Blindsided by Brooke

by Theresa Paolo

  She covered her chest then glared at him. Her eyes burned with a fury that should have turned him to ash. “Thanks for being a complete disappointment.” She spun away from him, yanking her shirt on, and while her words should have hurt him, they didn’t. At least not as much as seeing the unshed tears in her eyes.

  The only reason she said what she did was because she wanted to hurt him. He was beginning to learn Brooke’s tough exterior was more or less a shield. If she hurt someone else, then it was less likely she would get hurt herself.

  “You should leave,” she said, refusing to look at him.

  He should leave. He should put his shirt on and walk out of here, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t walk away like this, not when she was hurting. Not when he wanted nothing more to take her back in his arms and ease the tension in her shoulders. Kiss away the angry lines on the bridge of her nose.

  Against his better judgment, he went to her, placing his hand on her shoulder. She jumped away from him as if his hand burnt her skin, and she pinned him with a stare that was as equally evil as it was heartbreaking.

  “If you won’t leave, I will.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  She swiped her keys off the table and stormed past him.

  “Brooke,” he called after her, but the only answer he got was the hard slam of the door.

  It took him less than thirty seconds before he was pulling his t-shirt over his head and running after her. He opened the door and the wind whipped, throwing the door from his grasp and slamming it hard against the house.

  The trees swayed above as buckets of rain pelted the ground. The sky lit up like the fourth of July as bolts of lightning streaked across it. Visibility was shit as Tyler tried to see through the sheets of rain that kept him from running out into the open.

  He rested his hand above his eyes and squinted across the driveway. Brooke sat in her car, grip tight on the steering wheel, but not making any moves to leave. He jogged out into Mother Nature’s wrath and knocked on the car window.

  “Let me guess. Car won’t start,” he said loud enough for her to hear him over the storm while he silently thanked the heavens, she hadn’t gotten the starter fixed yet. For once the universe was working with him.

  “Go away, Tyler,” Brooke growled as she swatted at a tear on her cheek.

  “Please, let me explain.” He had no idea what exactly he was going to say, but he couldn’t leave things like this.

  “There’s nothing to talk about, so just go.”

  “There’s plenty to talk about,” he called out over the roar of the rain.

  She cracked the window slightly but didn’t look at him. “You aren’t attracted to me. I get it. No need to dwell on it. I’m not attracted to you either. I’m just sick of being a virgin and figured since you love to sleep around, you’d be my best bet.”

  “Don’t do that,” he said with thin veiled irritation.

  “Do what?”

  “Turn this into something it’s not. Make me the bad guy.”

  “I never said you were. That’s your own guilty conscious.”

  “Brooke!” he yelled, and she jolted. He didn’t mean to frighten her, but he didn’t know how else to get her to listen. “I am attracted to you. You’re gorgeous and funny when you’re not being a bitch. You put me in my place, yet lift me up at the same time, and you believe in me when not many people do.”

  She turned to him, long lashes brushing against the apples of her cheeks before she blinked up. Her gray eyes locked with his. It was like a sucker punch to the gut. He was more than attracted to Brooke Marshall. He was falling in love with her. And who knew, maybe he always loved her, but to realize it would have opened him up to a vulnerability he wasn’t ready or prepared to deal with. Now staring into her eyes, he had no choice but to acknowledge the unmistakable warmth that filled his heart just by looking at her. The overwhelming desire to throw the car door open and scoop her into his arms, carry her back into the house, and make love to her in a way she would never forget-—gentle, sweet, and like she was the only girl in the world he wanted to be with.

  Because she was.

  Now that the black clouds had lifted, he could see it perfectly clear. So clear, he had no idea why he never noticed it before. Brooke Marshall was his dream girl. In every way imaginable she was the girl he never thought he would find, probably because she had always been in front of him, but he was too dumb to realize.

  “Brooke,” he said.

