Like the Back of My Halo
Page 7
But he'd given off a sinister vibe. Like he was hiding his true self while they were there. It gave Lo the creeps.
“Do you want him to want you back?” Lo asked quietly.
Spencer's gaze dropped to the floor, more vulnerability washing over her features than she realized. “No,” she lied again.
“There's not much I can do if you're not going to be honest with me,” Lo pointed out.
Spencer's blue eyes flashed back to her, defenses going back up. “I didn't ask you to do anything. This is just a long goodbye between me and Garrett. You worry for no reason.”
Lo steadied her breathing and held her friend's gaze. She wanted to grab the woman and shake some sense into her, but she knew it would be futile.
“Ladies.”
All three girls looked up to see Brady and Bo Samson standing before them. They let out a collective sigh.
The Samson genes were wonderful things indeed.
Lo didn't allow her eyes to linger too long on Brady. She let herself drink in one thorough sweep, knowing every square millimeter of him was burned into her brain. But she wasn't going to stare at him like a lovesick dummy. Nope. No way.
She knew enough about her heart to know it was too stupid to know better.
It would fall and take her along with it.
It would learn eventually. But until then, she was going to have to keep careful check of it. No more falling heart over hands for a surfer boy.
She was positive her crush would pass. Especially as they traveled together. Lo liked her space, she grew tired of space invaders quickly. Nothing ended the sizzle of a crush like finding out the other person was human. They were going to be working and living alongside one another. While that sounded romantic and cozy (to Tessa), the reality of it was they were going to be face to face with the regular flaws of being people. They would be learning bathroom habits, dealing with the stress of travel, being out of their comfort zones. Lo wasn't under any illusions this was going to be some fantastic adventure and Brady would fall madly in love with her fire and spirit somewhere along the way.
It was far more likely they would tire of each other quickly, and then her heart would shatter into a million pieces the first night Brady took a girl back to his room with him. But then it would be over. And they would be able to focus on the real task at hand. You know, the one they were hired to accomplish.
“Are you excited?” Brady asked, his blue eyes guarded. Always guarded now. Carefully distanced from her, as if an invisible fence separated them.
A fence made out of stolen tacos and stardust kisses.
Before she could answer his question, Tessa shot to her feet and had a finger in his face. “You promised you would protect her.”
Brady's smile was immediate and Lo sighed again.
“Yes, I did. And I swear it.”
Lo stood up and put an arm around Tessa, pulling her out of Brady's face.
She believed he believed that. He would protect her from any and all outside threats. But there was absolutely no way he could protect her from his eyes and his smile and his Brady-ness.
It was the thought that had played on repeat in her head over the last couple of days as she packed to leave. This trip was going to teach her more about herself than she was otherwise prepared for. But she was going into it with both eyes open, knowing full well she would be changed by the end of it.
And she was going to embrace the change. No matter the cost.
It was the entire reason for her going to Clarke and asking about this opportunity in the first place. She needed something to change. She needed to find out what she was made of. She just couldn't wrap her head around the thought that this was it. She was terrified of the next step. Scared out of her mind of diving back into a lifestyle she had fought her entire life to escape. Scared she would find herself in foreign waters and the desire to keep moving would never diminish.
But she was more scared of staying.
She had to find out if roots could grow from a distance.
If she actually was who she wanted to be.
“At least one of you got the gentleman gene,” Spencer said, tossing her mass of thick, golden hair over her shoulder as she stood up. It was a movement that caught Lo's eye—hell, it caught everyone's eye—but especially Bo's.
His eyes narrowed and his jaw tightened. “Maybe I don't waste my manners on those less deserving.”
Spencer's eyes flashed. “That's not how manners work.”
“You would know. Heard you were showing all of yours to some guy at Pauly's the other night,” Bo drawled.
Spencer's face flushed a deep red and her eyes darted to Lo.
“I can't believe you two still do this,” Tessa said like an exasperated mother hen. She pressed a palm to her forehead and closed her eyes. “Seven years. From sixth grade through graduation, you drove me absolutely bonkers on a daily basis. Well, I'm not doing it anymore. You're adults now. It's time to act like it.”
“Um...” Bo said, sucking in a deep breath like he was thinking about her words. “No.” He shook his head. “I don't think that can happen.”
“Why not?!” Tessa exclaimed, dropping her hands to her sides. “It's not hard to be civil. You just don't be asses to one another.”
Bo licked his lips and bit down on the bottom one as his eyes flicked up and down Spencer. “Sorry, Tessy, I just really hate her.”
“Same here,” Spencer said, crossing her arms over her chest. “He ruined my life and I don't think I can let it go.”
Bo's eyes widened and he pointed at his chest. “I ruined your life? I don't think so, sister. You got me kicked off the football team in eighth grade, and then made me miss tryouts my freshman year. You ruined mine!”
Spencer shrugged one shoulder. “Maybe you just sucked at football and I was doing you a favor. Did you ever consider that, B-O?”
