Chapter 32: 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟑𝟏

BREE

“I have regrets.”

Those are the very first words Rose says when she wakes up from her hangover.

“Good morning,” I greet her with a smile as she walks towards the counter.

“There’s nothing good about this morning,” she mutters, taking her seat across from me, cradling her head, “spill it,”

“Spill what?” I ask, pouring her a cup of coffee.

“What did I do last night?”

I hum, “you thought you had a high alcohol tolerance and kept drinking till you started dancing on the table,”

Rose lifts her head, her eyes widening, “I did what?”

I laugh, “I’m kidding. You didn’t dance. Only drank.”

“Do you like giving me heart attacks?”

I grin, “I like messing with you,”

Rose nods, taking a sip of her coffee, “I see the old Bree is returning,”

“Is it bad?”

“Of course not,” Rose says, her voice soft, “believe me or not, I started getting worried the first week you didn’t get into trouble,”

“I was not that bad,”

“Sweetie, our professors gave you the title ‘troublemaker’ in our college days. There was almost an article about it before Ryan put it down,”

“Oh yeah,” I say, grinning, “the article would’ve been fun,”

“Of course, you’d think that,” she says, “Nonetheless, I can’t wait to see Finn panicking the next time you get in trouble. The girlfriend, out on an adventure featuring the boyfriend, trying to stop her from getting in trouble. There’s the title for a new article.”

I chuckle, imagining how Finn will react if I ever call him and ask him to bail me out. He would do it but also might ask hundreds of questions.

Our conversation comes to a stop when our apartment bell rings.

Rose groans, covering her ears, “since when is our door bell so loud?!”

“Since always,” I say, walking towards the door to open it.

I throw open the door and find Jack and Finn standing in the frame.

“Oh, good morning,” I greet, opening the door further to let them in, shocked to see Jack so early in the morning.

“Why do you look so shocked to see us?” Jack asks as both men walk in.

“I’m shocked to see you,” I tell Jack, “the last time I remembered you weren’t a morning person,”

“The world must be ending,” Finn comments.

“Shut up,” Jack says, looking away, “Nora has early morning shifts sometimes. So, I wake up with her,”

I can’t help the smile that spreads across my face when I spot the tiny blush on Jack’s cheeks, “I see,”

"Aren't you a romantic, Jack Hartford," Rose teases which only brightens the color in Jack's cheeks.

Rose and I let out a small laugh before Finn hands me a bag which contains breakfast sandwiches. I kiss his cheek as a thank you then head to the kitchen to take them out while Jack and Finn take their seat by the counter table.

“So,” Jack starts, “how are you going to tell Ryan about you and Finn?”

“Well-”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Rose cuts me off, I turn around to find her frowning at Jack, “you know?”

“Yes,” Jack replies.

“How? When?”

“Last night. I caught them kissing-  a picture I did not want to see,”

“You were busy getting drunk,” Finn tells Rose.

Rose blinks, “did you guys leave me unsupervised?”

“No,” Jack and Finn say at the same time.

“Then who was I with when…” Rose’s eyes widens as she trails off, “shit,” she mutters.

Jack and Finn have the audacity to grin at Rose’s expression meanwhile I let out a sigh.

“Anyways,” I say, deliberately changing the subject and earning their attention, “Jack, what are your plans for Christmas?” I ask, placing the sandwiches onto the counter.

A soft smile returns on Jack's lips as he says, “We’re spending Christmas Eve with Nora’s family then we will have Christmas dinner with you guys,”

“At whose place the dinner is this year?” Finn asks before taking a bite of his sandwich.

“Ours,” I say.

Last year, we celebrated at Ryan’s and the year before that, at Jack’s. However, only the location differs every year. Rose and I are always the one hosting it.

We never mind it. Rose and I enjoy hosting gatherings like these, even Arzo enjoys hosting friendly dinners time to time with everyone in the group.

I came up with the idea to have our Christmas dinner every year at each of our places after we moved out to keep each of our places lively.

I don't trust my brothers to host properly so Rose and I volunteered to host it.

“Now, back to what I was saying,” Jack says, “what are you two going to do about Ryan when he finds out?”

“He’s not going to find out,” Finn says, “we’re going to tell him ourselves,”

“When exactly?”

I look at Finn just when his eyes find mine.

Without letting our gazes break, he says, “soon,”