stretching my welcome by using his name to make his best friend think I had my sights set on the well-known stud.

In a most tiresome manner, I slid out of bed, pondering what I should do. Should I seek him out and apologize or get on with my life just as I had planned, with Brody hating me from a distance? I wasn’t sure what I wanted from him. Apart from wanting to have a meaningful life instead of pining for this unrequited love, I knew I didn’t want a distorted relationship with him.

Plucking his abandoned shirt from the floor, I hastily dressed myself in it, deeply inhaling his amazing, familiar scent while doing so.

“If this was any other man…” I muttered to myself, knowing full well that I wasn’t going to intentionally hurt him and not apologize about it. I might not admit to the falseness of my insinuations, but I could at least say I was in the wrong for ever uttering some shitty stuff to him.

I left Carter’s room and paved my way across the hall to Brody’s bedroom. If he wasn’t in his room, he would most likely be in the kitchen, making coffee, and if he wasn’t there … Well, I supposed my apology could wait until whenever I encountered him next, which I was almost sure wasn’t far away.

Upon reaching his bedroom, I didn’t even give the courtesy of knocking. I simply had the balls to barge inside in an aggressive manner, ready to continue our argument. However, as I charged in his room, I found him sitting on his bed with his soles planted on the floor, elbows sitting on each of his thighs, and still bearing the sour, * face he had left me with minutes ago, and it took some of the wind out of my sails, dissipating my anger a bit. Much to my dismay, he only stared at me, waiting for me to say something, as if I was the last person he wanted to see.

“Listen…” I started, licking my lips while I pondered the next word to say as I took in his blatant dislike of me. “About what I said earlier about Carter, I’m sorry for that.”

He threw me a blank face. “It’s already forgotten. Anything else? ‘Cause I have somewhere to go.”

Well, that was quick.

“I thought—I thought you were taking me out on a date.” It wasn’t as though I was fishing for another invitation; it was merely out of curiosity because his swift actions were boggling my mind. Though I didn’t want it to bother me, it was hard not to. I cared too much.

“I changed my mind.”

“Where are you going? Are you taking someone else out now because I pissed you off about Carter; is that it?” It was a common theme to people who didn’t take rejection or competition lightly. They went out there again in the blink of an eye to catch someone who would supply some nourishment to their depleted ego. Heck, it was my strategy time and time again after he would cast me aside once he didn’t need me. I had to admit that it was bizarre to see the situation reversed for a change. In a f*uked up way, it was kind of refreshing. Again, in the most f*uked up of ways.

The mere mention of Carter’s name was a dead giveaway on how he hated me saying his best friend’s name. It was twisted, I knew, but the dark side of me liked seeing him react in a jealous way to Carter, because it was a first coming from him. It was satisfying to serve him the same dish he had served me all these years.

“I’m done talking, Amber,” he said in a dismissive manner, insinuating I leave his room.

Anyone who knew Brody knew him to be a well-liked person. He always had a great smile on hand, and he had a way of making someone feel instantly comfortable in his presence, even if you had just met, so this reaction—the jerk attitude and all that entailed—was a different part to him, one I had never gotten the chance to see, since it was reserved for people he was passionate for. Apparently, I had finally managed to score a spot on his romantic agenda after years of waiting.