Page 13 of My Rose

It felt much better not wasting my time at a party that was getting me nowhere.

Instead of admitting that, I replied, “How’d you know that’s what I was doing? Maybe I was just watching your friend and her ridiculous dance moves.”

Briggs snorted. “She did look ridiculous.” He slid his hands into his jean pockets, slowing his strides to match mine. I cleared my throat, waiting for him to answer the other part of what I said, butwhen he didn’t, I started to fumble with my fingers.Was it always that transparent that I was watching August?

He finally broke the silence. “It’s kind of obvious—you, watching him. I think even he can see it, though I may be giving him too much credit in saying that.” His jaw flexed, and because I was still wearing his jacket, and his clothes were so well tailored to his body, I could see his black button-down stretch where his arm muscles tensed.

My voice hitched. “You think he knows?”

“I think whether he knows or not isn’t important. What’s important is that he’s an idiot for either one of those being true.” His green eyes latched onto mine before he dragged them down to my lips and then pulled away to look at the trees. We weren’t close to a street light, so maybe I was seeing things. And I was definitely tipsy. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be talking about August so openly with someone I barely knew.

I mulled over what he was saying wordlessly, my cheeks heating along with the rest of my body as I thought about the possibility of him watching my mouth and admitting August was an idiot for not taking any kind of action when it came to me. That is what he was saying, wasn’t it? I flapped the edges of Briggs’ jacket, trying to catch a breeze beneath it to cool my skin.

“Can I ask what you see in him or is that—”

“No,” I replied immediately, shutting that question down even as it bounced around in my head, seeking an answer I didn’t have.

“He doesn’t deserve to be given the time of day by you.” Briggs’ confidence was coming off as arrogance, and the shots weren’t helping. I could be an angry drunk at times unless I was with my friendMinnie. Then I was admittedly pretty fun. It really depended on who I was with, and Briggs was quickly working his way towards the wrong end of that spectrum.

“Excuse me? And what about you, huh? Who takes a girl likethatto a party and says that’s their friend?” August wouldn’t have a friend that looked like that. He hooked up with girls like her and tried to hide it from me, not that I had a right to care that much about it because we were only friends, and he was free to do whatever he wanted. August reminded me of that fact often.

Briggs shrugged. “She’s my ex.”

My mouth popped open at his honesty before I snapped it shut. “Uhuh. So, you brought your ex-girlfriend to a party, to what, babysit her for no reason?” I raised my voice two octaves higher, making me sound jealous. But it was the alcohol.

He rubbed his lips in. “Actually, yes.”

“What does that even mean?” I folded my arms over my chest, trying to ignore the fact that I was still wearing his jacket as that citrus smell wafted up with my movement.Had she worn this jacket before, too? Why the hell did I care?

“That she’s my ex, or that I’m babysitting her?” His eyebrow cocked as we walked beneath a streetlight. He wasn’t fumbling over his words or shying away from answering my questions, and instead of making me more angry, it was almost…unnerving. August was never this forthcoming with me and I expected Briggs to go silent. But he didn’t.

“Both, if you’re being all Mr. Honesty and all.” Neither were any of my business.

He let out a chuckle, a soft indent along his cheek popping out in the moonlight as we moved further away from the artificial lights. His fingers slid through his hair, and as his watch glinted in that same moonlight that made his dimple more evident, I wondered if he was still keeping track of the remaining hour he said he had left.

“She cheated on me. A lot, actually. It was a long time ago. And her father is my father’s business partner. So yes, I’m babysitting her.” For someone being so honest, I felt like there were holes in what he was telling me. And the way he said ‘father’ was riddled with spite. Almost like he rehearsed saying it publicly but still couldn’t fight how the word made him feel.

“That’s it? She cheated on you and now you have to watch her act like that in front of other guys? Doesn’t that bother you?”

He rolled his eyes. “Not at all. We have almost nothing in common, andhonestly, I can only stand being near her for a few minutes at a time. It’s always been like that.”

My nose scrunched up. “I think I may need more shots for how sorry I feel for you right now. Which is a lot. I’m such an asshole, and I’m so sorry.” I couldn’t hide the giggle that escaped me. I shouldn’t have laughed at what he said, but he didn’t seem hurt at all in bringing up what had happened between them. If anything, he seemed at ease.

“You apologize a lot for your actions. You shouldn’t.”

I bit down on my lip, but couldn’t help apologizing one more time. “Sorry.”

He laughed and I kind of wanted to hear it again. The way my body kept reacting to his words was making my brain warp. So muchso that I didn’t notice we’d almost made a complete lap around August’s neighborhood and were nearing what I remembered to be Briggs’ car outside of the neighbor’s house.

“Why’d you park all the way over here?”

He glanced between his car and where I stood beside it. “Do you always ask whatever comes to your head?”

“I don’t have the best filter.”

“Good.” He took a few steps closer to me, his eyes tracking over my lips as they parted.

“Good?”