Unbroken (15 page)

Kelsey shakes her head like she doesn’t even understand how attraction erupted when our first encounter ended with me basically attacking him. Me, I don’t bother explaining to her, because she wouldn’t understand. The only person besides Bianca who
knows
knows is Henry, because he was my only friend when I first got to Valley.

“Enrique,” I say, calling him by his given name rather than the name he chooses to go by. I’m the only one allowed to call him that. “Enrique, Brody is Lewellyn’s Guy.”

Kelsey’s gaze darts between the two of us, and a scowl appears when neither of us stops to explain. It deepens further when a smile erupts on Henry’s face.

“Fuck no!” He’s shocked, as was I when Brody walked into
Le Chateau D’If
for the first time. “How do you
know
know it’s him?”

“I just…
know
. The same feeling I got two years ago is the one I got when he stumbled into my workplace. And it’s his eyes. It’s all in his eyes and the way they look like home to me, in his stride and the way it’s so…unsure. It’s everything and nothing and I want him
so
bad like you wouldn’t believe.”

He raises an eyebrow as Kelsey snarls. She hates being out of the loop.

So maybe I’m fucking with her a little bit and leaving her out of it on purpose.

Henry leans forward some more. “How bad?”

“As bad as Little Brucie wanted Ms. Trunchbull’s chocolate cake.”

“Holy fucking shit! Start from the beginning, and don’t leave out a single detail!”

For the next three hours, I explain in vivid detail what happened with Brody, from recapping how we met in the first place to him calling me ‘Dove’ half an hour ago. Kelsey picks everything apart with a fine-toothed comb, and Henry clashes his opinion with hers as he tells what he sees and feels from a guy’s perspective. By the time I’m done going over our little lust story for the millionth time with them, I think I know what I want to do.

“So you say he called you ‘Dove’?” Henry asks. “What does that even mean?”

Now it’s Kelsey’s turn to chime in. “Well, I was reading this book the other day called
Walking Disaster
, and Travis calls Abby ‘Pidge’.”

I roll my eyes. “Brody is
not
Travis Maddox. And he’s not the type of guy who says things just to say them. What I know of him so far is that he’s a man of few words. He won’t use his words unless he means them. If he called me that, he did it for a reason. I just don’t know what that reason is.”

I know my best bet is to ask Brody what he meant by the nickname, but I haven’t had my fun until I’ve let my two closest friends analyze everything to death.

“If you know him so well, why don’t you tell us what he means by it, then?” Kelsey asks.

I roll my eyes in her general direction. She’s been making snide comments toward me ever since I broke up with Maddox. Her insecurities always shine when I’m single. I’m always secure in my relationships with people as long as they’re upfront and honest about their feelings for me. It sucks that my relationship with Kelsey is anything but.

“You might want to watch yourself. I love Henry, but that doesn’t mean I won’t kick your ass a second time.”

“I was just saying that—”

“I’ll see you guys later. I’ll be over there, enjoying much better company.” I turn to Henry as I stand up and gesture for him to follow me. He glances momentarily between the two of us. He takes in the grimace on Kelsey’s face, and the glower on mine, and he wisely chooses to follow me. He knows how I can get when shit hits the fan between the three of us.

He mutters a quick apology to his girlfriend, walking away from her. I peer at her over my shoulder, mentally laughing at the fact that she’s stomping her foot and crossing her arms at our retreating figures.

I sit down in front of a coffee table on the other side of the bakery and Henry sits adjacent to me.

“What’s up, Bree?” he asks.

Enrique “Henry” Velez was the first person in Valley who
wasn’t
part of Maddox’s crew to speak to me. We had half our classes together, and we hit it off immediately. We found we had loads in common, starting with our unconventional families—he’s adopted—and ending with the fact that we’re both Hispanic.

“You need to get your girl under control. She thinks I’m the most amazing person in the world when I’m dating, but she hates my fucking guts when I’m single. You better tell her to watch herself, or I will. And I’m sure you know my methods are much more violent than yours are.”

With a sigh, he shakes his head. “Kels doesn’t
hate
you. She’s just threatened by you.”

Yeah, and therein lies the problem. She has no reason to be threatened by me. Henry’s my best friend, he’s like my brother. I’ve no more interest in him romantically than I do in Napoleon Dynamite.

“Well do something to make her feel
unthreatened,
” I retort. “You two have been together for over a year now, and I’m tired of having to defend our friendship at every turn just because your girl doesn’t feel good enough about herself.”

I hope he understands I’m not trying to be a bitch. I’m just telling it how it is. And I didn’t come here to talk about Kelsey and whatever issues she’s having. I came to talk about Brody and the issues I’m having with him.

“Noted.” He leans forward on his elbows. “So, about this Brody…”

“Don’t you want to go back to your girlfriend?” I ask, and I immediately regret the question. I shouldn’t care about how she feels or whether he goes to check on her or not, because she put herself in this predicament.

Henry shakes his head and takes a long sip of his latte. “No. She knows I refuse to entertain her childishness. I’ve tried every day for a year to convince her there’s nothing happening between us. If she can’t see that and keeps antagonizing you, we have nothing to talk about.” He glances at her momentarily. “Besides, I’m sure she’ll storm out in t-minus five minutes and show up at my house later tonight.”

Shaking my head and suppressing a laugh, I lean back in my seat. I bring my latte up to my mouth and take a drink.

