by Cass Kincaid
“Earth to Corinne.”
Brody’s voice cuts through my tainted thoughts, and I flinch as I’m jolted back to the here and now. “Sorry,” I mumble.
He squeezes my hand in his. “You okay? You’ve barely said a word since we got into the vehicle.”
“My mind is my own worst enemy sometimes,” I chuckle. “I tend to get lost in it.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that as long as you’re not torturing yourself with thoughts that have no business being in your pretty little head,” he says, bringing my hand up against his mouth. He kisses my knuckles as he pulls the vehicle into the arena parking lot. “I know it’s hard, Corinne, but you can trust me, okay? If you can do that, the rest will come. We’ll take it slow.”
“Slow like we did today?” I smirk over at him.
He shrugs, a wicked grin on his face. “I’m not complaining.”
I squeeze his hand back, telling him it surely wasn’t a complaint from me, either.
The vehicle comes to a complete stop beside my car, and I am surprised to only see a handful of other vehicles in the lot. It’s darker now than it was earlier, but the lights of the parking lot illuminate the entire thing, only showing off the emptiness of the paved lot.
“When will I see you again?” Brody asks, his eyes reflecting the dashboard lights back at me.
It’s the first time today that I’ve thought of my date with my friend from LookingForLove.com. “Um, well I have to work tomorrow. And I might have plans tomorrow evening...with a friend.”
Might. Technically, I do, but after today I’m going to head home right now and cancel those plans, because if I’m going to give this thing a chance with Brody, there’s no way I’m going to do something like see someone else in a way that could remotely be considered a romantic capacity.
“No problem,” he says, caressing my knuckles against his lips again. “I have plans tomorrow night, too, actually. And practice the next. Maybe we could have dinner on Monday night? At my place, just me and the little man.” He nods his head toward the backseat with a smile. “I know he won’t object. And I’ll cook.”
The flash of headlights cascades across Brody’s face as someone else pulls into the parking lot, and I see the devilish look in his eye. He wants more than just dinner on Monday night.
“With that glint in your eyes, I’m not sure I could turn that invitation down even if I wanted to,” I joke. “I’m afraid you might show up at my place and throw me over your shoulder or something.”
“I’m not above it,” he chuckles just before he leans in and presses his lips to mine. The kiss that ensues is long and passionate, with our tongues colliding like they’ve been starved for connection since the moment we last touched our mouths together.
I pull away from him reluctantly, groaning as the delicious clench of wanting courses through me. Christ, he’s divine. “I should go,” I tell him breathlessly.
“Maybe you should, but that doesn’t mean I want you to.” He kisses me again, a soft peck to entice me just a little bit more.
“Monday night,” I chuckle under my breath. “We’ll see each other then.”
He is still protesting, much to my absolute delight, when I crawl out of the vehicle, saying goodbye for the umpteenth time as I close the door. He doesn’t pull away until he sees me unlock the door to my car and pull it open. I’m about to climb in when an all too familiar voice sounds from somewhere in the darkness.
“Well, hey, Cori. Looks like the rumors are true.”
I whirl around to see him emerge from the shadows, his sporty-looking car parked under one of the only trees in the lot, hiding his presence from me until now.
“Jackson,” I whisper under my breath as though I’ve just seen a ghost. I can hardly move, immobilized by the swarm of emotions that engulf me just by seeing him. “What...what are you doing here?”
He shrugs like it’s no big deal, but the menacing glint in his eye says otherwise. He’s still as sexy as ever—physically, at least. It’s interesting how being an unfaithful prick can somehow taint the attractiveness of a man, no matter how beautiful he is to look at.
He moves closer to me, his movements smooth and liquid. “Well, it just so happens I was on my way into town when Mom called me. She let it slip that she’d seen you with Brody. It didn’t take much in the way of investigative work to figure out that Mom’s stuttering responses were exactly what I thought they were—an admission that you’re screwing around with my brother.”
