Page 27 of My Rose

Minnie was in town a few days after Thanksgiving, and my excitement was overflowing. It’d been months since I’d seen her last.

We became friends rather quickly during our senior year of high school, probably because she was almost the polar opposite ofme, and opposites tended to attract. She was confident, had beautiful tanned skin and the prettiest honey eyes that she used to her advantage at every party we went to, and knew how to work a crowd, a room, or really anyone. Extroverted was a good word to encompass her personality. Extremely extroverted. Minnie and I shared one class during our senior year, physics, which we both hated, but she managed to pass with flying colors. On the other hand, I struggled, so I asked her to tutor me because no one else seemed approachable.

And that was that.

When she included in her text that she had exciting news and we had a lot to catch up on, I was almost surprised she chose to meet up at a diner instead of some club outside of town. Maybe she did it as a courtesy—a club was moreherscene than mine. I didn’t tell her I had any news of my own because I honestly had no idea where I stood with Briggs. He kissed me, and now all I could think about was his mouth on mine, the way it felt to straddle his lap, and the feel of his muscled arms holding me to him. I didn’t think I’d be able to stomach talking about him with the amount of conflict churning through my mind, so the dinner would be all about Minnie and whatever she’d been up to since she left Shuster Springs.

It had been snowing for almost a week on and off now, the ground coated in white, not-so-fluffy snow that couldn’t decide if it would melt or continue to pile up. Thankfully, the bus still had operational hours to at least get me to the diner. It would mean I’d be walking home, but at least I didn’t forget my down jacket this time. A jacket that noticeably lacked that sweet citrus and rain smell I really liked even though it reminded me of rough, warm hands leaving myskin and the radio-silent treatment I received since that night. Four nights, to be exact. It had been four nights since I kissed Briggs, or really since he kissed me, and my lips still burned with an intensity I couldn’t fathom.

The ride to the diner was only about fifteen minutes, with two bus stops in between. The bus came to its third stop, right across from the small diner, and I jumped out and made my way to the other side of the road. I could tell by the few cars in the parking lot that behind the closed blinds of the restaurant, there weren’t many people inside. I also had no idea what kind of car Minnie was driving, or if she could even afford a car because she didn’t come from money like August did, who received a car for his birthday when he turned sixteen, or like Briggs, who apparently could afford a small country.

Minnie was waving from a booth in the back, her hair tied up in a topknot with strands falling down the sides of her face and a full face of makeup that would have intimidated me if she wasn’t my best friend. “Min!” I ran to her as she stood, and we hugged for possibly a full minute.

“Girl, look at you! Have I been gone that long? You look amazing!” She pushed on my forearms as we separated, her eyes bright as they danced over my face. “Really, Rose. You’re like, glowing and shit.”

“Thanks?” I slid into the booth across from her and shrugged my jacket off, tucking it beside me on the bench, then reached for one of the three glasses of water. “Is someone else here, or are you hungover?” It wasn’t a rude question—Minnie was tiny, hence thenickname she adored me to use, yet when she was hungover, you’d never know it. Somehow, her tolerance was higher than mine.

She shook her head, then her gaze snapped above my shoulder, and the cutest smile filled her face. I turned to see an older yet super attractive man with red hair walking up to our booth. “Rose, this is Dean.” Dean slid into the booth beside her, and she squealed as he placed a gentle kiss on her cheek that tinged with red when he pulled away.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Rose.” Dean’s hand moved across the table, which I took immediately. His hands reminded me of Briggs instantly, but I don’t think Jasmine noticed my slight trepidation when I pulled back. Her eyes were glued to the man sitting beside her, his dark brown eyes melting at the sight of each other.

“Did you two meet at Columbia?” Yep. Jasmine was accepted into Columbia on a full-ride scholarship. Her community outreach program caught their attention early. I guess cleaning up most of Shuster Springs and painting buildings on the weekends is a big selling point for Ivy Leagues.

Dean’s auburn brow raised in Jasmine’s direction as she shook her head. “No, Rose. I uh…I wanted to tell you during one of our phone calls that I’m taking a year off, but I guess I was too scared to. I met Dean over the summer and…I wanted to take the year to figure out some things.” Their fingers twined on the table. “And I’m really happy about that decision.”

“No need to explain.” I took a sip of my water, my throat suddenly running dry. I cleared my throat before adding, “I’m so happy for you, Min.” My smile was genuine, but inside, a hollow pitwas forming in my stomach. The bench I was sitting on dipped to my left, and I almost jumped when I saw Briggs sliding in beside me.

“Briggs, this is—”

“Rose. I’m familiar.”Familiar.That he was. Too familiar. He turned to me, his eyes latching onto my lips before meeting my eyes. My stomach started doing insane flips as that stupid citrus scent enveloped me. I could feel the heat spreading across my body, most noticeably on my cheeks, where they felt like they were on fire.

Jasmine glanced between us, and a smile grew so large that her eyes crinkled together. Her shoulder nudged into Dean’s. “Rose, can you come with me to the bathroom?”

“Sure.” My voice came out soft and broken. Briggs was already standing, making room for me to exit the booth and join Jasmine before she could move and shuffle past Dean. She was practically on his lap anyway, so I didn’t expect Dean to move for her like Briggs had for me. He was probably trying not to touch me in any way, shape, or form because he was the one who pushed me away that night, and he was the one who ended whatever it was we were doing.

The door of the bathroom clicked, and Jasmine slid the lock into place. “Okay, what the fuck was that?”

“What do you mean?”

Jasmine scoffed. “Don’t play dumb, Rose. You are the smartest person I know.”

That was a load of crap—shewas the smartest person she knew. But I sighed and answered, “Like he said, we’re familiar. I already know him. I’d rather hearabout—”

“Uh-uh, girl. I’ve only met Briggs once, but the way he was looking at you made me think he was going to rip your clothes off.”Really?I thought that look was more like disgust. Like he couldn’t believe he let himself kiss me. He probably took pity on the poor, damaged, orphan girl the other night and regretted it ever since.

“What? No, it’s not like that. He’s given me rides a few times. We’re friends. That’s it.”Lies.

“You are lying through your teeth, Rose.”Yep. Sure am.

I diverted. “You know how I feel about August.”

“Pfft. August Coleman is a tool. You know it, the whole fucking town knows it.”

“He is not—he’s a good guy.” I rolled my lips in, trying to think of all the good things he’d done recently, but I was coming up blank. The only things that stood out were the way he never apologized for standing me up at the theater weeks ago or even gave a reason for it and how he had yet to text or call to hang out and show me the new song he’d worked on—not that I was that interested in hearing it anymore. What I did want to hear was the groan I heard leave Briggs that night, but he’d never let that happen again.

“Right. Maybe all these years, you just loved theideaof him. Not him. Can you name one thing about him that keeps you awake at night? I can give you a list right now of everything Dean makes me feel and how he does it. He can do this one thing with his tongue that is in-fucking-sane, girl. Like, mind-blowing.” I nodded, going completely silent as I tried to think of anything to support my feelings about August. “Thought so, Rose. He’s no goodfor you.”

I scoffed, because isn’t that what Briggs said about himself? “Just because I can’t think of anything off the top of my head doesn’t mean I don’t have my reasons.”

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