Unbroken

by Jasmine Carolina

  I laugh, knowing precisely what he’s insinuating. I make a mental note to translate for Brody once we’re alone again. He’s been having Grace coach him in Spanish precisely for times like this, when Daddy tries to ice him out. Mom has had fourteen years to get acquainted with our second language, so she knows almost everything by now. But Brody’s still out of the loop.

  “Thanks, Daddy,” I say in English, although I am slightly amused by the confused expression on Brody’s face. “I love you, too.”

  Brody steps down and places a corsage on my wrist. Taking my hand, he leads me outside. Waiting for us is the Denali, instead of a limousine. I cock an eyebrow at him and he shrugs.

  “I wasn’t going to have you spend your only prom with my ex-girlfriend in the limo with us,” he says. “Plus, I figured you could drive. Last time…”

  When his voice trails off, I nod. Last time, life got in the way. More specifically, his dad got in the way. But today, he’s making it all about me, and I love it.

  “You are the best boyfriend ever!” I exclaim, snatching the keys from where they dangle on his index finger. As gracefully as I can, I sprint out of the house and climb into the driver’s seat of the car. Once Brody is in beside me, I lean over and kiss him. Before I put the car in drive, he reaches into the glove department and pulls out a small chest. He grabs my hand and holds it palm up before placing the chest in my hand. I open it, then grin up at him. “Dove chocolate?”

  He nods, smiling sheepishly as he shrugs. “I saw it in the store the other day and it made me think of you.”

  That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. I don’t care about being spoiled rotten or being taken on fancy dates. He does all the little things for me that other people tend to overlook, and that means the world to me.

  “This is so cheesy, babe.” Planting a quick kiss on his cheek, I smile and pluck a piece of chocolate from the chest. I unwrap it and pop it in my mouth. “Lucky for you, I like cheesy. And I love chocolate.”

  …

  I’m in love with this boy. As I dance with him, I completely forget that there are other people in the room. Right now, it’s just him and it’s just me and the rest of the world has disappeared. His arms clasp around my waist and connect at the small of my back. I rest my head in the space between his shoulders and sigh with contentment.

  Today has shown me his heart. The thing I keep in my mind always is the day he told me what was on his heart and his mind. It was the most honest he’d ever been with me, and ever since both of our secrets were let out in the open, we’ve been better than ever.

  Nickayla and Colin showed up shortly after we did. She looks stunning as always, waltzing around the room with the man she loves on her arm.

  Me, I can’t take my eyes off Brody. About twenty minutes ago, he left me to dance with Nickayla while I danced with Colin. Brody and Nic looked to be having a very important discussion, and I couldn’t help but wonder what they were talking about. When he came back to me, he wrapped me up in his arms like he was afraid I was going to run for the hills. We haven’t spoken, but there’s a wedge between us. I feel it.

  There’s a giant elephant in the room and I’ve named him Draco, and he’s being an asshole because he won’t let Brody and I enjoy our night together.

  “What did your dad say in Spanish earlier?”

  I knew that was coming, but I know that’s far from whatever’s on his mind right now. From the look on his face, he couldn’t care less what my dad had to say to me. He’s just trying to distract me from the real issue at hand.

  “He said I looked beautiful. And that the gringo had better take care of me, because he doesn’t want to see me hurt again. Then he told me he loved me, and to enjoy myself but not too much.” I grin, guiding his face in my direction, wanting him to focus on what I’m about to say. “Little does he know, you’re not going to have any fun tonight if you don’t tell me what’s going through that pretty head of yours.”

  I may not know much about Brody, but I know when something’s wrong with him. I know when he’s holding a battle within himself, and I want to make sure I’m not the reason for the conflicting emotions behind his eyes. After all we’ve been through in the short amount of time we’ve been together, whatever is wrong should be a piece of cake. His father was the worst of it, I’m sure.

  “I broke up with Michele at prom last year,” Brody says, tipping my chin up and holding it in place so I’ve no choice but to look directly into those gray-blue eyes of his.

