“Thanks,” Brody murmured, rolling off the floor. He placed his hand on the small of my back and guided me out the door.
I made it through the rest of the day without hiding in the bathroom. Brody and I never mentioned the best damn kiss that almost was.
When I left school that afternoon, Jenna, Tim, and Brody waited at my car. “What’s this? An intervention?” I asked, only half kidding.
“Today’s football practice,” Tim said, as if that explained everything.
“Yeah, and we’re taking you out,” Jenna chimed in.
“Where?” I eyed the three of them.
Jenna cringed. “It pains me to do this. I want that noted for the record. I’m only doing it because I’m awesome like that.”
“That goes without saying,” I said, pursing my lips to keep from smiling. Jenna was a diva of the highest form.
She gave an exaggerated sigh. “We’re taking you to the mall and buying you one of your damn T-shirts.”
“Really? I have the best besties in the world!”
“Yeah, yeah, it wasn’t my idea so don’t get your mush all over me. I still despise your shirts.”
I looked at Brody and smiled. “Thank you.”
“What?” he feigned innocence.
“I know it was your idea. Jenna hates the shirts. Tim has probably never paid enough attention to even realize I wear them—”
“Not true!” Tim said.
“That leaves you, Ace. The one person who’s told me they fit my personality. So, thank you.” I glanced around the parking lot to make sure we were alone and then stood on my tiptoes and kissed Brody’s cheek.
His hand glided over my hair when I kissed him. “Yeah, well, don’t go getting all girlie or anything.”
“I have some things I have to do first, so let’s meet in the food court in about an hour?” Jenna suggested.
We all agreed, and Jenna and Tim left for their cars. Brody held back. “What’s up?” I asked.
“Um, I was wondering if your parents would be home this afternoon?”
“My stepdad won’t be, but my mom probably will be home. Why?”
“Oh. I was thinking we could ride to the mall together. I could follow you home so you could drop your car off and we could take mine, but if your mom’s gonna be there it wouldn’t be a good idea.”
“No, it wouldn’t. Sorry. I would’ve liked riding with you.”
“Yeah?” He looked at me with a grin.
“Sure. Mall traffic is horrible this time of day.”
“Ha. Nice. Here I thought you wanted to spend time with me because of my charming personality, but you just want me for my superior driving skills.”
I laughed. “I’m a sucker for a guy who follows all the traffic laws.”
If you’ve ever seen yourself drive, you’d know why I want to ride with you. You ooze sexiness when you drive. I’m in so deep with you it’s pathetic, and you don’t have a friggin’ clue.
“Well, if you want, we can drop your car off at my house and leave for the mall from there. My mom won’t be home and even if she were, she wouldn’t care,” Brody said, leaning his back against my car door.
Alone. With Brody. At an empty house. With beds. No parental guidance whatsoever. What could go wrong? Yeah. I hope he has an unlimited supply of condoms. Jeez, Willow, get your mind out of the gutter… or the bedroom—whichever. It’s no different from being alone with him in a parked car in the middle of a field after dark. Except this time, there’ll be beds. Nice, soft, beds. I should tell him no.
“Sure. That sounds great.” I smiled.
I’m so going to Hell for sexual immorality.
I followed Brody to his house. When we pulled into the drive, I got out of my car and went to Brody’s Jeep. He got out, and I thought he was just coming around to open my door for me like always. No such luck. Ugh.
“You want to go in and get something to drink? We have time before we need to meet Tim and Jenna.”
“Um.” I looked at the door and then back to the jeep, twisting my fingers in front of me. “Okay.”
Oh, no. This is so bad. We should leave now and get something to drink at the mall… where there aren’t any beds and there are lots of people around. Not here, where we are alone, with beds in the house. Why can’t I stop thinking about the damn beds? I’m starting to sound like a hussy scoping out the beds.
“You’re sure your mom won’t mind us being here alone?”
Brody inserted the key into the house’s door and unlocked it. “I don’t remember saying that exactly. It’s not like I’m going to call her up and tell her I have a girl alone in the house. I just said she wouldn’t mind you parking your car here while we went to the mall. Slight difference.”
“Then we should leave.” I started to get in the Jeep when he grabbed my wrist and pulled me gently away from it.
“She’s out of town. It’s fine. Let’s get a Coke.” He threaded his fingers with mine and led me into the house. “Besides, I need to change clothes before we go. Someone squirted mustard on my jeans at lunch, remember?”
She’s out of town. Oh, well, that makes it so much better.
“Huh? Oh, that was an accident,” I said absently. My mind was still focused on the fact that Brody’s mother was out of town.
We’re on the friendship train. Nothing more. Just friends. Yeah. That’s why we were practically mauling each other this morning in the girls’ bathroom. If Brody can make the girls’ bathroom a sensual, seductive place, just think what he could do in a bedroom. I’m thinking about those damn beds again! I need a distraction.
“This is a really nice house. Just you and your mom live here?”
“I guess. It isn’t ours. We’re just renting until we find a place of our own. My mom likes this side of town. I kinda like it here, too.” He glanced at me and grinned. I was sure something melted inside me—a vital organ, no doubt, because my body started doing all kinds of weird things in response. My hands started shaking, my breathing was shallow, and my heart was skipping every other beat. My mind tried to stay immune to Brody Victor—even though it was failing miserably—but my body had completely lost control. Wherever he was, my body was like a homing beacon, picking up his signal. Missiles locked and loaded. I was ready… for what, I had no idea. But I assumed it had something to do with the beds.
Yup, I’m a lost cause. Just give me a gallon of chocolate chip ice cream and a spoon now. I’m going need them. No need for a bowl. This heartbreak will call for eating it right out of the carton.
We walked into to a huge two-story foyer with a curved staircase on one side and a formal living and dining room on the other. Brody led me to the back of the house where there was a great room with a family media room, and a huge kitchen with an attached sunroom. A second staircase was located off the kitchen.
“Wow.” I looked around. “I didn’t know this subdivision was this upscale compared to mine.”
“It’s just a house. I’ve lived in more houses over the years than I can count. None of them ours, so they’ve never really been homes, you know?”
Yeah, more than you can imagine.
I sat down at the breakfast bar and watched Brody grab two Cokes out of the fridge. He pulled down two glasses, filled them with ice, and handed one to me along with the can.
“Thanks,” I said, smiling up at him.
He didn’t say anything, and he didn’t smile back. I forced myself not to squirm in my seat. He turned back to the fridge and pulled something out of the freezer. Turning around, he handed me a bag of frozen peas. “You need to ice that.” He gestured to my eye.
“Peas?”
“I don’t know where the ice pack is and I don’t like peas.” He shrugged a shoulder.
I laughed. “Okay, peas it is, then.”
“I’ll be right back. I’m going to change. Make yourself at home.” He jogged up the stairs