Their summer started off rocky.
Tommy’s over the guilt by now, thanks for the constant reassurance he’s been giving Bri. Somehow it’s also reassured him that he’s not gonna start unnecessary drama like that again. What happened wasn’t worth the emotional stress. Maia wasn’t worth the emotional stress.
"There was nothing going on between us,“ he went over and over with everyone. Bri, Sarah, Jared, Kelsey, especially Bryson. Lucky Bryson wasn’t the violent type. He let Tommy explain - with doubts still, of course. Hearing a rumor about one’s girlfriend ‘fooling around’ with their cousin doesn’t exactly encourage a forgiving response.
Their summer started off rocky. To Tommy, today didn’t seem to be any different.
"It is awkward,” he nodded. “But if we avoid talking about it because it’s awkward for me, then we won’t see progress."
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 he’s inconvenienced, he’s tired. He looked up at the ceiling, his fingers absent-mindedly brushing Bri’s shoulder. Maybe he’s just exhausted from packing. That’s it – that’s why he’s tired.
Maybe at the end of the day he’ll believe that.
He cracked a smile. Soon he was chuckling and shifting on the bed to face Bri. "I’ll worry about Bryson’s mouth, and you worry about what you’ll 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 year’s resolution to be modest. So, a medium-size will do.”
He laughed again, maybe this’ll help her feel better. “We won’t talk to her. We won’t get near her, we won’t have anything to do with her. I don’t have feelings for her, Bri, you know that. If anyone’s a threat, it’s Jared. He has half of my heart.”
Maybe this year’s gonna be better for them both.
“If she tries to make up for what she did and said to you, we won’t let her. If she tries to talk to me, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear her. I don’t think she will, though, unless she wants to lose Bryson’s trust again. Hang on, did… what do you mean you don’t wanna hear my cousin talking about her? Did he come to you?”
Maybe he’s gonna need Kelsey’s 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 wasn’t 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 didn’t 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 didn’t have feelings for Maia Lancaster. She just hoped he knew that she trusted him, and bringing this up wasn’t because she didn’t trust him, but because she was feeling anxious about seeing her again because she simply couldn’t stand the bitch.
Ever since the events that transpired, Brianna looked at Maia or even thought of Maia and her body vibrated with rage. She knew that wasn’t healthy, and it wasn’t all because of her obvious attraction to Tommy. Brianna just didn’t take kinds to people she didn’t 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.
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 she’d ever have. “Jared better stay in his lane.” Bri joked back, her green eyes sending his eyes a wink. She didn’t say anything about Tommy mentioning staying away from Maia because, well, she didn’t know what to say. She really appreciated his efforts in that way, but she didn’t want to come off as this Nazi of a girlfriend, but she also didn’t want him interacting with her either. Fuck. “Okay, thanks.” Was all she decided to say on the avoiding Maia situation.
This year would be better for them, she was sure. “If she tries to talk to me, I can’t promise I'll be pleasant in the slightest,” Bri confessed and shook her head. “No, he didn’t say anything in particular to me about her. I just hate hearing her name in general.” Her voice uttered softly, placing her hand on her chest. “I love you, I'm sorry.”