  A loud rumble of thunder echoed all around them. The noise so loud it felt as if the ground was shaking. A burst of light flashed across the sky then in quick succession more bursts. The light show died down, and Tyler turned to Brooke when a flaming bolt zig zagged out of the darkness and right into the tree only a few feet away from him.

  An earsplitting crack reverberated around them as the smell of burnt wood permeated the air.

  “Holy crap!” Brooke said, and Tyler looked down at her.

  “Will you come back in the house now?” he asked. “Before I get killed.”

  Gray eyes met his and widened. A pure look of terror flashed across her face. “Tyler, watch out!”

  Chapter 11

  “Oh God!” Brooke watched as part of the tree crashed to the ground, and Tyler disappeared beneath the branches. Frantically, she reached for the handle, but no matter how hard she tried to shove the door she couldn’t get it open. “Tyler!” she cried out, tears spilling down her cheeks. She was mad at the bastard, but she didn’t want to see him get hurt. Or worse. Oh no...

  Where was he? Why wasn’t he standing up and telling her he was okay? Calling her some name for being a stubborn mule.

  She climbed over the center console and shoved the passenger door open. Her foot hit the ground, and she took off, rounding the car, only to be stopped by a wall of branches and leaves.

  “Tyler!” She crawled under a branch, a wet leaf smacking across her face and dragging along her skin as she continued through the maze of destruction. Big fat drops of rain cascaded down her face, blurring her vision. She angrily swiped at the annoying droplets, trying to clear her sight.

  Tyler’s hand poked through a thick area of branches, and she hurried as fast as she could without tripping.

  “Tyler!” she cried out again as the rest of his body came into view. She made it to him and dropped to her knees. “Please tell me you’re okay!” Blue eyes stared up at her, and a smile formed on his face. She didn’t know whether to kiss him or hit him. Both desires were equally strong.

  “Took you long enough,” he said and she flicked his ear. “Ouch!”

  “You son of a bitch! I thought you were dead.” She fell on her ass, clutching her chest and trying to calm her racing heart.

  “Not dead, just stuck, Hearts.” His eyes glanced down to his lower body that was hidden beneath a thicket of branches.

  “You’re going to wish you were dead once you get out of there! Did you not hear me calling your name?”

  “If you haven’t noticed, there’s a monsoon going on out here. All I hear is the wind howling and the thunder. Plus, I had leaves smacking me in the ear.”

  “I’m still going to kill you.”

  “I look forward to it, but first we need to get me out of here and get you inside.”

  “Me? You’re the one who got taken out by a tree!”

  “And I’m grateful you’re a stubborn pain in my ass. If you would have gotten out of the car, you might have been hurt or worse.” He shook his head as if he was trying to shake a bad image from his mind. “If something had happened to you.”

  “It didn’t,” she assured him. “For once my thick headedness paid off.”

  “Thank God.” He looked at the mess of downed tree. “My leg is stuck.”

  “Is it broken? Are you in pain? Should I call Layla? Or maybe Chase would be better. The fire department deals with down trees all the time and they have basic medical knowledge.” Brooke fished for her phone only to remember it wa
s in the car. Panic pushed away fear as she started to climb out of the tangle of tree.

  “Brooke, wait!” Tyler said. She turned to him. “Breathe. I don’t need medical attention, you don’t have to call Layla. And if you can just help me, we won’t need to call Chase either. At least not until after the storm when he can help unblock the driveway.”

  “What do you need me to do?” she asked, grateful that he was okay, especially because she didn’t think she’d be able to handle this on her own. If he was knocked out… My God, she couldn’t. Now she understood the haunted look in his eyes when he spoke of what could have happened to her.

  “I need you to lift that branch right there,” he said, knocking her out of her own mind. “I’m going to slide out. Do you think you can do that?”

  “Are you insinuating I can’t? Just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean I can’t lift a tree.”