I wonder if I’m ready to even take a leap with Brody. I want to. God knows I want to. I want to be his, and I want him to be mine, in every way that’s humanly possible. But am I ready for the unnecessary drama that comes with it? He has an ex still hanging around—I heard through The Grapevine that the ‘Chele’ in ‘Brichele’ continues to attend Valley-PHASS—who I’m sure comes with a can of worms I’m not ready to crack open. He has some deep, dark secret that’s tearing him apart from the inside out. He’s a parent at eighteen years old, and I don’t even know how or why it happened. He walks around like he’s carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, and I can’t imagine how he’s got so much to worry about at only eighteen. There’s so much that comes with him, that comes with the potential of being with him, and I’m not sure if I’m mentally prepared for it all.

At the same time, though, I have to wonder whether any of that is strong enough to tear us apart. Is any of that stronger than the connection we seem to have to one another? Stronger than the pull I felt in my heart when he cried out last night? Stronger than the desperate yearning behind his startled, gray gaze as he begged me to stay with him? Stronger than the chills that ran up my spine as I fell asleep wrapped up in his arms? Stronger than the first genuine smile I got from him when I teased him about watching me sleep?

No, surely the secrets of the past aren’t strong enough to break apart the hope we have for the future.

There is a sweet magic—and an ever-growing fire—burning between us.

My heart flutters when he’s around, and I can’t breathe when he isn’t.

“Hello! Earth to Sabrina!” Henry says loudly, waving his hands in front of me. “Where’d you go?”

I shake my head, smiling softly to myself. I’ve only just now realized the extent of my feelings for this man, and I’m counting down the minutes until I have the chance to see him again.

I reach in my purse for my cell phone and refresh the notifications screen, hoping that maybe he’s texted to let me know he’s ready to come home. Instead though, I find a text from Maddox, which I promptly delete, and a stupid, irritating game request from Facebook.

“Nowhere.” I immediately regret the little white lie, however. After two years of friendship, I’ve realized Henry is the only person I know worth being honest with. “I was thinking about Brody.”

On a laugh, he reaches over and takes my cell phone from me. As the older brother of a recently-turned-teenage sister, he’s a strong believer in the notion that boys should chase girls, and not the other way around.

“You’ve got it bad, Bree.” He chuckles again, patting the back of my hand. “Is he really that good of a guy?”

At that, I have to laugh. The question is so ridiculous, I debate whether I should entertain the thought of even answering it.

Brody is sweet, although he’d never want anyone to see that side of him if he can help it. I haven’t gotten a joke out of him yet, but he seems like he could be funny. He treats his sister like the queen of the world, and provides structure for his brother where it appears to be lacking. He’s a great friend. I’d planned on us spending the day together, but when his friend needed him, he went running without a second thought. He cares about me, but he holds me at arm’s length. I’m not sure whether that’s to protect me or himself, but either way, it’s what I least expected. He’s completely unprecedented in every way.

With my chin in the palm of my hand, I close my eyes. A fond smile grows on my face and my eyes drift open to stare at Henry. He looks at me as if he knows exactly what I’m thinking, and because of that look, I know he knows what my answer is to his question.

I answer it anyway.

“No. He’s better.”

TWELVE

SHE’S BAFFLING. AND INTRIGUING.

It’s been a week since I moved in with the Matteo family, and Sabrina remains the biggest mystery of them all.

The first to fall prey to my charms was darling Mila, who seeks me out the minute she hears the car door shut and I’ve arrived home from work. She toddles toward me and coos and spends the majority of every evening in my arms. Grace and I play soccer with Sabrina, Dalis, Cason, and the other kids on the block for an hour after dinner. Sometimes, we can even get Mr. And Mrs. Matteo to join in on the game with us. Bianca, she’s more reserved than the rest of the Matteo clan. She reads a book on the couch while the rest of us play, barely speaks during dinner, and when her parents allow it, she’s up in her room, being a hermit.

Sabrina, however, I’m convinced is different from the rest of her sisters. She surprises me at every turn.

Probably because of the fact that I can’t get a read on her.

At around midnight, which is the time I put all my homework away for the day and have put my phone on the charger, she sneaks into my room and climbs into my bed. She doesn’t speak, just nestles herself against me and goes to sleep. And because of her presence, I do, too.

She’s unlike any other girl I’ve ever met. She doesn’t say the things I expect her to say, doesn’t do the things I expect her to do.

For instance, tonight, she broached the Forbidden Subject. Mr. and Mrs. Matteo took the younger kids out to the carnival, and Sabrina and I are home alone for the very first time.

Of course, this is a recipe for disaster.

“So, why don’t you tell me a little bit about Michele?” she asks, washing dishes beside me as I put away the leftovers from tonight’s dinner.

Everything in my world stops for a moment. In the middle of my scooping salsa out of this rock thing and into an airtight container, I stop and just close my eyes, giving myself a second to regroup. I wonder if she even knows the can of worms she’s unearthed by asking that question. Wordlessly, I continue to put away the food and then close the container and set the salsa on the counter. I hand the rock thing to Sabrina for cleaning.

“Isn’t there anything else you want to know about me?” I ask.

With a shake of her head, she turns the faucet off and, drying her hands with a towel, hops up onto the counter. She crosses her legs, which of course draws my attention to them. She grabs the colander full of tortilla chips and the container full of salsa.