Bo bent forward at the waist threateningly. “You were just jealous because they wouldn't let you play anymore. Newsflash, Spence, just because your dad wished you were a boy didn't make you one. And it got harder to pretend once your tits came in.”
“Geez, Bo,” Brady hissed with disapproval. “Shut up.”
Spencer's face turned a new shade of red. One Lo hadn't ever seen before.
“I can't believe you two are leaving me alone with them,” Tessa said, shaking her head at Brady and Lo.
Brady placed his hands on his hips, silently assessing his brother. “Dude. You promised.”
Bo rolled his eyes to the ceiling and pressed his lips together in a hard line.
Lo had heard the stories, but she hadn't seen the bickering. She had often suspected maybe Spencer and Tessa had made it sound more dramatic than it actually was. Now? Not so much.
“I'm sorry, Tess,” Brady said, sighing and running a hand through his hair and making it stand up all haphazard.
“It's not your fault.” Tessa shrugged and looked up at Brady, a dreamy expression crossing her face. “Not a day goes by I don't wish you and Bo had been reversed in birth order. If you had been the one in all our classes, things would have been so much nicer.”
Bo and Spencer growled simultaneously.
“Are you flirting with my nemesis' older brother right in front of me?” Spencer asked.
“No! Of course not!” Tessa's eyes darted to Lo.
“Yes, you were,” Bo said with disgust. “It's gross. I'm clearly the more attractive one.”
Brady grinned at Tessa. “You can flirt with me, Tess. I don't mind.”
What was going on here? Lo didn't like the twisting in her stomach that was happening. Rationally she understood all of this was one big hard time. She didn't have siblings, so she had never experienced it personally. But she'd been told, and she'd witnessed.
And even knowing she and Brady were never going to be a “thing” didn't mean she was all gung ho about seeing him flirt with her best friend.
It was too much.
It was too... Miller.
The heat of Bo's arm and close proximity of his body was nothing compared to the heat in Brady's gaze as he observed Bo's claiming posture.
Lo didn't know what was happening. Something between brothers and men. Something she wasn't comfortable being in the middle of. She shrugged Bo off her and picked up her carry-on.
“As fun as this has been, I think I'd rather get to my cramped middle seat in an overcrowded plane.”
Tessa threw her arms around her neck again. “No dying,” she whispered frantically in her ear. “I wasn't really flirting with Brady. I just talk that way.”
Lo tightened her arms around her friend. “I know.” She did know, but hearing the words helped her relax the knot beginning to tie itself in her stomach.
Spencer's arms came around the both of them. “Don't worry about us either. You focus on the real reason you're doing this.”
Lo pulled back and had eye contact with Spencer. “I will.”
“Adventure and tacos,” Spencer said, raising her fist for Lo to bump.
She did, feeling tears burn the back of her eyes. “You too.”
Bo and Brady slapped each other's backs and muttered their own goodbyes. Brady picked up his suitcase and tugged Lo's from her hand. They walked in silence to customs and security.
Lo glanced over her shoulder once before her friends slipped out of sight.
The last thing she saw was Spencer punching Bo in the shoulder and Tessa holding her head with both hands.
***
Brady
Brady pushed Lo's suitcase into the overhead compartment right beside his. He considered how this was all going to work out in the end and he just couldn't see it. Maybe he didn't need to see the end of this. Maybe he could let Bo ruin his own life and he could enjoy being on an adventure with the most beautiful woman in the world.
He sat down in the small seat of the plane, his shoulders taking up more room than the average flyer apparently.
“I'm sorry,” he muttered, trying to make his body smaller. “I don't mean to encroach.”
Lo flashed him a smile. “It's all right. I'll just use your monster shoulder as a pillow later on and we'll call it even.”
Brady felt the tightness in his chest ease. “You didn't answer my question earlier.”
Her face scrunched into a frown.
“Are you excited?” he asked again.
Her frown melted into a serene expression and her eyes drifted away. It was moments like this, where she was looking at him without looking at him, that Brady could take advantage and really look at her. Sometimes when their eyes connected it was like looking directly at the sun. But when her eyes would drift, he didn't have any trouble soaking her in.
“Excited, scared, resolved. All of the above.”
“You're not upset I'm here?” he asked.
Her eyes tracked back to him. “No. Not even a little.”
“It's you and me now,” he pointed out. “No brothers or friends or tacos making things difficult.”
Her lips parted and his eyes dropped there. He probably shouldn't have brought up the tacos. But he couldn't help it. It was always on the forefront of his mind.
“I was thinking, since we have to get groceries in Managua anyway, maybe you should tell me all of your favorite taco toppings.”
“You're going to make me tacos?” she asked.
He swallowed hard. “I feel like I owe you.. for.. you know...”
Lo's eyes bounced from his mouth to his eyes and her face turned tender. “You don't—”
“You can't look at me like that, Lo,” he said roughly. “And you can't give me excuses. Just let me make this right, so it can be off my conscience.”
She hesitated, her eyes roaming his face, a dozen questions she wasn't asking on the tip of her tongue. “Okay,” she said softly. “If that's what you want.”