  He let out a loud breath. “Can we focus on the task at hand, and you can go back to ripping me apart when I’m vertical. I just want to make sure you’re not going to hurt yourself. If you hurt yourself, we’re both screwed.”

  “Oh…good point.” She needed to stop jumping to conclusions. “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay. On the count of three, let’s give it a try.”

  She readied herself, determined to get him out of this mess since technically she was the reason he was in it. If only she’d let him take her to Fairview, or if she didn’t run out of the house when he’d rejected her. There were so many things she could have done differently, but though he was currently trapped beneath a tree, she wasn’t sure she would change anything.

  Those few moments in his arms, his lips on hers, his hands exploring the curves of her body was magical. She would succumb to it all again just to experience it all once more.

  “You ready?” he asked.

  She met his eyes and knew as long as Tyler was willing to work with her, they’d be able to overcome anything. “Let’s do this.”

  ***

  He took a deep breath and prepared himself as best he could before he counted down. “One. Two. Three!” he called out. He tried his best to help Brooke lift the weight of the tree, and when he felt the heaviness ease off of him, he began to pull his leg toward him. “Keep going,” he said as his leg started to slip free.

  “I don’t know how much more I can hold this,” she grunted in a rush.

  If she dropped the tree now, it would most likely break a bone.

  “You can do it,” he assured her. He prayed she could hold on for just a little longer. The last thing he wanted was to spend the night in a hospital room. Not to mention, he didn’t have insurance at the moment.

  He pushed his hands into the ground and pulled himself inch by inch, carefully and slowly.

  “Tyler!” Brooke cried out and just as he yanked his leg free, she dropped the tree branch. It hit the ground with a loud thud, and she gasped. “Oh my God! Are you hurt?”

  “I’m all right,” he assured her as he got to his feet and tested it out, putting weight on that side of his body. When nothing screamed with pain, he let out a sigh of relief.

  She went right into his arms, taking his face in her hands and kissing him with purpose. Everything that had happened earlier got washed away with the rain. He kissed her back, cupping her wet cheeks in his hands and sinking into the sweetness that was Brooke Marshall.

  She tasted like heaven and hell, a pure fiery combination he knew was going to be the death and rebirth of him. Her teeth nipped at his bottom lip, showing that tiny piece of hell before she sweetly kissed the slight pain away.

  Her mouth withdrew, and he felt the loss instantly. He rested his forehead against hers as their breathing slowed and their breaths became one.

  “For a second there I thought…” Her words cracked, and she inhaled on a sob.

  “Thought I was dead?”

  “Maybe…” She met his eyes the gray clear with relief. “So… I’m just happy you’re not, that’s all. I got a little carried away here.” She went to pull away, but he grabbed her wrist and spun her into his chest. He captured her lips, coaxing her to part her mouth so he could taste her properly.

  She complied, letting him dip his tongue into the warmth of her mouth. She moaned as their tongues found each other and his hand tightened in the sopping wet material of her shirt.

  Rain poured down their faces, and he bent at the knees, scooping her up in his arms. She let out a squeak as he held her against his chest, and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “Let’s get out of the storm,” he said, but while they walked away from one, he felt himself walking into another. The storm outside was nothing compared to the storm known as Brooke Marshall. He could already tell that after he stepped into that house, he was never going to be the same.

  Chapter 12

  Tyler placed Brooke on the bed and came down on top of her, using his elbows on either side of her head to keep his weight off of her. “Are you sure about this?” he asked. “You could wait for someone else. Anyone else.”

  She realized then, looking into the blue depths of his eyes that it had nothing to do with her and everything to do with the fact that he didn’t think he was worthy enough to be her first. He was a stupid boy because he was the only one who deserved that part of her.

  Her fingers trailed along his hairline and followed the curve of his ear. “I don’t want it to be anyone else.”

  “Why not?” he asked, eyebrows pinching together.

  She tried to go for sweet, but that didn’t work. “Are you seriously questioning me right now?”

