Empire High Betrayal (Empire High #3) - Ivy Smoak Page 0,113

only person that ever loved me for me. The only person that saw the good in me. The only person worth fighting for. And she was already gone.

For one last second, I felt her fingers in my hair. And her song in my ear. My heart felt like it was breaking in two. But I knew that wasn’t true. Because it was already shattered.

Chapter 39

Friday

Matt

I looked down at all my missed calls and texts from Brooklyn. She probably had an equal number of them on her phone now because she’d ignored all my calls and texts this afternoon.

I was pissed off last night. Fuming. Not just because I’d seen a side to Brooklyn I’d never seen before. But because she’d lied. She’d looked at me and lied to my face while she was out sneaking around with James and Rob behind my back.

How the fuck was that supposed to make me feel? James had proposed to her. And if she didn’t see that he was trying to steal her away from me, then she was blind. Or maybe she was hoping he would.

I sighed and ran my hand down my face. She had every reason to be mad at me too though. And I had a feeling I knew why she wasn’t calling me back. I’d basically told her I was marrying her to help get her away from her crazy fucking family. And that it was pointless because she belonged with them.

She’d lied. She’d made me feel like shit. But I’d been the asshole. And I hated that I’d made her feel like shit too.

Thinking about shit made me picture the destruction of the Pruitts’ dining room. I shook my head. What a mess. But if anyone deserved to fall through the ceiling on a toilet, it was Isabella. Brooklyn was right about that.

“Are you going to call her?”

I looked up to see Mason leaning against the doorjamb.

“Mom’s already wondering why Brooklyn didn’t come home with us last night,” he said. “You definitely won’t be able to evade her questions if Brooklyn doesn’t show up for Friendsgiving.”

“What do you think I’ve been doing in here all afternoon?” I tossed my phone down on my bed.

“I don’t know? Jerking off?”

“Funny. Brooklyn’s not answering my calls.”

“Huh. If you ask me, she seemed pretty sorry last night. I’m surprised she isn’t answering.”

“Yeah, I know. But I shouldn’t have left her at the Pruitts. And I shouldn’t have said all that stuff about her being like them. She’s probably super pissed off at me.”

Mason shrugged. “No one wants to be compared to a Pruitt.”

I wasn’t even sure that was the worst part. Brooklyn had gone behind my back in order to pull that prank on Isabella. If she had come to me and told me that she really needed to stand up to Isabella, I would have helped her. But Brooklyn must have felt like she couldn’t rely on me. And now I’d given her even more reason to doubt me.

“I’m going to go there and try to talk to her. Can I borrow your car?” I asked and stood up.

“Much better plan than calling,” said Mason. “But I don’t mind driving.”

I laughed. “You’re coming with me? Voluntarily? To the Pruitts’?”

“You said a lot of stupid shit last night. You’re going to need a wingman.”

Fair enough.

“And I’m pretty sure if I stay here Mom’s gonna make me help in the kitchen. And no one wants that.”

Another good point.

Mason slapped my back as I walked through the door. “It’s gonna be fine.”

“Yeah. Maybe we should stop and get flowers though,” I said. “Just in case.” Not that I knew what flowers were her favorite. I’d bought her every type of flower I could find after her uncle passed away. I got it stuck in my head that if I found the right kind, she’d smile. That hadn’t worked. But holding her as she fell asleep in my arms had worked. She smiled a lot in her dreams. Recently I’d been getting her to smile more when she was awake too. And I couldn’t believe I’d stood there yelling at her when all I cared about was seeing her smile.

***

I knocked on the Pruitts’ door. I’d gotten a bouquet of red roses. Sometimes when my dad made my mom angry, he’d come home with a dozen roses for her. If it worked for him, hopefully it would work for me.

Mason gave me a thumbs up.

The bodyguard that always hung around Brooklyn opened the door. His