  That’s not exactly what I was expecting to hear. Hearing her name come from his mouth has me automatically scanning the room for her. Within seconds, I find her. She’s standing by the punch bowl, laughing with some guy, and she looks phenomenal.

  I know I have no right to be…jealous of her history with Brody. But she’s beautiful. She’s petite and skinny and funny and she got the two years with him that should have been mine, while I wasted time with Maddox Bradley. The time she had with him is time that was stolen from me, and although I know she had no way of knowing that, I still feel resentful of the fact that she got to have him to herself while all I could do was dream of him.

  I force myself to look away from Michele long enough to pin Brody with a lethal expression.

  “Oh?” I reply, trying to sound unaffected. “You looking to have history repeat itself tonight? Because if you are, I promise you won’t live to tell the tale to the next girl you bring to prom.”

  He shakes his head, a throaty chuckle escaping his lips. He spins me around, holding one of my hands above my head. When I’m directly in front of him again, he places his hands on either side of my hips and literally holds me at arm’s length this time. He gazes down at me, a small smile on his face.

  “No. I broke up with her last year because she got too close. I didn’t want to hurt her…I didn’t want my dad to hurt her.”

  I raise my eyebrows at that, because he’s hurt me. His dad has hurt me. So what makes me so different from Michele?

  We’re nothing alike, but our situations are. As far as I can tell, I’m closer to him than she ever got, because I know all the intimate details of why things happened with his father the way they did. He gave me his secrets and gave me his heart as a result of that, so why? Why do I get the privilege of knowing the intimate, minute details without being pushed away completely?

  “I’m close, too. And we’ve hurt each other. Your dad has hurt me. Why don’t you break up with me, too?”

  He closes his eyes and winces as if in pain, and he shakes his head. Unable to help myself, my hands come up to rest atop the stubble growing on his jaw, and I graze my thumbs along the apples of his cheeks. Gray eyes ablaze, he pulls me, crushing me against his body. His head falls until our foreheads rest against each other.

  We sway to the song playing. It’s country, but for the first time, I don’t know it. The song doesn’t matter so much, though. What matters is that I’m here with Brody and I feel like all is right in the world for the first time in my life.

  Through slightly parted lips, he says, “I realize I run the risk of sounding like an asshole, but…Michele was disposable to me. But you never were. The entire time I was with her, all I could think about was you. I remembered everything about you, from the shirt you wore to how sexy your legs looked in those shorts to the color of your Chucks to the shy way you spoke to the way you watched me out the window of the U-Haul until it turned off of the street. You were part of me from that day, and every day I spent with her was a day I spent wondering when I was going to find you again.” He shakes his head. “You never gave me the opportunity to let you go, or to put you second, or to stay away from you. You literally forced your way into my life, and I couldn’t get you out of my head. And if I’m being honest, I never wanted to.”

  I kiss his jaw, and I feel my heart flutter.

  Who is this man, and what has he done with my Broody Brody?

  When did he start laying his heart out on the line without a seco
nd thought? He never does this, no matter how much I’ve wanted him to.

  “So it was my fault things never worked out with Michele?”

  “No, it was my fault for giving her a piece of me that didn’t belong to her. I was yours from that first day at Lewellyn’s.” He sighs frustratedly, like he can’t get all his emotions right. “It’s you, Sabrina. It’s always been you. The one my mom told me about, the one who would change my life forever. You were the one she told me to wait for, and I’m so glad I found you again. I feel a little less broken when I’m with you.”

  I have to laugh at that. I hate the way he thinks he’s broken because that couldn’t be further from the truth.

  I’m no more a damsel in distress than he’s a piece of damaged goods. Our battle is with the things that hurt us, rather than with each other. There’s no denying our attraction, no denying we would do anything to keep the other safe. There’s no price too high, no sacrifice too great when it comes to matters of the heart.

  During the night, I battle his demons with peace, with gentleness.