His choice of words makes embarrassment flood hotly in my cheeks but I turn away from him, every cell in my body screaming at me to get in the damn car and drive away. “That’s no concern of yours,” I spit out venomously. “You’re the only one who screwed around on anyone. And that anyone just happens to be me.”
“Perhaps.” The dark amusement flows through his voice like lava. “But who’s idea do you think it was?”
I don’t want to listen, don’t want to stand there and entertain him. But I can’t move. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, Jackson.”
“No, you don’t want to know,” he corrects me. “But Brody isn’t innocent, either, Cori. He—”
“Don’t call me that,” I snap, whirling around to face him. “You don’t get to use that nickname. It’s reserved for people who actually give a damn about me. You never did.”
It disgusts me even more when he doesn’t try to defend himself, making me feel even more used and tossed aside. Instead, he focuses on something else entirely. “And you think Brody does?” The maniacal laughter that follows has me swallowing hard past the lump in my throat, and I shake my head at the fact I’m letting him get to me after all this time. “Brody’s a player, Corinne, he always has been. We used to joke about the chicks we scored with,” he advises with a grin. “My big brother likes to score on the ice and off.”
“Your brother thinks you’re a jerk,” I spit out, my chest heaving with the emotion toiling in my stomach.
“My brother tried to get with Breanne, too,” he retorts. “Right after I told him what a good lay she was.”
The concrete parking lot may as well open up beneath my feet and swallow me. “You’re lying,” I breathe out. “Brody didn’t know.”
One eyebrow arches speculatively on Jackson’s face. “Is that what he told you?”
His wicked smile should be enough to make me turn and do everything I can to get away from him, but I’m rooted in place.
“Brody knew I was fucking Breanne while I was with you,” he continues. “He’s the one who saw her at that party we went to at Tyler’s house one night and actually suggested I should tap that. He saw how she was eye-fucking me from across the room.”
“You’re lying,” I say again, but all the venom has been stripped from my tone, leaving me with only defeat and weakness.
“Whatever gets you through the day, sweetheart,” he sneers, holding his hands up. “I’m just here to tell you, if you think Brody Marsh is your fucking Prince Charming, Cori, you’ve got another thing coming. He’s screwing you because he thinks this is a game. He just wants to be able to brag about getting in your pants at the next family holiday get-together.”
“You’re lying.” It’s the only thing I can say, and the tears that escape down my cheeks aren’t helping matters. “You must really enjoy breaking my heart, Jackson.”
The scoff that sounds from his throat is just as demeaning to me now as it would have been the day I found out he cheated. “Trust me,” he says. “It isn’t me breaking your heart this time. Brody is doing a bang-up job of that himself.”
He turns, intending to head back toward his car. “Or don’t trust me,” he adds. “I don’t really give a damn either way. Good to see you, Cori.”
Chapter Twelve
Brody
It’s been only a few hours since I saw her last, but Corinne may as well be standing in this room staring at me with those seductive hazel eyes the way my mind conjures her up into eve
ry room of my house. She occupies the space around me even in her absence. It might be my mind playing tricks on me, but I’ve been watching Spencer look around the room all evening as though in search of her, too.
He’s not the only one with a crush on Corinne Hastings.
Which is exactly why I log on to LookingForLove.com. I’m going to cancel my plans with LaughLoudLiveQuiet. Because I don’t want to be someone that Corinne feels she can’t trust. I’m not saying I’d go on this date and end up sleeping with the woman behind the username, but there’s no reason to even attend the meeting when my heart and mind are already completely preoccupied with everything that is Corinne. It wouldn’t be fair to Corinne or to LaughLoudLiveQuiet, even if it is just a meetup as friends only.
I open our messages and type out a simple message.
I know we’re supposed to meet tomorrow, and believe me, I was looking forward to it. However, I think I should be honest and tell you that I have met someone. A really, really amazing woman. She’s completely unexpected. She’s also completely wonderful. I know you and I were just meeting up as friends, but I don’t think it would be fair to meet someone else at this point in time, not to you and not to her. I’m just not that kind of guy. I hope you understand, and I’m truly sorry for the last-minute cancellation.
