Make It Last (13 page)

             
Briana ran to her room and grabbed her stuff, then met Kara
at the car to load everything
.
When they arrived at the party there were already quite a few cars lining the streets in fr
ont of the house
.
They followed the sound of the music and the smell of the grill around the side of the house and let themselves in through the gate.
Pete and Nicole were sitting and talking at one of the folding tables, while Rich manned the grill
.
Colin, Kent and Roni stood awkwardly by a long table of food, talking intermittently.

             
Briana and Kara headed towards the table to put the dishes down and said, “Hi,” to Pete and Nicole as they passed.

             
Kent walked over to Briana and leaned down to give her a kiss. She stood still, conscious of t
he fact that Colin was watching
and unsure of how the next few minutes were going to play out.
Kent pulled
back and looked down at her
face.

             
“Everything al
l
right, Bree?” he asked confusion showing on his face.

             
“Yeah,” s
he responded. “Everything’s fine.”

             
She couldn’t sto
p her eyes from darting to Colin and Roni
. Kent followed her gaze and then turned back to her.

             
“Is there something going on
that I should know about?” He
looked like he was trying not to get upset.

             
“Um, l
et’s go inside and talk,” she responded
le
a
d
ing him through
Rich’s sliding glass door.

             
“Don’t tell me you fell for his shit already, Bree,” Kent started before she had a chance to close the door.

             
She saw Colin start, as if he was about to follow them inside, but she shook her head at him and turned to Kent.
She looked up at hi
m, her gaze taking in his blond
hair and beautiful grey eyes. He’d always been so good to her, never pressuring her for more than she was ready to give. She felt horrible that she couldn’t give him the one thing he’d always hoped for.

             
Her.

             
“Ken
t, it’s not about Colin,” she
began. “I love you, and I always will, but we both know that this thing we’ve been do
ing for the past few years isn’
t good for either of us.”

             
He dragged his hand through his hair as he paced around the room.
“Don
’t tell me it’s not about him.
Things were great before he got here. Look,
Bree, we have an understanding…
we always have. If one of is with someone, we back off
. I
t’s fine. I’ll let you have your fun with Colin, then I’ll be here for you when it’s done.”

             
He stopped i
n front of her and she saw
the
hope on his face. S
he knew
then
that she had to let him go. He deserved better than what she had to offer him.

             
She walked closer until their bodies were almost touching and placed her hand on his cheek.
“You deserve better than this, Kent. Better than me.
You’re
a wonderful guy. You deserve to be with a girl who will give you all of the love that she has to offer. Who will appreciate how kind and amazing
you a
re
.” She looked into his eyes, “We can’t do this anymore. Whether or not things work out with Colin, I won’t be
back to use you as my crutch. B
ut I will always cherish you as my friend.”

             
Kent closed his eyes, then turned away.
“Can you give me a minute?” h
e asked gruffly.

             
Briana didn’t say anything, just turned and went back outside.
She didn’t meet Colin’s eyes as she walked over to where Pet
e, Nicole, and Kara sat
. She sat down, but didn’t join their conversation. She couldn’t help but picture Kent’s crestfallen expression before he’d turned from her.

             
Before she knew it
,
the backyard was full of people and she
went in search of
Kara. She walk
ed up to where Pete stood
alo
ne
and asked him if he’d seen Kara.
He nodded his head towards the tree line of the backyard, where Kara was making out with some tall
,
lanky guy that Briana didn’t recognize.

             
“She’s drunk,” Pete stated.

             
“What?” Briana asked incredulously. “We have to be to work in an hour.”

             
“I
don’t think she’s gonna make it.
”

             
Briana walked over to Kara and tugged on her arm.
“Kara. Kara. Stop. W
e have to go.”

             
The
stranger pulled away long enough to say, “Fuck off,” then went back to slobbering all over Kara.

             
“Kara.
” Briana tried getting closer and tapped her on the back. “We have to get to work.”

             
Kara looked back at her and said, “Hey, Bree
,” then she giggled and turned back to resume her make-out session.

             
Pete approached
from behind Briana and
yanked Kara off the guy. H
e pushed her behind him and stood to face The Asshole.

             
The
Asshole towered over him by a
few feet and looked menacing
,
his jaw clenched and neck bulging.

             
“What’
s your problem, Ginger?” Asshole yelled.

             
“
Yo
u ar
e
,” Pete
retorted
. “You shouldn’t be taking advantage of Kara when she’s had too much to drink.”

