“Mm-hmm. Are you sure you liked it?”
“Yes, why?”
“Because your face was buried in my shoulder for ninety percent of it,” he said with a chuckle.
“It was not. I watched it. It wasn’t even that scary. The one—”
Brody grabbed my upper arm and pulled me toward the Jeep. “Let’s go. Get in.”
“There’s the slut. Hey, Brody. Out with your tramp of a girlfriend?”
I cringed when I heard Jaden’s voice. “Brody, please just get in the car. Let it go.” Brody stood next to the open driver’s side door, looking at Jaden. “They’re just words. They can’t hurt me. Let’s just go. Please.”
Brody looked at me and grinned. “Of course we’re going. I’m not wasting my time on your garbage.”
He got into the Jeep, threw it in gear, and drove away, Jaden and the guys with him scattering out of the way. “Where do you want to go eat?”
I looked down at my hands. They were shaking. I slipped them between my thighs and the seat so Brody wouldn’t see. Blood was rushing behind my ears, making it hard to hear.
“Let’s go to your aunt’s.”
We pulled up to a stoplight, and he looked at me. “You don’t want to go to The Dive?”
“Not really.”
“Hmm. Any particular reason?” he asked, an edge to his voice.
“Yeah, as a matter of fact there is. I thought it would be fun to play pool and the last time we were there, I saw a couple of air hockey tables. I thought those might be fun, too. What do I have to do to make you understand I’m not ashamed to be seen with you? Why are you second-guessing everything I do or say? I’m with you tonight, Brody. Here, right now. If you want to go to The Dive, all you have to do is say so and we’ll go.” The car behind us honked. “The light’s green.” I turned and looked out the window, crossing my arms over my chest.
“I’m sorry.”
The ride was silent. We pulled into the parking lot of his aunt’s bar. I reached over and threaded my fingers with his. “I’m getting a chocolate milkshake, maybe two.” I smiled at him. “And then we can play pool?”
“Whatever you want.” He ran a finger down the side of my face, making me shudder.
Whatever I want. Yeah. Except a kiss. He’s a tease. A big, fat tease. If he doesn’t kiss me soon, I’m gonna… I don’t know what, but something.
We said hi to his aunt, who hugged me tight and said how glad she was to see me. When she saw Brody holding my hand, she winked and said she was really glad to see me.
The restaurant of the bar was packed and Aunt Bess—she insisted I call her that—said there’d be a wait before our food was ready.
“Do you want to play pool while we wait?” Brody asked.
I looked at the pool tables and bit my bottom lip, trying to keep from smiling. “Um, no, let’s play air hockey.”
“Okay, but I warn you, I’m pretty good.”
“Pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you, Ace? Care to make it interesting?” I tossed the puck onto the table.
Brody laughed. “Sure. What’re the stakes?”
I raised an eyebrow and put a hand on my hip. “What do you want?”
Brody flipped the machine on. “To see you tomorrow.”
I nodded. “Okay. But you didn’t have to bet me for that. I’ll spend time with you anytime, you just have to ask.”
“Good to know. What do you want?”
I drummed my fingers against my bottom lip. “Hmm, so many possibilities. I’ll tell you after I win,” I said.
“So secretive.” He winked. “Okay, challenge accepted. Three out of five.” He slid the puck to me. “You shoot first.”
I lined up my shot. It flew into the slot before Brody had time to react.
“Crap. I think I’m in trouble,” he said with a laugh.
I won the first three games and the bet. We slid into a booth just as our food arrived. “That really wasn’t fair, you know,” Brody said, sticking a fry in his mouth.
I smiled and looked down at my plate, pretending to be engrossed in covering my French fries in ketchup. “What wasn’t fair?”
“You didn’t tell me you knew how to play air hockey.”
“You didn’t ask.” I took a bite of my burger, groaning when the melted cheese oozed into my mouth.
Just wait until you see me play pool. You are so gonna lose, buddy.
Brody took a sip of his Coke and looked at me over the rim of the cup. “So what do you want for winning the bet?”