  “I just…”

  She took his face in her hands, urging him to look at her and only her. She needed him to hear every word she was about to say. “You asked me earlier why I was still a virgin, and I think it’s because I’ve always wanted it to be you. I didn’t realize it until tonight. Even though we’ve fought, you have always been there for me. In second grade when Bobby Selden was picking on me you knocked him on his butt and told him to leave me alone.”

  “He was a little shit.”

  She smiled. “He never bothered me again. In fifth grade when everyone went on the school trip, I couldn’t afford to go. I was embarrassed and had to stay in the office all day, but it turned out to be one of the best days of my life because you stayed behind, too.”

  “I didn’t want you to be alone,” he said.

  “Then when my mom died.” She paused, forcing down the emotion that always tried to claw its way out whenever Brooke spoke about her. “I was outside, numb, wanting to run away but having nowhere to go.”

  “You were sitting on the back bumper of Jax’s car,” he said.

  “And you came and sat next to me. You didn’t say anything… just wrapped your arm around me. In your arms, it was the first time I let myself cry.”

  He traced his finger along her jaw. “I wanted to take your pain away that day. It killed me to see you hurting so deeply.”

  He turned his head and kissed her palm, the tender gesture spreading warmth through her.

  “You’re always there when I need you. You’ve never let me down. Even when I pushed you away, you were still a constant in my life. It’s always been you, Ty. Always.”

  He ran his thumb across her lip. “If only I’d kissed you sooner.”

  “I probably would have knocked you out.” She laughed at the mock shock widening his eyes. “I wasn’t ready yet.”

  “And now?” he asked.

  She kissed the pad of his thumb. “I’ve never been more ready.”

  He dipped his head, capturing her lips in a soft, sweet kiss that had her entire body relax into the mattress. His hand trailed her body, brushing against her breast and coming to a stop on her hip. He held her as his tongue mingled with hers, his erection pressing firmly against her center.

  She had expected to be nervous, but there were no nerves. Her mind had never been clearer, and her body had never been so desperate for a touch. She took his
hand, guiding it toward her shirt, and when his fingers hooked into the bottom hem, she helped him peel the material from her body.

  He eased her down, kissing a path down the long column of her neck and stopping at the crook. His lips brushed gently across the heated skin, sending a red, hot desire crashing into her. She tangled her fingers into the damp strands of his hair, holding on, afraid if she didn’t, she’d float away.

  His tongue swiped along her collarbone, sending a new thrill of sensations coursing through her body. He moved down, kissing, licking, and nipping as he went, setting new fires with each stroke of his tongue and press of his lips.

  Her body arched as his mouth met the lacy edge of her bra. She inhaled a jagged breath as his hands slowly moved to her back and in one quick motion, snapped the hooks free. She bit her lip, not sure how to prepare for what came next, but Tyler didn’t look as he peeled the cups away. He held her gaze, like he only wanted her and didn’t care about the package she came in.

  His thumb brushed across her nipple, and a million tiny vibrations erupted throughout her body. A moan fell from her mouth when he rolled the tightened bud between his fingers.

  She wanted to watch him, but the sensations were too much. Her eyes slipped shut, and she absorbed every quivering touch. A wet line drew around the hardened peak and then his mouth completely covered her nipple, creating a rippling effect that moved through her body in sweet delicious waves.

  This was all new territory for Brooke, and she had no idea how to navigate. All she knew was that she wanted Tyler’s touch everywhere. She unzipped her shorts and shoved them down, eliciting a laugh from Tyler.

  “I was working my way there,” he said, a glint of humor in his eyes.

  “I’ve always been a bit impatient.”

  He laughed loud this time. “That’s an understatement.” He kissed her. “But I wouldn’t want you any other way.”

  He parted her thighs with his knee and traced his finger along the matching lace of her panties. She moaned as he circled the swollen nub beneath the lace.