“Now you’re just exaggerating.” This is the Annie everyone fears. When she gets feisty like this, it’s usually best if everyone gives in or walks away. I’m about to walk away.
“I’m right. You give him the same look Brody gives you. Admit it, you still want him.”
“No.” My jaw clenches and I walk faster. Only two hundred and two steps until I reach my car.
“Admit it!” Annie has to practically jog to keep up because of her short legs.
“Fuck you!” I snarl and pick up the pace until she’s jogging. But whatever fuel she’s running on today is allowing her to keep up, which isn’t good for me. I round on her, irritated and desperate for her to leave me alone. I’ve closed this chapter. I don’t need her trying to pry it open.
“What do you want me to say?” I yell at her.
She isn’t even fazed by my anger. “Just admit that you’re still into him.”
My eyes narrow on her. I hate this side of Annie. I hate that she makes me look at myself, question myself. Casting my gaze around the parking lot, I reluctantly give her what she wants. “Fine, I’m still into him. But,” I add, cutting off her clapping and delighted squeal, “that doesn’t mean that I’m going after him. It’s over.”
“I hear you,” she claims, but there’s something about the way she says it that makes me suspicious. “I have to run. We’re meeting at eight tonight, right?”
I still don’t trust her, but I nod. “Brody said he reserved a table.”
“Great! I’m bringing Jason. See you there.”
A night out with friends and Jason. All I can say is that the guy had better be on his best behavior. Assuming he manages to actually show up.
FOURTEEN
I spent way too much time picking an outfit, and now I’m late. Jed’s is packed for a weeknight, but Brody’s ability to plan ahead allows me to go straight in. The hostess points me toward a table in the back, and even though I spent the entire afternoon filled with doubt and a creeping sense of unease due to Annie’s strange behavior, I still find myself searching for any sign of Ransom.
I hate myself for being so weak. Why can’t I just stop thinking about him? I need a distraction, something to help me take my mind off everything. I feel some of the tension I’ve been carrying around dissipate when I spot everyone seated around the table. Brody brought a couple of his friends along, as well as Mitch and Price, who we’ve known for years, and I see that Annie managed to drag Jason along, too. I can’t say that I’m happy to see his blotchy red face, but I am happy that Annie appears happy.
Brody sees me first, and his wide smile serves an injection of happy. I could be in the worst mood, and one look at him would make everything right again.
Maybe Annie was onto something. Why am I chasing after someone untouchable, when I have Brody?
That’s an easy question to answer. It’s the very fact that Ransom is untouchable that makes me crave him. I’ve always been the kind of person who gravitated toward trouble. A shrink would probably tell me that I have daddy issues, or it’s due to my parents’ untimely deaths and having to grow up too fast. And they’d be right because what kind of person could get dealt the hand I have and not be screwed up?
Unfortunately, I can’t help wanting what I want. The side effect of owning a heart is that you can’t control who it falls for. There’s no reasoning with it, no talking it out of stupid decisions. Even when it’s bound to get burned, it runs headlong into the fire. But people can train themselves to like different things. Can’t they?
When Brody leaves the table and embraces me, I decide to prove to my heart that it doesn’t rule me, and I give him an extra-long hug. His arms tighten around my shoulders and he kisses my hair in response. When he pulls back, he gives me a strange smile like he’s not quite sure what to make of my behavior. Hell, neither am I. I just know that I need to crush this unhealthy obsession for Ransom before it takes over any more of my life.
After forcing his friends to move down so I can have the chair directly beside him, Brody pours me a glass of beer from the pitcher sitting in the center of the table.
“You look beautiful tonight,” he says, leaning down to whisper the compliment in my ear.
“As opposed to every other night?”
The kiss he places on my temple is sweet and full of affection. “You know what I meant.”
I do. Brody always appreciates the way I look, even when I’m at my worst. Finding his heavy thigh under the table, I squeeze it. “Thanks.”
His eyes catch mine, and he tips his head. It would be so easy to let myself fall for him. Brody is an easy guy to love. He’s charming and sweet, cute and gentle, and the best part of all—we’re friends. We don’t even have to try to get along because the connection is already there.
Laying my head on his shoulder, I glance down the table to where Annie and Jason are seated. She’s looking at me with raised brows, and I raise mine right back. I don’t know what message she’s trying to send me, but I hope she gets mine—I don’t need anyone’s approval on how I choose to live my life.
“Good to see you made it, Jason,” I say, raising my voice so he can hear me over the music. “We missed you last time.”
He lifts his chin, a gesture I’ve always hated, but only when he does it. “Hey, Joe.”
That’s about the extent of our exchange. Jason and I used to get along, almost like friends. He was cool, someone I could laugh and joke around with. Then I found out what he was really about. Not wanting to cause trouble or hurt anyone, I distanced myself, but when I saw how his behavior was affecting Annie, Jason and I had a heart-to-heart. It didn’t go well, and Annie still doesn’t know anything about it, but, needless to say, Jason and I will never be friends.
The waitress arrives with two platters piled high with appetizers and sets them down in the middle of the table, along with plates for everyone. Brody fills mine first, and my eyes widen at the amount of food he gives me.
“I can’t eat all this.” Hell, I can’t even see the plate.
“I’ll eat what you don’t,” he says, smiling as he chews on a chili-covered fry.
“That’s why he did it,” Mitch says. He’s seated across from Brody, and his hazel eyes twinkle with mirth. “I bet half the food on your plate is intended for him. He just wants to make sure none of us get any.”
Brody pats his flat stomach and grins shamelessly as he chews a stuffed potato. “I’m a growing boy.”
“That’s nothing. You should see him at breakfast,” the one who vacated his seat for me says. I think his name is Trent. “If you’re not first at the table, there’s a good chance you won’t eat.”
“This is how it starts,” Mitch says, shaking his head. “A little extra fries here, and a couple more chips there. Before you know it, you’ve become his unwilling partner in crime while all your friends go hungry.”
I cover my mouth to keep the beer from coming back out as I laugh. “Who says I’m unwilling?”
Mitch’s jaw drops and Brody belts out a laugh as he slings his arm over my shoulder. “Yeah, Mitch, who says she’s unwilling?”
Spending time with my friends is always cathartic. The next couple hours pass fast, with a lot of food and even more drinks shared among us. Brody always finds a way to touch me, whether it’s brushing my hair off my shoulder or putting his arm around the back of my chair and absently tracing his fingers down my arm. By the time our empty plates are taken away, he’s given up trying to keep up any pretenses of being just friends, and pulls me into his lap.
I don’t mind. We’ve always been close, and I love Brody’s affectionate side. It’s always there, but it’s way more intense when he’s been drinking.
Resting my cheek on top of his head, I push my toe into the floor, rocking us gently to the music as we watch our friends dance.