Falling For My Best Friends Brother

Chapter Eighteen- Bryson's POV

********TRIGGER WARNING********

There she was, standing right in front of me. Her long brown hair was flowing in the wind as she was looking out at the ocean. The white dress she was wearing was swaying in the wind. She was breathtaking. She turned around, a smile forming on her lips as she moved closer to me. I tried to step forward, but I was frozen in my spot. I looked down, and when I looked back up, she was gone.

"Bryson, wake the fuck up!" Emmy yelled, shaking me.

"What the hell, Em? I was in the middle of a fantastic dream," I pouted. She threw a pillow at me and laughed.

"About Riley?" I shrugged my shoulders. It was none of her damn business. Although, that was the first dream I had ever had about Riley.

"Does it matter?" She shrugged her shoulders and walked out of my room. Finally, some peace and quiet.

~~~~

"Dude, you missed the rager!" Matt said, walking down the hall beside me.

"There was a rager last night? It was Monday." Matt shrugged his shoulders. "I'm surprised you're here if you raged last night."

"My mom is gonna kill me if I skip anymore school. She's sick of having to come down here and talk to the principle." It was true; Matt was notorious for skipping school. We were only allowed so many 'sick days' before it started counting against our grades, but it was a whole different story if you came to one class and decided to ditch the rest.

"If you keep it up, I'll be surprised if you're allowed to graduate." He chuckled as we stopped at his locker.

"I'll be surprised if I graduate." The realization hit me in that moment. Graduation was only a short month away, and that month would go quick. I instantly started thinking about Riley, and how she still had a year left in this shit hole. Was it too late to do something about how I felt?

~~~~

"Are you going to eat that?" Matt asked as he stared at my pizza.

"No, you can have it." He had grabbed my slice of pizza before I could even finish my sentence. I was too busy thinking about Riley and what the future might bring. Obviously I couldn't talk to my boys about that. I was known for just sleeping around with girls. I wasn't the type to have a serious relationship, even when I was with Tamara.

"You alright? You've barely said anything this whole time." I shrugged my shoulders.

"No offense, Matt, but you're the last person I would talk to about my personal problems." He smirked, knowing I was right. We had just never had the same relationship since I found out he slept with Ashley, my previous girlfriend. Ever since then, I was against relationships. You really couldn't trust anyone but yourself.

"Nah, dude, it's understandable." I chuckled and he just shook his head. "Just know that I'm always here for you. I know we had our shit in the past, but I still want to be your friend." Fuck, this was the first time he's said anything like this to me. After I found out he slept Ashley, we just kind of let the past be. It always lingered in the back of my mind when we hung out, but we had never talked about it.

"That means a lot. It really does." He smiled and the bell rang. We both got up, emptying the remains of our lunch in the trash.

"I'll catch you later," Matt said before heading in the opposite direction. I gave him a quick nod and headed towards my class.

~~~~

"Em, are you home?" I yelled through the house as I waked in.

"In my room," she yelled back. I dropped my bag in the living room and headed up the stairs. He door was cracked opened, but I knocked anyway. "Since when do you knock?" Emmy asked with a laugh.