I send it, feeling guilt boil in the pit of my stomach. That woman doesn’t deserve to be cancelled on, but she sure as hell doesn’t deserve to meet up with someone who’s already got his sights set on someone else.
And I do. Corinne is directly in my crosshairs, and everything I do and say from now on is so that she’ll know that I’m completely and utterly falling for her.
The shrill ringing of my phone in my hand startles me, mostly because my initial reaction is to prevent Spencer from being awakened by the sound. I see Corinne’s name on the caller display and smile. Her ears must be burning with all the thoughts I’m having about her.
“It’s not Monday yet,” I joke by way of greeting. “Couldn’t wait till then?”
“Tell me it’s not true.”
As soon as her voice meets my ears, I’m sitting upright, my brows drawn down as a shiver rolls down my spine. “Corinne, what’s wrong? What do you mean?”
“You said you didn’t know,” she gasps out between sobs. “You said you had no idea Jackson was cheating on me.”
“I didn’t,” I confirm. “I swear I didn’t, Corinne.”
“Then why did your pathetic excuse for a brother just tell me you suggested he go after Breanne, Brody?” She’s yelling into the phone, distraught. “Why did he tell me you tried to screw her, too, because she was easy?”
“What?” My mind is struggling to catch up to what she’s saying. “If Jackson said that, he’s a fucking liar,” I hiss into the phone. “Corinne, you’ve got to believe me.”
“I did believe you,” she cries. “That was my first mistake. The second was trusting you enough to think you were any different than him.”
“Corinne, I am!” I exclaim. “Jackson is just trying to cause shit between—”
“There is no you and I,” she interjects vehemently. “I can’t believe I ever thought there was.”
The phone line goes dead, leaving me clinging to it as though it’s a lifeline. Two things trail through my mind on repeat. The first is that this cannot be happening. Not after the amazing day we just had together, and not after I finally had Corinne open her heart up to me, letting me in and trusting me enough to give us a chance.
The second is that I’m damn well going to find Jackson and make him wish he’d never broken Corinne’s heart the first time, let alone twice. Then, I’m going to make this right.
***
Mom didn’t make a fuss about coming to my house to sit for a little bit while I went out. With Spencer sleeping, I didn’t want to wake him when I didn’t have to and didn’t want to bundle him up to go outside if I didn’t need to. He’s comfortable and the world is a calm, serene place for him right now.
He might be the only one seeing it that way, but I’m going to let him hang on to that as long as he can.
I figured my mother must have been the one to advise Jackson of my appearance with Corinne in tow, and she was sheepish about it when she showed up. However it had come up in conversation with him, she hadn’t meant to let it slip.
“I’m assuming this is about Jackson,” she’d remarked, her eyes full of guilt. “I didn’t mean to mention Cori to him, Brody. It was just such a natural thing to say when we were talking...that Brody and Corinne had just left...”
I let her ponder that one on her own, mostly because I wasn’t sure what to say about the fact that my name and Corinne’s seemed to be natural rolling off her tongue. And also because I didn’t have much time.
I knew my brother would be at Mom’s house even before she told me he was. He doesn’t live in this city, so where the hell else would he go? He’s burned every other bridge in this place a long time ago.
“Jackson, where are you?” I holler, stepping inside my parents’ house. “Jackson!”
“Easy, big brother.” Jackson appears in the doorway leading to the kitchen, his eyes gleaming with mischief, his grin cocky as ever. “I’m right here. Whatever could be the problem?”
“Why?” I spit out. “Why the fuck would you flat-out lie to Corinne about me? Isn’t it enough that you ruined her for over two years, you cheating bastard?” The questions careen from my mouth like ammunition, and it’s everything I can do not to close the gap between us and pulverize the son of a bitch for the way he hurt her.
