The broken, sad girl who nobody picked wants her friend back. She needs that hug.
I need that hug.
I could also choose to leave him hanging, to humiliate him the way he humiliated me.
But I’m a better person than he is. I treat people the way they deserve to be treated. Hell, even better than they deserve to be treated.
So I go for the hug.
I extend my arms as we get closer, sliding them under his arms and banding them behind his back.
He cups the back of my head as he holds me close, using the strength of his beefy arms to squeeze me even harder.
Am I reading too much into this? The hug feels genuine. Affectionate. Apologetic, even.
I haven’t hugged Brodie in years. We didn’t hug when he went off for college because we’d already fallen apart. He wasn’t around when I went to college. And every time I came home, I avoided him like the plague.
We were kids when we last hugged. Some aspects of this feel the same. Some things are entirely different. I didn’t fully get breasts until college, and they keep my chest from getting closer to him. I’m definitely thicker than I was and so is he.
But he’s still my Brodie and I’m trying so hard not to get wrapped up in what that means and just cling to this moment.
Peopleapplaud. I’m sure it’s for him, but for just a moment, I pretend it’s forus.
“You chose me,” I whisper.
I feel more than see his nod. “I should have chosen you every time, Ari.”
A shot of warmth pulses through me, but I haven’t lost sight of the fac that we’re not alone.
“Everyone’s watching,” I murmur.
“I have to go back to the station. Wanna come hang out?”
Oh,nowhe wants to hang out? Was Kyle Connors going to be there to slam the door in my face like in high school?
I come up with an excuse. “I have to take Granny and Richard home. I’ll go back to my seat.”
Brodie squeezes my hands as we part. “I want my date tomorrow. Okay?”
I nod. “Okay. Tomorrow.”
He winks as he walks backward toward the exit. I float back to my seat on a very confused cloud.
Does this make up for everything? It kind of feels like it does. He showed me affection in public. He claimed me, which he would never have done before.
But did all those people bid on me out of pity? Did he? Am I some charity case, and now everyone can feel good about themselves for finally not treating me like shit?
I should have chosen you every time.
It’s a nice sentiment, but it’s easy to say that when the stakes aren’t high. We aren’t in the pressure cooker that is high school.
And yet, $600 is a lot of dollars. How much do firefighters even make?
I focus on looking normal to the people behind me while the last few auctions take place. It ends with an auction of one of the Boom Brothers, Iris’s storm-chasing boyfriends. They’re all cute, but he’s the young, extra-cute one, and he gives away a local storm-chasing adventure that none of us hopes becomes necessary.
The highest bidder? Their cowboy-looking boyfriend with his hat pulled low to hide his searing-hot face.
TEN