I smiled and winked at him. “I’ll tell you when the time comes.”
After we finished eating, we moved on to the pool tables. “Wanna make it double or nothing?” Brody asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Sure.”
“I’m not going to help you this time,” he warned, selecting a cue.
“Okay. I think I remember everything you taught me last time.” I took a pool cue and rolled it between my hands.
He nodded and chuckled. “Okay. You break.”
Lining up my shot, I couldn’t help but grin. Brody was watching me, his shoulder leaning against the wall, a thumb hooked in a belt loop on his low-riding jeans. He looked sinful. I was still gonna beat him.
I took my shot, and the balls scattered across the felt. Five dropped into the pockets. “See? I told you I remembered. I’ll be solids.” I lined up my next shot and sunk another ball. Three more turns and two more balls hit the pocket before I missed, and Brody stepped up to take his turn.
He walked in front of me, narrowing his eyes. “You knew how to play.”
“Yup.” I bit the inside of my cheek, trying not to smile. I couldn’t help it. A grin broke out over my face.
“You hustled me?” He laughed.
“I don’t think you can call it hustling when there’s no money involved.”
He drew his eyebrows down and the skin between his eyes wrinkled. “Why did you let me think you couldn’t play?”
I leaned close to him, standing on my tiptoes to whisper in his ear. “Because I wanted to know what it felt like to be held in your arms. And it felt fan-freakin-tastic.”
His eyebrows rose. “But we weren’t… we were barely friends.”
“I crossed the friend line a long time ago, Brody.” I bit the corner of my bottom lip.
He took the pool cue from me and set it away with his. Turning, he walked toward me until I was pressed against the pool table. With a hand on each side of me, he leaned in close. “When?”
“The day you asked me to help you with your calculus homework and I realized the next day you didn’t need my help. That you’d just wanted to sit with me and talk. No one had ever done that before. You know, made an effort?”
“I think I knew the first night I saw you,” Brody murmured.
I thought back, trying to remember what happened when we first met.
“Jaden pulled a kid over and demanded he buy you something to drink. You reached out to keep the kid from falling and gave Jaden a death glare. Then you kept telling the kid he didn’t need to buy you anything and tried to give his money back to him, remember?”
I nodded.
“I knew you weren’t like the normal, spoiled, popular crowd that thinks everyone owes them something.”
Brody paused. His eyes roamed over my face, landing on my mouth. He ran his thumb across my bottom lip. His eyes followed his thumb before seeking out my gaze. “I knew that night there was something special about you. Even when we were insulting each other, I was secretly enjoying every second of it because you were talking to me, even though you were wicked harsh.”
I laughed. “Yeah, sorry, but you did call me a bimbo.”
“Honestly,” he huffed, “are you ever going to let me live that down?”
I ran my hand through his hair, brushing it off his forehead. “Maybe. You’ll have to do something really epic to make me forget it, though. Are we going to finish our game?”
Brody stood in front of me, not moving. His gaze locked on
mine, and all I could think of were sapphires. That was what his eyes reminded me of, brilliant, sparkling, sapphires. He leaned his face close to mine. “Let’s call it a draw. You won air hockey, and I won pool. I want you to myself tomorrow. What do you want?”
“I want to spend our date at your aunt’s property,” I whispered.
“Any reason why?” He leaned in closer. His breath fanned my lips.
“I want you all to myself.”
Brody put his hands on my hips and pulled me to him. Every part of our bodies were touching. I just had to tilt my face to the side and his lips would be on mine.
“Well, go on, boy. Kiss her,” an old man sitting on one of the barstools yelled. “You two’ve been dancing around each other all night. Jist do it an’ git ’er done.”
“You heard him, Ace. Kiss me,” I whispered. Brody watched my lips move. His hands tightened on my hips, pulling me even closer to him.
“I will,” he murmured, our breath mingling. “But not here and not yet.” He let go and took a step back, an odd expression on his face.
I cursed him silently. Then I wondered what was wrong with me. Why he didn’t want to kiss me.
