Their summer started off rocky.Â
 Tommyâs over the guilt by now, thanks for the constant reassurance heâs been giving Bri. Somehow itâs also reassured him that heâs not gonna start unnecessary drama like that again. What happened wasnât worth the emotional stress. Maia wasnât worth the emotional stress.
 "There was nothing going on between us,â he went over and over with everyone. Bri, Sarah, Jared, Kelsey, especially Bryson. Lucky Bryson wasnât the violent type. He let Tommy explain - with doubts still, of course. Hearing a rumor about oneâs girlfriend âfooling aroundâ with their cousin doesnât exactly encourage a forgiving response.Â
Their summer started off rocky. To Tommy, today didnât seem to be any different.Â
"It is awkward,â he nodded. âBut if we avoid talking about it because itâs awkward for me, then we wonât see progress."Â
If he could afford to be honest, Tommy would kill to finally hear the end of it. As unfair as that was to his girlfriend and the people heâs inconvenienced, heâs tired. He looked up at the ceiling, his fingers absent-mindedly brushing Briâs shoulder. Maybe heâs just exhausted from packing. Thatâs it â thatâs why heâs tired.
Maybe at the end of the day heâll believe that.
He cracked a smile. Soon he was chuckling and shifting on the bed to face Bri. "Iâll worry about Brysonâs mouth, and you worry about what youâll be putting on your dorm wall. I got a few ideas, one of them is having a huge framed photo of your boyfriend hanging above your desk. But that goes against his new school yearâs resolution to be modest. So, a medium-size will do.â
He laughed again, maybe thisâll help her feel better. âWe wonât talk to her. We wonât get near her, we wonât have anything to do with her. I donât have feelings for her, Bri, you know that. If anyoneâs a threat, itâs Jared. He has half of my heart.â
Maybe this yearâs gonna be better for them both.
âIf she tries to make up for what she did and said to you, we wonât let her. If she tries to talk to me, Iâll pretend I didnât hear her. I donât think she will, though, unless she wants to lose Brysonâs trust again. Hang on, did⊠what do you mean you donât wanna hear my cousin talking about her? Did he come to you?â
Maybe heâs gonna need Kelseyâs shoulder later.
Brianna stayed quiet and let him talk. She realized very quickly in his tone of voice that, like at the beginning of the summer, he was trying to convince her that the feelings for Maia just wasnât there. That he was telling her things that he thought she wanted to hear, and yes, in a way she did want to hear these things, but she didnât want to make him feel like she was asking him to prove her anything. Bri was well aware that nothing happened, and she trusted him when he said he didnât have feelings for Maia Lancaster. She just hoped he knew that she trusted him, and bringing this up wasnât because she didnât trust him, but because she was feeling anxious about seeing her again because she simply couldnât stand the bitch.Â
Ever since the events that transpired, Brianna looked at Maia or even thought of Maia and her body vibrated with rage. She knew that wasnât healthy, and it wasnât all because of her obvious attraction to Tommy. Brianna just didnât take kinds to people she didnât like to begin with, barging into her room, invading her personal space and then having the audacity to tell her what to do. To make her worry for a moment for no reason at all, and then to top it all, accuse her of slut-shaming when she did no such thing.Â
Bri found her laughing at some of his jokes, loving that he was trying to lighten up the tense mood. She appreciated it. He was her heaven. Possibly the only heaven sheâd ever have. âJared better stay in his lane.â Bri joked back, her green eyes sending his eyes a wink. She didnât say anything about Tommy mentioning staying away from Maia because, well, she didnât know what to say. She really appreciated his efforts in that way, but she didnât want to come off as this Nazi of a girlfriend, but she also didnât want him interacting with her either. Fuck. âOkay, thanks.â Was all she decided to say on the avoiding Maia situation.Â
This year would be better for them, she was sure. âIf she tries to talk to me, I canât promise I'll be pleasant in the slightest,â Bri confessed and shook her head. âNo, he didnât say anything in particular to me about her. I just hate hearing her name in general.â Her voice uttered softly, placing her hand on her chest. âI love you, I'm sorry.âÂ
