Page 8 of Break Out

Who was that?

Anger bristles inside of me. What did they say to upset her?

“It’s nothing. I’m fine,” she says, waving me off. But she’s not fine. I know her, and I know something’s wrong, so I press her again.

“You don’t seem fine.” I gesture to our waitress that Aubrey needs another glass of wine. She appears at our table with the bottle and fills the glass.

“What’s going on?” I repeat the question.

She shakes her head and rubs her face with her hands. “My mother. She’s disappointed in me. In my choices.”

I rear back, my mouth falling open. How anyone could think Aubrey’s a disappointment is beyond me. She’s got a PhD, and even if she didn’t, she’s anything but a disappointment. She’s kind. Considerate. Thoughtful. She must read the expression on my face because she lets out a small laugh.

“For fuck’s sake. She hasn’t changed, has she?” I grind out. I take a deep breath, willing myself to calm down. I’m not angry at her, of course not. I’m pissed that her mom says these things to her. “Why, Aubrey?”

The waitress arrives with our food. After checking to make sure we have everything we need, she disappears.

“Aubrey,” I prompt when we’re alone again.

She picks up one of her spring rolls, lifting it to her mouth to take a bite. I wait patiently for her to finish chewing, knowing she probably needs the time to get her thoughts together.

“My sister’s wedding is in a month,” she finally says.

I nod.

“It’s all I’ve been hearing about since Clara got engaged. How my youngest sister is getting married and I’m single. Alone. Basically a spinster. Now my mother is insisting that I have a date for the wedding. It won’t look good if her oldest daughter is unattached at the wedding of her youngest daughter. She sent me pictures of potential dates that she’s picked out for me.”

I growl. Aubrey raises her eyebrows at me, but I don’t miss the way her eyes are glassy, and not from alcohol. From the shit her mother is slugging her way. I hate seeing her like this. I hate her mother even more for saying that to her. For fuck’s sake? Can’t she see how wonderful of a person Aubrey is? Having a spouse isn’t going to change her.

“I’ll do it.” The words are out of my mouth before I can think twice about them.

Chapter five

Aubrey

“I’ll do it.”

I stare at him for a couple of seconds, my mouth moving but no sound coming out. I had to have heard him wrong, right? I finally recover enough to ask, “Seriously, Brody? I can’t ask you to do that.”

“You didn’t. I volunteered,” he says, shoving a hand through his brown hair that’s fallen into his eyes. He probably needs a haircut, although I like it when his hair’s a little longer and unkempt. I haven’t seen it this length since high school. Not that it’s that long, it’s just a lot longer than he usually has it.

“It’s not just the wedding.”

“Well, I assumed there was a rehearsal dinner and a couple of nights in Key West.” He shrugs like his volunteering to go as my date is no big deal. “Not like I’m doing anything these days. Plus, you need me.”

“Brody.” My eyes go wide. “It’s a week with my family, his family, plus a whole bunch of other people. There are events and excursions planned. A week, Brod.“ I wave my hand around.

“Oh,” he says, before picking up his spoon and taking a bite of his soup.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” I go back to my food. It was sweet of him to volunteer to go with me, but I knew the minute I mentioned it was a week-long event and not two or three days, he’d back out. I don’t blame him. My family is a lot to handle. Add in my sister’s friends and her fiancé‘s friends, and that’s even more people. I’m sure the last thing he wants to do is spend his downtime with a bunch of people he doesn’t know.

We eat in silence for a few minutes before he surprises me by saying, “It’s fine, Aubrey. The offer still stands. Text me the when and where. I’ll be there.”

“What?” I peek up at him. “I can’t ask you to do that.”

“You didn’t ask me. I offered.”

“Yeah but . . .” I say, at a loss for words.