             
“Shut up, Pete,” Kara
shouted clawing
at Pete’s back. “This is none of your business.”

             
“Why don’t you listen to her, Ginger?” Asshole said.

             
“Kara, just let me handle this. You deserve better,” Pete
said to her
over his shoulder.

             
Kara’s face
turned red. S
he started to beat on Pete’s back.
“Don’t tell me what I deserve.
”

             
“How ‘bout you kick rocks and leave us be?” Asshole stated, trying to
reach around Pete to grab Kara
.

             
Then everything seemed to happen at once
.
Colin, Kent and Rich finally noticed what was going on and ran over to assist Pete.
Pete knocked Asshole’s hand away from Kara, causing Asshole’s face to turn a
bright shade of red.
Kara continued to pound on Pete’s back.

             
Briana watched in horror as Asshole reared back, then punched Pete square on his jaw. The impact caused Pete to fall back, toppling Kara over. Pete turned to the side in order to avoid falling on top of her.

             
The
other
guys grabbed Asshole
and held him back as Kara and Briana
rushed over to Pete.
He sat up and looked dazed, but other than a red mark on his jaw, he was fine.

             
Kara stroked his jaw. She looked into his eyes and started to cry.

             
“I’m so sorry, Pete. I should have listened to you.”

             
Pete pulled her to him and held her as she cried.
Briana got up and walked awa
y to let them have some privacy
as the guys hustled Asshole out of the
backyard through the gate.

             
“What the hell was that?” Roni asked
. “What happened?”

             
“That guy got too rough and hit Pete, so they escorted him out,” Briana
said, trying to play off the situation.

             
Nicole came running over.
“Is Pete okay?” s
he asked.

             
“Yeah, but I don’t think Kara’s going to be able to work tonight. Pam lets you serve sometimes, right? Do you think you’d be able to cover for her tonight?”

             
“Sure,” Nicole said with a shrug. “I don’t have any plans after this.”
She
glanced
up as the guys walked back through the gate
.

             
Briana
recognized the look of longing on her face, but
didn’t have time to wonder what had
caused it. S
he was just grateful that Nicole agreed to cover for Kara
so Kara didn’t get in trouble.
She
thanked Nicole, then walked over to meet Colin, Rich, and Kent.

             
“Hey, guys, Nicole is going to cover for Kara at work tonight, so we need to get going. Can you keep an eye on Kara and Pete and make sure they get home okay?”

             
They all nodded
.
Briana gathered her things and told Nicole she’d see her in a few
minutes
at the restaurant.
Before she made it to the car she heard Colin calling after her and paused.

             
“I really have to get to work, Colin. I’m going to be late as it is.”

             
“I’ll just
take a second, Bree,” he
said quickly.

             
“Okay.”

             
“When can I see you again?”

             
“Um, I work the next few nights, but we can hang out before work, or we can get together on my day off.”

             
“Grea
t.” He smiled.
“Give me a call
tomorrow.”
             

             
“Sounds good,” she said, and started back towards her car.

             
“Hey, Bree,” he called
after her, causing her to look over her shoulder at him. “What happened with Kent?”

             
“I told hi
m I couldn’t see him anymore,” s
he replied, then got in her car and drove away.

             
When she looked in her rearview mirror, Colin was still standing in the same spot
with a huge grin on his face.

Chapter Fourteen

             
When Briana woke up the next morning, she stayed in bed for a few minut
es, replaying the previous day
in her mind.

             
She couldn’t believe
the way things had played out at the party: Kara getting drunk, even
when she knew they had to work; the Asshole being belligerent; and Pete standing up for
Kara and getting punched for his efforts.

             
Pam had been coo
l with Nicole covering for Kara. She
said that she had been considering promoting Nicole to server, so it would give her a chance to see how she handled herself on the floor.
Before closing for the night and heading home, Briana had thanked Nicole agai
n for agreeing to help Kara out
as they sat down and had a drink after work.

             
“No problem,” Nicole said
. “I’m sorry about what happened at the party, but I made out great in tips tonight. It was fun.”

             
“
That’s great,” Briana replied. Then she studied
Nicole, taking in her good looks and the way she carried herself, as if she’d been born to privilege. “So, what’s your story, Nicole? No offense, but you don’t seem like the typ
e to be working as a hostess at
a bar and grill in the middle of nowhere.”