“If you’re not into the whole kissing thing, that’s cool.” I tried to brush off my disappointment. “Let’s just finish our game because you were dreaming if you thought you were gonna beat me.” I didn’t look at him when I grabbed my pool cue and chalked the tip. “Whose turn is it? I can’t remember. I’ll just take a shot.” I sunk one ball before missing. I managed not to look at Brody while I took my turn, but when I looked up to tell him it was his shot, I saw him standing in the same place I’d left him, no pool cue in his hand. “You’re up, Ace.”
We finished our game and Brody drove me home, dropping me off without a kiss.
Something’s wrong with me. I’m un-kissable, and I have no idea why.
It’s Sunday!
I scrambled out of bed. My foot got tangled in my sheets, and I face planted on the floor with a grunt. Even that didn’t ruin my excitement. Another day with Brody, I was in Heaven. The best part of the day—other than being with Brody—was Sunday was Mom and Ralph’s day. They always spent it doing something together. What, I had no idea and couldn’t care less. The whole idea kind of creeped me out. The less they told me, the happier I was. Their time away left me free for the day. And I was spending it with Brody Victor. But first, I had to untangle my foot and get off the floor. I decided texting him was more important. I reached up, grabbed my cell off my bedside table, and typed in a text.
Me: Good morning, Ace.
I set my phone next to me, untangled my sheets, and stood up, scooping my phone with me. After I made my bed, I ran downstairs to get a bowl of cereal. When I got back to my room, I checked my phone. No text.
Huh.
My mom stuck her head in my room to tell me she and Ralph were leaving. They were spending the night in Shipshewana, Indiana and wouldn’t be home until the next morning. I had to restrain myself from doing my happy dance. Instead, I simply told them to have a nice time and I’d see them after school Monday.
Still no text from Brody.
Jenna called me and wanted every second of my date with Brody accounted for. I spent the next hour telling her everything that happened, twice.
Still no text.
“Should I text him again?” I asked Jenna.
“How long has it been?”
“Almost three hours.” I sighed.
“Yeah, text him. Maybe your first one didn’t go through.”
“What should I say?”
Jenna laughed. “I don’t know. He’s your hottie boyfriend.”
“Yeah.”
Me: Whatcha doin’?
I talked another half hour with Jenna before hanging up. Still no text. Brody had never gone this long without answering me. I didn’t expect him to answer the second I texted him, but he usually texted back within a few minutes, not hours.
I picked out my outfit. Jenna would be proud. It was something normal and a little sexy—at least I thought it was sexy, but what did I know? Guys baffled me, especially Brody. At least Jaden was an open book, and it was all about him. I couldn’t figure Brody out at all.
I laid the off-white sweater and navy leggings on my bed and waited. An hour later, I took a shower. And I waited. I rechecked my outfit, decided I didn’t like that one, and picked another. This time, it was a sweater that fell off one shoulder—that had to be sexy, I thought. And I waited.
I was just about to shove my clothes back in my closet and say screw it when my phone chimed. I forced myself not to snatch it up right away and click on the message. He made me wait all flippin’ day. He could wait five minutes. I sat on my bed, looking around my bedroom, mentally taking inventory of my things.
Black furniture to match the black stripes on my walls, check. White chandelier hanging from the ceiling to match the white in the white-and-black paisley wallpaper on the bottom half of my walls, check. A hot pink papasan chair to match the hot pink stripes, check. A hot pink lava lamp, check. Even my friggin’ phone is hot pink! Ugh!
I wanted to throw it across the room. Instead, I clicked on his message.
Brody: Hey, gorgeous. I’m so sorry. Running errands and forgot my phone.
And just like that, my stupid smile was back on my face.
Me: It’s okay. Home now?
Brody: Yes. Don’t want to be.
Me: ?
Brody: Want to be with you.
Me: I’m alone. Come over.
Brody: Be there in five.
Holy Shiznit! I gotta get dressed.
I jumped around my room, pulling on my pants—pretty undies, check—and squirming into my sweater—lacy bra, check—I was just putting a swipe of cherry-flavored lip gloss on my lips—just in case—when he rang the doorbell.
