“I know, Brodie. I heard and saw everything.” The words flowed out of me in a rush.
“What do you mean saw?” Brodie questions. His head tilts slightly in confusion. He hesitates on his words, not realizing it’s obvious he’s trying to hide the truth.
At one point, I would have thought this adorable as his eyebrows pulled together and his lips thin. Such amazing lips that I could never get enough of at one point. Now all I see is deceit, waiting to spew out the next lie. I pull out my phone and show him the video. His face fills with rage.
“Someone fucking sent that to you?” he screams, not bothering to hide his anger.
“I'm assuming that is a rhetorical question, Brodie.” I’m beyond annoyed. Why is he even mad? “So, I guess you weren’t in a committed relationship with me after all, huh? This between us was just killing time for you? Gave you something to do when you were in town?”
He looks shocked by my outburst as if my words were a physical slap to the face. “No, Liv!” You were always it for me. I have been faithful. That”—he points at my phone—“was a horrible drunken mistake.”
I hold up my hand to stop him as he attempts to come closer. “No, Brodie. You can’t use the excuse of being drunk. We worked through all that, remember? All the NA meetings. Will you use that as an excuse the next time it happens? Who knows if this is even the first time that this has happened? I wouldneverhave done this to you. Maybe I cared more about you than you did about me.” The words pour out before I can stop them. “How could I ever trust you now?”
He looks down at his feet like a toddler who was just scolded. “I’m so sorry, Liv. I never meant to hurt you. I would give anything to erase that mistake. You’re my best friend, and I feel like I’m dying inside right now.” His eyes fill with tears, and I turn to walk away. Not wanting to see his tears fall. He grabs my hand, yanking me back. “Please, give me another chance Liv, to prove to you that I’m sorry.”
I shake my head back and forth, “No, Brodie, it’s over.” This time, when I turn to walk away, he lets me.
The walk back to where my friends are standing is painful. Emma immediately notices my somber mood and takes my hand.
“I take it you talked to Brodie about last night?” she asks.
I tell her what happened to explain that I came face to face with the girl from the video.
“No!” she gasps, covering her mouth in shock.
“Oh yes,” I sniff, barely holding back tears. “Brodie told her it was a mistake. I overheard their conversation. She also told me to enjoy her leftovers or something to that effect. I don’t remember the exact words because I was trying to make my brain keep up with what was happening.”
“Whoa,” is all that manages to come out of Emma’s mouth. “That’s crazy, girl. What happened next?” she replies eagerly awaiting the next juicy detail.
“He told me it was a mistake and was drunk-impaired.” I make air quotes for emphasis.
Emma knows Brodie’s history, and I can tell by her facial expression that she isn’t buying that story either. “Oh, usingthatexcuse, is he?” she mutters. “Like drinking and bad choices are a medical condition of his. He also doesn’t want us to be over. He wanted me to give him another chance which of course, I denied him. I mean, I could never do that, right?” She looks resigned but agrees. “Do you think you can trust him again?”
I look at her, and with absolute certainty, I say, “No, I told him it was over.”
“Well, all hell.” Emma shakes her head. “What about this Dax guy? A spring break fling, then?”
“I’m not sure,” I tell her. But as my heart picks up a little, I know I want to find out.
It is starting to get late as the evening approaches. The sky is streaked with beautiful shades of blue mixed along with pink hues. I go to search for Dax, hoping to spot him. Ineedto find him. His friends are still around, so I know he is here somewhere. I look over to where they are parked and see him sitting in the same chair he was in when I first pulled up to the beach. “Wicked Game”by Chris Isaak, fills the speakers.
I go over to talk to him. He’s all alone and seems to be deep in thought. He sees me approach, and a hint of a smile crosses his lips. I walk up to him and sit in the chair he motions to.
“I was wondering where you went.” He lifts one eyebrow, places his sunglasses over his head, and looks at me. “I went looking for you but saw you were talking to a guy. You looked pretty upset. I came back over here to give you some privacy.”
I nod my head in acknowledgment. “How much did you hear?”
He sits up, leaning his hands over his legs, bringing him closer to me. “Enough that I could tell you without reservation that there isn’t enough alcohol in the world to make me see anyone else but you.”
The way that he looks at me makes me want to believe him. Is it possible to feel love at first sight for someone? All that fairy tale shit that little girls grow up to dismiss because it is just too good to be true.
“Can I have your number, Liv?”
I stare at him. I look down and quickly lift my chin back to look at him.
“I would like a chance to get to know you. I don’t think I will be able to stop thinking about you after just a couple of days.”
He must see the hesitation in my eyes because he says, “Not all guys are like that.”
