by S. P. West
A light gust of wind reminds me that I’m standing out in nothing but a sweater, jeans, and socks. Somehow Brody has made me forget how cold it is. My body gives an involuntary shudder in protest to the cold. It’s only when Brody places his flannel shirt around me that I realize that I’m probably about to die of hypothermia.
“I want you to stay with me, Brooke.” He smiles, seemingly unaffected by the cold, even though he’s now only wearing a wife beater and jeans.
“Are you sure?”
“Look, it’s not like you two have anywhere else to go.”
“You won’t find it…uncomfortable?”
“Baby, I’ve told you how I feel. What my intentions are. If all you can offer me is friendship, then I’ll take it. Like I said, I don’t want to lose you again, but that won’t stop me from trying to convince you otherwise.”
“You promise not to try anything?” I cross my arms in front of me, giving him what I hope is a stern look. The problem is that I’m shivering so much that the effect has probably been lost.
“I promise not to touch you, unless you ask me to.”
“That’s not what I said, Brody, and you know it.”
“A man can only take so much, Brooke.” He grins. “I can’t promise you that I won’t try to get in your panties, but I won’t touch you until you beg me.”
“I guess I’ll have to take that,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“I’ll have you begging, baby,” he growls. “Don’t you worry about that.”
“You won’t be going anywhere near my panties, McAllister.”
“Want to bet on that, Elderhouse?” he calls as he walks backward down the porch steps.
“Not really, no,” I say under my breath as I watch his tight ass head over to our old house. How am I going to last the next few weeks in the same house as him?
How?
Brooke
Dear Jake,
Brody is hot.
Totally hot.
He’s so hot that I want to worship his hot body while licking cream and sprinkles off his dick, which is way bigger than yours by the way. Way, way, way bigger. I mean, this is your dick: 8===D
And this is Brody’s: 8============D
He also has a really nice ass and I want to run my hands all over his abs while he plays with my…
“BRODY!”
“Yeah?”
“What are you? Eight or something?”
“Did you like it? I thought it was awesome.” He smiles, giving Hope a high five as he passes. I give her my meanest stare, she just shrugs and returns to the book she’s reading.
“No. I didn’t.” I twist to face him as he sits down next to me on the couch. “My email to Jake, that you so kindly deleted, had to do with work, seeing as he is my boss, asshat,” I say through gritted teeth.
“Well, I thought it was good.” He laughs, poking me in the side, which makes me smile.
“It’s poorly written fanfiction at best, doofus.” I laugh as I poke him back.
“BURN,” Hope says from behind her book.
“It’s the truth and you know it.” He leans back, placing his arms behind his head, a smug smile on his face.
“Haven’t you got work to do?”
“Nope. It’s Sunday.”
“Well can’t you find anything else to do?”
“I’m just chilling on my couch, sweetheart. Like I do every weekend.” One of his hands snakes down to play with the loose bun that I’ve put my hair in.
“You know, for someone who said he wasn’t going to touch me until I begged, you’re doing an awful lot of touching.”
“I know you want to give in,” he says quietly as his lips brush my neck. “Just give in.”
“No.” I swallow hard, shifting so that my aching girly parts can get some slight relief. My panties are already soaking wet. I’m kind of disgusted with myself that he could make me this horny just by saying a few words.
“Yes.” His breath hits my neck, sending my sex-deprived body into overdrive. “Just say the word, Brooke.” I’m seconds away from giving in. Just…
“Urgggh!” Hope says, throwing up her hands, spoiling the moment. “If you two aren’t going to get a room, then I am.” She snatches up her book and stomps out of the room.
“Cockblocker!” Brody yells.
“Fuck you!” she shouts back, slamming the guest room door behind her.
Brody shakes his head, returning his attention back to me.
“So…”
“So.”
“Where were we?”
“You were about to tell me that you didn’t delete my email, then you were going to get lost.”
“I think that I was about to make you beg me to fuck you.”
“No I wasn’t,” I squeak. Smooth, Brooke, real smooth.
“I can smell your arousal from here, baby. I know you are lying. Just say the word and I’ll give you what you want.”
“Where’s my email?”
“In your drafts,” he says quickly, shutting my laptop closed. “Now forget about work.”
“McAllister.” I warn.
“You seem tense.” He tugs the laptop out of my hands and places it out of harm’s way. “I can help you with that.”
“Yes, you can, by getting lost.” I scoot over to the edge of the couch. Brody fixes me with a gaze so full of lust that my panties almost spontaneously combust on the spot. His lithe body moves in one fluid movement. All of a sudden I find myself caged in as he stands in front of me, his arms planted firmly on either side of me on the couch. His face comes within inches of mine, his breath gently caressing me. I can smell his woodsy scent that I once loved so much.
“You sure about that?” he asks gruffly.
“No.” I admit.
“Then give in.”
“Then you’ll win.”
His smile is pure sex. “It’s not about winning, baby. It’s about facing up to the inevitable.”