  During the day, he battles my demons with war, with fierceness.

  Clearly, we’re a match made in Heaven.

  “Sabrina, I have something I want to tell you. Just…uh, bear with me. I’m not very good with…words…”

  I shake my head, pressing a kiss to the edge of his mouth. I can see how much he’s struggling, how badly he wants to tell me what he really feels, but at the same time, he doesn’t want to.

  But he doesn’t have to tell me what’s in his heart. I know what’s there. I feel it.

  At night, he stays awake so I have his arms around me when my emotions get to be too much. He no longer lets me cry alone. In the mornings, he kisses me and tells me that I’m beautiful. He never wastes a breath, never wastes a touch. Whether it’s him holding my hand or kissing my forehead or helping me out of the car, he treats me like I’m the only person in his world. And when he’s weak, he allows me to be strong for him. He gives me his vulnerability unabashedly, and he lets me see into the hidden corners of his heart.

  “You don’t have to say it. I can feel it.”

  He grimaces, grabbing my face gingerly between his hands, and he nuzzles his nose against mine. Breathing heavily, I try to anticipate what he’s about to do or say right now. His frustration only grows with each passing moment, and finally, his brow twitches, he takes a steadying breath, and he gazes into my eyes.

  “I love you, Sabrina. I’m in love with you. You’re the only girl I’ve ever said those words to. I saved them in my heart for the right day, the right time, but…there is no right time. There never will be. There’s only right here, and right now, and this moment. And this moment is the one I want to hold in my heart forever, because I have never loved another person on this earth the way I love you.”

  I close my eyes, and cue the stomach drop. I hear a breath escape him like he’s about to say something, so I press my index finger to his lips and snap my eyes open.

  Time stops, and my heart beats fast and slow all at the same time at the words coming out of his mouth. I know he’s capable of feeling it, but I’ve never heard him say the words. I’ve never heard him say them to a single person, and today, he’s shared them with me. He’s given me his heart.

  There are very few things that can shock me these days, but hearing those three magic words from Brody Durham is the one thing that can.

  I step away from him and find a girl, slow dancing with her boyfriend. I tap her on the shoulder. When she turns to look at me, I clear my throat, afraid of how my voice is going to sound due to all the emotions flowing through me. I can barely get my words out without crying. Everything I feel is a million times stronger because of him, because of what he’s just given me.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt. But what’s the name of this song?” I ask.

  She gives me a curious expression, and smiles. “It’s called Must Be Doin’ Somethin’ Right by Billy Currington.”

  I thank her and turn to face a flabbergasted Brody, leaning against him as I wrap my arms around him.

  “I lied on our first date,” I tell Brody, smiling. He cocks his head to one side in question. “This is my new favorite song. I’ll never forget it. And I’ll never forget you. And I’ll never forget the way I feel about you right now. I love you so much, Brody.”

  TWENTY FIVE

  MY GIRL IS SO BEAUTIFUL.

  I haven’t been able to keep my hands off of her all night, and it absolutely killed me to hand her over to Colin for the duration of one song. The wave of jealousy that rolled over me watching my girl in another man’s hands was too much to bear. Although I knew at the end of the night, she’d be leaving the prom with me, would be sharing late night kisses and pillow talk with me, would have my member buried deep within her sex, I couldn’t help but get angry. Because she was so close to not being mine.

  From now on, I want her to know that’s no longer a possibility. We’re together, and I want to show her just how much I care about her.

  The minute we made it inside the lake house, she squealed and cried and ran around the house taking in my handiwork.

  I didn’t do much, not really. I brought some leftovers from home, bought some groceries for breakfast in the morning, and put it all in the refrigerator. I chopped wood for the fireplace—she reamed me out for not letting her watch me do that—and laid out a plethora of blankets and pillows on the living room floor. I placed candles on just about every surface, and a classical piece was playing from Pandora on the flat screen. It seemed like a bunch of small things to me, trying to make her comfortable and happy. But to Sabrina, I’d just given her the world.

