Wild Nights With My Brother’s Ex-Best Friend novel Chapter 57

NICOLE

I stare out the window of Mason’s car while his eyes are straight ahead.

We haven’t said a single thing to each other since he picked me up like ten minutes ago. I know what he’s thinking, though, and he’s just waiting for the perfect opportunity to start talking. I would’ve volunteered the information, but I’m just not in the mood to talk right now.

I’ve had one of the shittiest nights of my entire life. Can I be blamed?

At last, he breaks the silence. He starts by shaking his head. “I told you Esmeralda—”

“Please, Mason,” I begin in a pleading voice, “I don’t want to talk about her. Tomorrow, I’ll tell you what happened, but right now, I just have to process all this shit.”

I feel his eyes on me. “What else happened?”

There’s no way I’m going to tell him what happened between me and Roman. Gosh, that was so bad. I feel like the wounds I’ve been working on for weeks have reopened and are starting to bleed. I really didn’t want to see him again.

“Fine,” my brother says. “But only because it’s four in the morning and I’m tired as shit, too. You’re going to tell me what happened. It’s the only way that you’ll be able to repair this massive favor I’m doing for you.”

A smile tugs at the corners of my lips despite everything. Mason. There’s just no one quite like him.

“I’m sorry

about this,” I tell him. “I know you had this meeting tomorrow, even though it’s Saturday. I just didn’t know what else to do.”

Mason got to the hotel in three hours and ten minutes, which means he was going pretty fast. I didn’t know what else to do or where to go. Any other form of transportation would’ve been too expensive for me, and as I said before, there was no way I’d be able to afford a room.

“I’ll make it in time. We’ll get back at around seven, seven–thirty, and the meeting’s at eight. That means I’ll have time to shower and have a cup of really strong coffee before getting there.”

God. I feel so bad.

When he glances at me, he has a smile on his face. “Don’t worry. I’ll sleep after the meeting. What are siblings for, anyway?”

Love for my brother swells inside of me. I genuinely don’t know what I’d do without him. I turn my head and stare out the window. The sky’s almost pitch black, and the lights from the cars driving past us are blinding.

I try not to think about Roman, but it’s haunting me, and his words pop into my mind even though I don’t want them to.

Of course, entertaining all this is wrong, but I can’t help but think about it nonetheless…what if he wasn’t lying and Haley truly made up the whole thing?

What would such a thing even mean?

It would be catastrophic, that’s what, but I don’t believe it because Haley is a good person. She’s always been by my side, and she’s good to Mason. I’ve known her for years. I live with her.

Wouldn’t I have noticed it if she were faking her whole personality? Because that’s what he suggested she was doing.

No, I don’t buy it at all. I’m an idiot for even second–guessing Haley’s intentions.

That would make her the worst person in the world.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asks, folding her arms. “Something serious must’ve happened if you called him at one in the morning to pick you up.”

I rub my forehead. “Yeah. It was pretty complicated.”

“But you’re sure you’re fine?”

I’m not, I realize. I’ve been answering them without truly thinking about what I was saying. I’m not alright. But I lie to her anyway. “Yeah, don’t worry. Sorry about the mess.”

“You don’t have to apologize for that. He’s your brother.”

We part ways, and I enter my bedroom. I have this sudden urge to cry, but then I suddenly remember Katie. God, I have to call her and offer to visit her. It’s a great thing that my plans with Esmeralda went down the drain. I thought about visiting her this weekend and didn’t even remember the trip.

But now, I have the chance, so why not? I don’t want to think about what happened, and if I stay here, that’s all I’ll do.

I open my bag and fish my phone out. Then, I call her.

She answers right away, and just the sound of her voice makes me feel a hell of a lot better.