Page 84 of Salvage Him
He kissed the back ofherneck.
She giggled and ducked away from him with a bottle of champagne in her hand. She smiled at me and then headed into the living room to refillglasses.
I turned back to Justin. What's with the scowl onhisface?
He pointed at hisoffice.
"Hey man—"Isaid.
He shushed me, ushered me into his office, and closedthedoor.
"What's Brittany doing here?" heasked.
"Seth told me to bring her," Ianswered.
Justin ran his hands through his hair and down his face. The scowlremained.
"You have something against Brittany?" I narrowedmyeyes.
"Brooklyn's coming," he said as if I should haveknown.
"What the fuck?" I yelled, and he shushed me again. "How doyouknow?"
"She called me from the airport this afternoon." Justin shrugged his shoulders. "We started talking about the house, and I invited her withoutthinking."
My insides flipped. That was twice she'd called Justin to share her plans andnotme.
"So. She's coming. That's fine." I peered out the window as if I could see her pulling up. "She's married, and I'm with Brittany, soit'sfine."
The doorbell rang. We jumped and stood stock-still for a good fewminutes.
Brooklyn hadarrived.
"Oh, fuck. This is bad," Justin said as he walked back tohisdesk.
I shook my head. We were all adults. I squared my shoulders, stretched my neck, and headed for the door. Nothing had changed. I was with Brittany, and Brooklyn wasunavailable.
I shook out my shoulders and openedthedoor.
Brooklyn's laughter hit me inthegut.
My chesttightened.
"What the fuck?" Justin asked. He scooted around me and reached forthedoor.
I grabbedhisarm.
"I can't go out there,"Isaid.
"You have to." The expression on his face took me back to when wewerekids.
I shookmyhead.
Justin straightened my shirt, patted me on the chest, and opened the door. We all jumped when Seth appeared in thedoorway.
He scooted into the room and closed the doorbehindhim.
"Dude. What the fuck’s Brooklyn doing here?" Sethasked.