  She wanted to skinnydip, but somehow, we never made it past the back porch. She walked out there to get a good view of the water, and we haven’t moved since. She’s wrapped up in me, and I rest my chin on her shoulder.

  Her hair glows in the moonlight. From where she stands leaning over the balcony on the outside of the lake house, I can make out her perfect silhouette, and the ghost of a smile appears on her face. She watches the moon set over the water, and I hear her sigh in contentment. Making my way toward her, I wrap my arms around her from behind.

  “This is beautiful, babe. Thank you for all of this,” she murmurs, resting her hands over mine.

  Little does she know, there isn’t a thing in this world I wouldn’t do for her. I would give her the moon and the stars if I could. For now, though, I’ll give all of myself to her. I can’t imagine that I’m any sort of prize for a girl like Sabrina, but I am in love with her, and I’m never going to let her go. Never.

  With a laugh, I kiss her temple. “I would do anything for you, sweet girl. You know I would.”

  I feel her nod, and she sighs, her entire body relaxing against mine. She melts against me like she often does, and she gives herself over completely to my touch.

  All I can think about is this dress, this fucking dress and how her ass looked as she danced at prom. How her legs seem to go on for eternity. How, for the first time, everyone can see the tattoo I’ve come to love, no matter how much I hate the thought of her altering her body in any way. How it hugs her body perfectly, and more importantly, how the dress is wearing her, and not the other way around.

  Those were my thoughts today during prom.

  And now…

  Well, now, all I can think about is how sexy she looks without this dress on.

  My hands start to roam, exploring her body. Slowly, her head tilts to the side, giving me access to her neck as I trail kisses over her collarbone. I press kiss after loving kiss to her shoulder, her beautiful back, never once taking my hands off her luscious body. Hands roaming over her smooth, porcelain skin, I slide her dress over her shoulder and down her arm, until every inch of her above the waist is bared for me. Running my tongue languidly along her skin, I let my hands inch over her collarbone, down to the pebbles of her breasts, over her belly, and I push her dress down the rest of the way. She step
s out of it, then inches backward, pressing her firm ass against my erection.

  I slip my hand between her legs and my fingers slowly inch inside of her. Tiny gasps escape her lips sporadically as my fingers work their magic, and when my thumb sweeps over her swollen bud, she cries out. Her arms reach up and her hands clasp behind my head, holding on to me as I continue to work inside her. I feel her core clench around my fingers, and I stop my torture, pull my hand up to wrap around her waist and turn her around so she’s facing me.

  Panting with need, she unstrings my tie and tosses it to the ground. She grabs my shirt and all but rips it open, taking it off so it joins my tie and her dress. That damn dress. I can’t be held responsible for my actions when she wears things like that.

  Grabbing her thighs, I lift her up. Her supple breasts press against my chest and my lips are on hers as I carry her back inside the house. Her hands in my hair, she kisses me fiercely. Her tongue begs entrance into my mouth and without hesitation, I open for her. My body is hers, and I do as I’m bid when I know what she wants. She tugs on my hair, and I groan into her mouth. She attacks me with a fervency that is unmatched. Dropping to my knees and being careful to keep my hold on her, I ease us onto the blanket laid out before the fireplace. She holds on to me as I kiss the inside of her thigh, her lower abdomen, her belly, her breasts, and her collarbone before making my way to her lips. I leave a trail of kisses on my way back down.

  I grab her right leg and place it gingerly over my shoulder, and within seconds I’m devouring her heat as she grasps onto the blanket below her. Her back arches as my tongue works over her clit, and I all but come undone as she moans my name.

  “Oh…oh, God…Brody,” she whimpers.

  My name is a whispered prayer, and I grin as she writhes against my mouth. I stop, and I stare up at her. She is glorious. Every inch of her body is illuminated from the glow emanating from the fireplace. Her hair falls over her shoulders, her belly and chest rises and falls as she breathes deeply. I only watch her for a moment before I return to my earlier task.