I adjusted the sweater so it fell over the shoulder that didn’t have any bruises and pulled the door open. My breath whooshed out of me.
It should be illegal for him to look that good.
And then I got a whiff of him, and I might have actually seen those stupid little cartoon hearts float around his head.
“Wow,” Brody said. “You look amazing.” He walked in and shut the door behind him, his gaze never leaving me.
“I was thinking the same about you, Ace.”
“Nope. I’m definitely getting the better deal. Where’re your mom and Ralph?”
“Oh, Sunday is marriage day.” I used my fingers to make little air quotes. “No kid allowed. They went to Shipshewana to do… whatever it is people do there.” I shrugged.
“You’ve never been?”
“Nope.”
“Me either. We should go together,” he said.
Together. Yeah. Together. That’s a beautiful word.
“We should. Maybe one day after graduation. You know, when the weather is nice and we’d have all day.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Brody smiled. “Are you ready?”
I grabbed my military jacket and pulled it on. “Mm-hmm.”
We drove to a small pizzeria, picking up a small pepperoni to take with us to Brody’s aunt’s property.
“Hey, isn’t this the pizzeria we stopped at the night…?” I let my words trail off. I didn’t want to bring up that particular memory. The part of the night I spent with Brody eating pizza and listening to the radio while we talked was great. The beginning of the night, before Brody, hadn’t been.
“Yeah, it is.” He looked over at me and smiled, reaching for my hand and kissing my fingers.
By the time we got to Brody’s aunt’s property, the day, which had been full of sunshine, had turned gloomy. I looked at the sky. Gray clouds swirled over the sun like someone was stirring them with a giant spoon. “Oh, no. It was so pretty earlier. Did you bring your little DVD player?”
“No.”
“Well, what’s our back-up plan if it starts raining?”
“I don’t have one,” he said, looking o
ver at me.
“Hmm.”
We drove to the field, and Brody parked the Jeep in the same spot we always used. I glanced at Brody and then out of the window. A large tent sat in the middle of the property. “Who’s here?”
“I don’t know. Let’s go find out.” He jumped out of the Jeep, came around, and opened my door.
“I don’t think we should hang around. I mean, if your aunt didn’t say anyone would be out here, we should definitely leave.” I didn’t move from my seat.
“I want to check on something first.” He grabbed me by the waist and lifted me out of the Jeep. Threading our hands together, he pulled me behind him.
“Wait, I don’t want to go over there.” I tried to push his hand off me.
“It’s safer than standing here by yourself.” He raised an eyebrow at me. Ugh, he was maddening.
“Fine.” I walked behind him, my faced buried in his shoulder. One hand squeezed his and the other wrapped around a belt loop of his jeans, following so close behind him that I kept tripping over his shoes. He walked to the back of the tent. I peeked around his arm and saw a boxy piece of machinery. “What’s that?”
“A generator.” He pulled a cord that looked like one on a lawn mower, and the generator roared to life. I jumped and looked at the tent, waiting for someone to come running outside. Brody laughed.
“What are you laughing at?” I asked through clenched teeth, still holding on to his arm with a death grip.
He was barely holding back his laughter. “Time to let you in on a little secret.” He framed my face and kissed my forehead. “I put the tent out here. I knew it was supposed to rain tonight.”
I opened my mouth before snapping it shut. I looked at the tent, then the generator, and back at Brody. “You did this?”
“Yes.”
“Why? We could have gone to a movie or something instead.”
He shrugged a shoulder. “You said you wanted to come here, and I wanted to give you what you asked for. Besides, you won the bet.”
I rolled my eyes. “It was really romantic until you added that.”
“You want romance? I’m going to romance the hell out of you tonight. Wait here.” He jogged to the Jeep and grabbed our drinks and pizza. I stood where he left me while he disappeared into the tent with the pizza. Seconds later, he came out. “Okay, come here.” He reached for me.
Unspeakable (Freedom Series Book 1) Page 23