“And that would be?” I’m playing a dangerous game flirting with him.
“You, underneath me, screaming my name over and over again as I make you come. Hard.”
I swallow as his eyes darken from their normal silver to a deep gunmetal gray, a sign of pure lust that I know oh so well.
“I can’t,” I whisper as he leans forward, brushing his lips against mine.
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Both.”
“I don’t believe you.” He grins, lightly blowing on my neck.
“I don’t want my heart broken again,” I say as I start to writhe under him, creating a delicious friction between my thighs.
“I won’t break your heart, I promise.” He shifts so that his knee is pressed between the juncture at the top of my legs. I only need to move my body slightly forward and I’ll be using his knee to get off.
“Brody?”
“Yeah?”
“Touch me. Please?”
His lips are on mine before I can draw my next breath. A slow, sensuous kiss that deepens as I thread my fingers around his neck and pull him down on top of me.
“Thank you.” He breathes as he starts to kiss down my neck.
“No talking, just fucking.” I gasp as he licks along the length of my neck.
“When did you get so demanding?” He laughs, continuing his path down my body.
“When I’ve had to make do with a vibrator for a year.”
“That so?” Brody breaks away for a moment, watching my reaction as he smooths his hand along my thigh to the top of my leg. “We’re going to have to do something about that.”
“Yeah. You are.” I challenge, only to be silenced just seconds later as his hands snake into the waistband of my pants. I don’t resist as he lowers my pants, his long fingers skimming the edge of my panties, before reaching up and pulling them off as well.
“Are you sure about this?” he asks, his eyes suddenly filled with concern.
“Yes.” I gasp.
“Once we do this, we can’t
go back.” His fingers dance lightly across my folds, sending a delightful shiver down my spine.
“I know.” I groan, grinding my hips against his hand.
“I love you, Brooke,” he says, placing a sweet kiss on my lips. “Even if you don’t love me, I’ll love you enough for the both of us.”
“Brody…” I stare into his eyes, trying to convey to him the words I can’t say out loud.
“I know. You don’t want to have your heart broken again, and that’s okay. I can wait.” His normally deep voice is barely a whisper. “Even if it’s forever, because you’re worth waiting for.”
I can’t stop the rush of emotion that hits me with his words, I let out a small sob as tears well up in my eyes.
“Hey.” Brody uses his free hand to brush away my tears. “We’re having sexy time. No tears, okay? I might get a complex.”
“Sh-sh-shut up and kiss me.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
His smile is wide as he briefly presses his lips to mine. My eyes close and my mouth opens in expectation of another deep kiss that never comes. Not there anyway.
“Bro…OH MY GOD!” The first brush of his lips against my pussy sends shockwaves through my body. I lift my head to see Brody’s head buried between my thighs. A flicker of his tongue has me arching off the couch.
“You want me to stop?” He’s looking at me now, his gray eyes smolder with lust and amusement.
“Hell, no.” I pant, lowering my hips back down.
“Good,” he growls, before he begins another assault on my vagina.
I’m sure the moan that I let out in response can be heard all over the county.
“Oh God.” I mewl, grabbing ahold of Brody’s head, pulling him closer. He rewards me by fucking me with his tongue as I writhe against his face. My moans get louder and louder, until I’m practically screaming as he gives me wave after wave of pleasure. Then he replaces his tongue with his long, rough finger and sucks on my clit, tipping me over the edge into a chasm of bliss.
“YES. YES. MOTHERFUCKING. YES,” I yell before collapsing, boneless and satiated, on the couch. Brody places one last kiss to my sensitive pussy, then crawls back up my body, taking me in his arms.
“How was it?” He smiles, wiping my juices off his face with the back of his hand.
“Heavenly.” I sigh, snuggling into him. “Thank you.”
“I aim to please.” Brody gently kisses the top of my head before settling so that my head rests against his chest.
“Your turn now.” I pant as I snake my hand down his body, toward the fly on his jeans. He places his hand on mine, stopping me before I can reach my destination.
“No.”
“But what about you?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Brody.”
“Brooke.” He mimics the whining tone of my voice.
“I want to.”
“And I really want you to.”
“Then why are you stopping me?”
“Because,” he says, nuzzling his nose into my hair, “this is all about you.”
“Huh?”
“I wanted to do that for you, baby. I don’t expect anything in return, and I don’t want you to think that you have to return the favor.”
“Who are you and what have you done with Brody McAllister?” I laugh, cuddling into him.
“I’m serious, Brooke,” he says, stroking my cheek. “I need to prove to you that I’m serious about what I said. I love you, Brooke. I’d go to the ends of the earth to make you happy. What happened between us just now, that was only for you.”
“But—”
“Shhhhh.” He soothes, placing a finger over my lips. “Just lay with me.”
“I suppose I can.” I yawn, burying my head in his chest. “Until your cock deflates.”