Jackson’s grin stays plastered on his face, but he pushes away from the doorframe and shrugs. “Careful, Brody. You might fall off that high horse of yours with all that name calling.” He chuckles each word, not giving a damn about the truth of what I’m saying. “You can’t possibly want my sloppy seconds anyway, can you?”
I’m on him within seconds, my hands pressed roughly against his throat as I slam him up against the wall beside the doorway. “Don’t you ever refer to her as that again, you hear me?” I push up against his throat once more then release him, stepping back to try to cool down. “Answer my fucking question, Jackson.”
The snickering that follows as he rubs his neck only ignites the fury inside me, though. “You always were kind of a hothead,” he chuckles under his breath. “As to why I told her that, it’s true, isn’t it? Don’t tell me you didn’t know I was getting a piece from Breanne. Hell, there was some side action going on in your own relationship, if I remember correctly.”
“Charlotte cheated on me, Jackson!” I scream at him. “Not the other way around! I’ve never screwed around on anyone, and I sure as fuck didn’t know about the bullshit antics you pulled on Corinne until you fucking bragged about it months later!”
Jackson exaggerates his movements, pretending to mull that over. Then, a slow, deliberate grin crosses his face and he shrugs. “Hmm. Well, oops, my bad.”
I lunge for him again, this time making damn sure my fist connects with his jaw. “You think this is a fucking joke?” I growl at him. “You think you can just do and say whatever the hell you want, without ever thinking about how it might affect other people! You’re disgusting, Jackson!”
“She’s my fucking ex!” Jackson screams back at me, though his words are slightly muffled by the pain in his face.
Those four words halt me in my tracks. I don’t move, instead watching him with a new intensity as though the impact of what he’s said has hit me with just as much force as the punch I threw at him. “Yeah, she is.” My chest heaves violently. “So what?”
“There’s got to be some kind of fucking rule about that,” he replies, rising to his full height again and cupping his jaw in his hand. “You’re my fucking brother, for God sake.”
I laugh. Full-out, wholeheartedly laugh. “You’re a fine one to be talking about rules,” I snap, shaking my head. “The only rule you had to follow was to keep your dick in your pants, to be faithful t
o that amazing woman, and not only were you unable to do that, you had to brag about it.” My head is still shaking from side to side, and I’m completely shocked by his audacity. “You had your chance, Jackson, and you blew it by being a total asshole. Don’t ruin this for me by being the same fucking thing.” I swallow, evening out my voice. “Don’t ruin this for her. Christ, you owe her that much.”
To my utter disbelief, he remains quiet long enough for me to wonder if he’s actually contemplating what I’m saying. “Of all people, you had to choose my ex-girlfriend to fuck, Bro.”
“No,” I tell him, shaking my head. “That’s where you’re wrong. I chose her to fall in love with.” I pause, then meet his gaze head on. “That’s what this is about, you’re jealous?”
“Fuck you,” he retorts, but the vehemence in it is only halfhearted at best. “This isn’t about jealously, Brody. It’s about Corinne. She was mine first, so as my brother, you don’t get to waltz in and be the good guy.”
“Was,” I state through clenched teeth. “Corinne was yours. The fact that she’s not now, that’s on you. And you don’t even want her now, you just don’t want me to have her.”
“Now you’re catching on,” Jackson sneers.
It’s my turn to shrug. “Too bad that’s not your choice to make,” I say evenly. “However, you do have two choices to choose from. Either you call or text Corinne right now and admit you lied through your fucking teeth about everything, or so help me God, I will drag you the fuck over there kicking and screaming and you’ll tell her to her face.”
Judging by the way Jackson’s mouth keeps opening and closing, and the way his hands keep raking through his shaggy chestnut hair, I’d say he’s reading my body language accurately—I mean every word.
“Fuck, fine,” he sighs, defeated. “If you want a chick that’s boring as the fucking day is long, with a personal motto of ‘Live Quiet’ and a laugh that’s louder than a goddamn—”