Obviously she didn't understand when he'd told her she couldn't look at him like that, because she was still doing it. Brady closed his eyes to escape it, but he could still see her.
Like always.
Later on in their flight, she did take advantage of his shoulder as a pillow. And Brady knew he wasn't going to come home the same person at all.
6
Lo
“I know Shane said everything would be taken care of, but you know him. Like, you actually know him...” Lo trailed off in her words as she stepped around a pile of luggage that thankfully wasn't hers, sitting on the tarmac. Her shoulders hunched reflexively as two men hurled more of the luggage out of the belly of the plane.
Brady glanced back at her, his long legs having carried him further in a shorter amount of time. He stopped and waited for her to catch up. Lo grimaced, feeling bad he had to wait. When she was close enough to him again, he resumed his forward motion and she quickened her pace even more.
“Shane said all of the equipment was shipped to the house we're staying at,” Brady said, turning his head slightly her direction.
“Right. House.” She frowned, sliding through a group of people who moved out of the way for Brady, but not for her. “Have you seen pictures of this house?” she asked, stopping short.
Brady was gone. People bustled and bumped into her as she tried to see over their heads. What was this? A basketball conference? Why was everyone surrounding her a foot or more taller than average?
Brady was nowhere. You'd think it would be easy to spot a blond, tanned, muscular specimen such as he was, but nope. She swung her hands out in front of her and let them fall to her sides.
“Great. Good job, Lo. Day one and you lost your suitcase and your partner.”
She had tried to carry her own suitcase again, but Brady didn't want to have a discussion about it. He ignored her futile attempts at taking it out of his Hulk hands and carried both of their suitcases in one of his. At least she had her purse still slung across her body. She had money and her passport and her phone. She'd probably be able to make it to the house on her own. All while feeling like a great big idiot.
Her hand was gripped by a much larger hand and before she had a chance to yank it away, she was pulled in the opposite direction. A small squeak escaped her lips as she struggled to untangle her feet and stay upright. Brady's strong, gray t-shirt covered back was directly in front of her and she realized it was his hand that was tugging her along.
“Seriously, I do not need a heart attack like that,” Brady said over his shoulder. “I lose you on the first day and I would bet Bo's left nut Tessa would fly down here and dismember my body before dawn.”
Lo couldn't help it. She laughed. A big laugh too. It was loud and obnoxious and nervous, but she didn't care. Brady shot her a half-grin over his shoulder.
They came to a stop at a car rental counter, fifth in line. Lo tugged her hand free of Brady's and he arched an eyebrow at her.
“You do not get more than eighteen inches away from me,” he warned.
Lo rolled her eyes and pulled her hair back into a ponytail, trying to alleviate some of the sweat that had begun traveling down her back and soaking into her shirt. Brady, on the other hand, looked cool and dry. Like traipsing through a Central American airport in the heat was a normal Tuesday for him.
“Have you ever had a landing like that?” Brady asked, his eyes measuring her in that way of his. The way she didn't understand and drove her crazy.
“Um, no,” she answered honestly.
As they had been coming in to Managua, the pilot announced something was wrong with the landing gear and everyone was instructed to brace for impact. They'd landed with some bumps and jolts, some people really freaked out. Then they had to disembark from the plane where it had come to a stop instead of being taxied to the terminal. “That was most definitely a first.”
“You didn't freak out. I thought maybe you'd done it before,” Brady explained.
>
Lo nodded. “Right. Yeah, no, totally. I just practiced my crash landing technique with Harrison Ford a couple weeks ago. You caught me.” She pulled her thick mass of hair higher onto her head and waved a hand at the back of her neck.
His eyes watched her movements and lingered on her neckline as his lips twitched. “You're not afraid of flying, I take it.”
Lo scrunched her nose up, pretending it was the heat making her sweat and not the way Brady looked at her. “No. But I don't want you to get the wrong impression,” she added quickly.
“What do you mean?”
“I'm not afraid of flying or heights or anything that risks bodily harm at high velocity. But I'm a total wimp about bugs and spiders.”
He tilted his head as he studied her. Their line moved forward by one and they both shifted closer to the counter.
Her eyes drifted to the people around them, so many people with so many places to go. She wondered if they were looking at her, wondering where she was going the same way she wondered about them. Did they have someone waiting for them? Were they going home or were they running away? Business or pleasure? Lonely or loner?
“What are you looking at?” Brady asked, his voice closer, just above her. She could feel the heat of him at her back, inches between them.
“People.” She spun back around, uncomfortable with his nearness and wanting to face it more than not. His baby blues were measuring her again. Like he was trying to figure something out; settle a bet in his own mind.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.
His eyes flared and he lifted his chin slightly. “Like what?”
“Like you're trying to guess my middle name and the prize is a new car.”
His mouth tugged into a half-smile. “What is you middle name?”
“Eloise.” She propped her hands on her hips. “What is it? Do I snore? Did I drool on you?”
The line moved and they both took a step sideways while continuing to inspect one another. It was like animals in the wild kingdom, trying to size each other up. Were they foe or friend? Predator or prey?