The rumble of Brody’s laughter is the last thing I hear as I drift into a dreamless slumber.
“Do you know how loud you two were?”
“I said I was sorry.”
“Don’t lie, you’re totally not.”
“A tincy bit.” I hold up my thumb and index finger in front of Hope’s face.
“Didn’t sound like it.”
“I guess it didn’t.” I can’t hide the smile that spreads across my face.
“Are you and Brody back together, then?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Why?” Hope’s eyebrows almost disappear into her hairline. “Because for starters, most of the neighborhood overheard the two of you having sex. Then you have to add in the fact that Brody and you have been walking around like love sick teenagers. Don’t think I’ve missed the matching smiles that you two are currently sporting.” She throws herself across the bed. “It’s sickening.”
“We’re not back together,” I answer, fixing Hope with a hard stare.
“That’s not what it sounded like.”
“We’re not back together. How many times do I have to say it?”
“‘Yes, yes motherfucking yes’ times.”
“I was in the throes of passion.” I rip my apple that she was about to take a bite out of from her snake fingers. “We’re just…”
“Just what?”
“Friends. Brody and I are just friends.”
“Does Brody know that?”
“Sure he does.”
“Do you want to know what I think?”
“Not particularly.”
“I think that you and Brody are still in love with each other.”
“Friends,” I singsong.
“You love him, Brooke.”
“Wrong.”
“You do.”
“Nope.”
“He loves you.”
“Good for Brody.”
“And you love him.”
“Whatever you say.”
“How long are you going to avoid answering me properly?” she asks, snatching the apple back. “When are you going to listen to what your heart is telling you?”
“When it can guarantee that it won’t shatter again.”
“There are no guarantees in life, Brooke, you know that as well as I do.”
“Oh yeah? Spoken to Caden recently?” I say, folding my arms across my chest.
“Low blow.”
“True though.”
“Still low.”
Looking at her, I feel a pang of guilt, so I throw myself next to her on the bed, brushing back her hair.
“It was,” I say quietly. “I’m sorry.”
Hope moves so that she’s lying on her back, looking at the ceiling.
“What are you going to do?” she asks, turning her head to look at me.
“I don’t know. I haven’t really processed it yet, you know?” Hope gives me a reassuring smile, and takes my hand in hers, giving me a squeeze. “I’m not….”
“Not what?”
“Sure…if I regret it or not. I mean it was great. Really, really great.” I smile. “But…I don’t want to lead him on. It’s not fair to make Brody think that he may get another chance when I’m not sure that I can give him one.”
“You’re overthinking things again.”
“I wish it were simple, Hope.”
“It is.”
“You’re not making much sense.”
“What I see,” she says, shifting so that she lies on her side facing me, “is two people in love. One of those people fucked up badly and is now trying to make amends. The other is reluctant to admit that she wants to live happily ever after with him because she is scared that he’ll break her heart again. Am I right?”
I sigh as I roll onto my back again, staring once more at the ceiling. It feels…strange. Strange to be sleeping in the house that I thought I’d raise my kids in. My once safe place, my little kingdom where the outside world didn’t matter. Home. Now, it feels empty, as though I’d never lived here. Like I don’t belong.
Not that much has changed in the house, Brody has kept
it pretty much the same as when I moved out. Even the things I left behind haven’t been moved, which is a little bit creepy. I’ll admit that when Brody went out to work the other day, I snuck into our old room and found a stuffed bear wearing one of my old tees that I left behind. I’m still wavering between whether it’s kind of sweet or kind of horrifying. I wonder what else he does to the bear. Does he spoon with it at night like he did with me or… You hear of guys ordering stuffed toys with extra holes, that’s all I’m saying.
Is it possible that this could be my home again, if I forgive him? Can I do that, give him what he’s so desperate for—a second chance? It would mean giving up my life in Scottsdale. I’ve only been there a year but I’ve been…happy. Yeah, happy. I never thought that I’d end up working for a millionaire former marine who runs a male strip joint. Who would? But I do, and everything is better for it. Where once my life was gray, now it’s full of color. Not one day is the same. I love my job, I love the friends I’ve made. I even love the cramped apartment that I share with Hope. But I also love Brody.
Being back here has made me realize that I still love him.
I miss him.
I even miss this town and the weather.
I think…I think I want to come back home.
“You never were any good at admitting that I’m right.” Hope smiles, pulling my attention back into the room. “It must be so painful for you.”
“Nah. I just have to remember that I tried to talk you out of cutting your own fringe.”
“Bitch.”
Through the window I can see that night time has descended. The alarm clock on the bedside table reads six o’clock. Brody will be home soon.
“Hope?” I ask as I get off the bed. “When did you get so wise?”
“When I grew up and stopped thinking that everything was pink, fluffy clouds, unicorns, and rainbows.”
“I liked you like that.”
“That girl is gone, Brooke.” She shakes her head sadly.
“Not gone. Buried.” I walk to the open door. “You’ll find her one day.”