“Of course,” I said, immediately doing just that.
While Bryn went to grab her purse, I sent my favorite shot to Gabe to prove that I was trying to un-complicate things, as he’d said. A second later, my phone started buzzing with alerts. But when I glanced at it, it wasn’t Gabe. The group chat was blowing up.
(Puck Dynasty GroupChat)
Boone: Damn, Bear. What happened to your fur?
Carson: Is that Bryn? She looks good. Where are you?
Zayn: Doesn’t look like LA.
Boone: Wait. Are you guys together now? Is this a thing?
Zayn: If so, fucking finally.
Carson: Nah. We all know they’re just “friends.”
Boone: At least when they finally admit they’re more than friends, we’ll have the perfect couple’s moniker already picked out. Fryn
Zayn: Brasier
While those jackasses workshopped our couple’s moniker, I scrolled back up and saw that no… No. I hadn’t accidentally sent the picture of Bryn and me to the group chat. Gabe had.Traitor.
I went back to our solo text.
Me: What the fuck, man?
Gabe: What? It’s a good picture.
Gabe: And you’re welcome.
Me: For what?
Gabe: I helped you stake your claim.
I sighed. All the while, my phone kept buzzing. I didn’t even bother to look this time. I didn’t know what to say, so I decided it was best to say nothing.
“Everything okay?” Bryn asked.
Not wanting to let them get in my head, I switched off my phone. I wanted to be completely focused on Bryn. When I glanced up at her, she was watching me with a concerned expression.
“Just the guys talking shit.” I showed her my phone screen now that it was blank. “They won’t bother us now.”
Bryn grabbed her purse, and we were about to leave when she stopped and turned to me. “Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked, uncharacteristically shy.
“Why? Are you having doubts?”
“About you?” She shook her head. “Never. I trust you.”
“I know.” It wasn’t something I took lightly.
I brushed her hair away from her shoulder, loving that I had an excuse to touch her even though no one was around. She smiled, and I found myself smiling back.
“I talked to Allie earlier,” she said, relief threading her words. “She apologized, and we cleared the air.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” I was grateful for it. “Do you feel better?”
She nodded. “I feel like she really listened to me.”
