Free Brooke & Ben: Before Fate Interrupted by Kaitlyn Cross Page B

didn’t say I
was going to sleep with him!” Tasha brushed a long strand of dirty blond hair
over her shoulder and tried to look regal. “I’m just going to give him a hand
job.”
    Brooke shook her
head. “You make my problems seem small.”
    Tasha craned her
neck to see past the pool tables. “How about that guy over there?”
    Brooke followed
Tasha’s gaze and scrunched her face up in revulsion. “He’s three hundred
pounds.”
    “I know, but if
I can’t get a guy like that hard, then I’ll know I’m cursed for sure and can
start working on a way to reverse it.”
    “You’ll probably
give him a heart attack.”
    “Don’t say that.
That’ll just validate the curse.” She picked up her glass and tipped it back,
sucking on an ice cube.
    “Why do you
think you’re cursed?”
    Tasha set the
glass back down and crossed her legs, hedging before speaking. “I just do.”
    “Why? What did
you do to deserve such a curse ?”
    She swallowed
thickly. “I had sex with a married man.”
    Brooke inhaled
sharply. “What?” she shrieked. “Who? When?”
    “It was right
after Craig dumped me. I was out with Jo and Kim and on the rebound. Hard.”
    “Did you know he
was married?”
    Tasha nodded
slowly, shamefaced and unable to look Brooke in the eye. “I was drunk and
pissed and didn’t care. It was stupid! I know.”
    Brooke leaned
back in the chair and let it all sink in. “That is so horrible.”
    “I felt so bad
afterward and swore I would never do that again, but…” She trailed off to curb
the tears welling in her eyes. “But it’s too late for forgiveness now.”
    “You’re being
ridiculous. There are no such things as curses .”
    “That’s what
we’re about to find out. Hey, what about that guy with the hair? He’s kinda
hot.”
    Brooke took a
casual drink and a fleeting look at the guy staring at them from across the
bar. His dark spiky hair and ear rings were right up Tasha’s alley.
    “Look how he’s
looking at us. I bet I could get him hard as a rock.”
    Brooke swallowed
an ice cube and started choking.
    “Are you okay?”
    She nodded,
coughing into her hand. “Wrong pipe.”
    Tasha frowned.
“Don’t say wrong pipe! That’s a bad omen.”
    “Hey, Tasha.”
    They looked up
to see a completely different guy – this one with a blond ponytail and blue
eyes - smiling down at them.
    “Long time no
see,” he said.
    Tasha brightened
her smile and batted her long lashes. “Hi Ryan! How are you?”
    “I’m good. What’s
it been? Two years?”
    “At least.”
    “You look
amazing.”
    She blushed a
little in the bar’s soft light, her eyes traveling down his tight t-shirt, the
front of which was loosely tucked into his jeans. “So do you.”
    He turned to
Brooke. “Hi Brooke.”
    “Ryan,” she
said, her enthusiasm paling in comparison to Tasha.
    His eyes floated
back to Tasha, who was running a hand through her blond locks. “You never
called me back.”
    A look of sorrow
quickly replaced her bashful grin. “I’m so sorry, my iPhone was stolen and I
lost all of my contacts.”
    Brooke made sure
Ryan wasn’t looking when she rolled her eyes.
    “That sucks.”
    Tasha patted the
chair next to her. “Have a seat.”
    He looked over
his shoulder to a glass door leading to a patio where the table and chairs had
already vacated the premises for the impending winter. “Actually, I was just
going outside to have a quick smoke. You want one?”
    “I quit, but
I’ll give you a hand .” She got up and
shot Brooke a sinister wink. “I’ll be right back,” she said, taking her drink
and following Ryan outside.
    Brooke shook her
head and felt her phone vibrate in her purse. She pulled it out and read the
text message from Evy.
    U still out?
Richie went to meet his friends and I’m bored.
    Brooke texted
her back and slipped the cell into her purse, looking up to see the spiky hair guy
with earrings standing over her, a sly grin cutting into his dimply cheeks.
    “You look so