Wandering over to the bookshelves, I set the plate of hummus down on the bedside table. I fingered some the books, reading the titles. Some recent titles I recognized, while others were older, classics.
“I have an e-reader now, but I can’t part with these,” he said behind me, his breath skimming my neck.
“I didn’t know you liked to read so much.”
“Yeah. Like you,” he said.
I turned and looked at him. He was standing so close I could feel his body heat, and I became acutely aware of his lack of shirt. I tried to keep my eyes on his face, but they had little minds of their own and wandered down his chest, taking in his broad shoulders, defined—very well defined—chest, tight, rolled abs, and oblique muscles as they disappeared into his low-riding sweatpants.
Ugh, I think I’m going to hyperventilate. At least if I faint, I can blame it on my head. But holy shiznet is he ripped.
I shook my head and tried to remember what we were talking about… books, yeah, books. “Um… how do you know I like to read?”
“I pay attention.” He shrugged one of his totally orgasmic shoulders. “You’re always taking books from the library.”
I, however, was not paying attention. Not at all. Not to what he was saying, anyway. I was paying a great deal of attention to how he looked, and he looked amazing. Like an underwear model, Greek god, and any other extraordinarily good-looking guy I could think of—but since my thinking was severely limited by the sex rolling off his body, I couldn’t come up with any more men to compare him to so I settled for, oh holy hell is he hot.
Reaching up, I skimmed my fingertips over the tattoo circling his left bicep. It was an intricate tribal design. I traced it with my finger. He inhaled through his teeth, and goose bumps dotted his skin. I pulled my hand back.
“Sorry,” I whispered. “I’ve just wondered what it looked like since I saw it in class one day.”
“It’s okay.” His voice came out huskier than normal. Reaching out, he took my hand. “Let’s watch the movie.”
I perched on the edge of the bed. Brody threw pillows against the headboard. “Come here. You’ll be more comfortable sitting against the headboard.”
I scooted next to him. “What are we watching?”
That was the last thing I remembered.
Brody woke me at four in the morning. “Willow, wake up, darlin’”
“Is the movie over?”
He chuckled. “Yeah. You fell asleep.”
“Sorry.” I rubbed my eyes, wincing. Dropping my hands, I looked at him. “Did you call me darlin’?”
“Just tryin’ it out,” he said with a grin.
I scrunched my nose and shook my head. “Nah.”
“I didn’t think so, either.” He smoothed the hair from my face. “I need to take you to Jenna’s before her parents miss you.”
“Oh. Okay.” I climbed out of bed and followed him downstairs, grabbing my shoes. “Hey, do you think we could swing by the field and grab my bike? I rode it over here last night.”
“Sure. What’s it doing in the field?” Brody asked as he pulled on his Nikes.
“I left it there when I jumped the fence.” I looked up when he didn’t say anything. He was staring at me. “What?” I asked.
He smirked. “Very badass.”
“I just jumped a fence, jeez. You’re easily impressed.”
“Everything you do impresses me.” He skimmed his hand over my hair.
“Well, Ace, the feeling happens to be mutual. Except for one thing.”
“What’s that?” Brody tilted his head, his brows furrowed.
“I’m not impressed that you woke me up so early. That sucks.”
“You can go back to bed when you get to Jenna’s.”
“Are you kidding? Do you even know Jenna? She’ll want to know everything. Everything. Every single second will need to be accounted for. I’ll never get back to sleep.” I sighed.
“Poor baby,” he said, grinning.
“I see you’re completely torn up over it.”
Jenna was waiting for me at her front door when Brody dropped me off at her house an hour later. She put her fingers to her lips for me to stay quiet—like I was gonna sing and dance—as we made our way to her bedroom. As soon as she closed her door, she swung around and pointed her finger at me.
“Spill. Now.”
So much for sleep.
“Ok, but can we have some caffeine first?” I asked.
She ran downstairs, came back with two Red Bulls, and shoved them at me. “Now talk. I want to know everything. Starting with what happened to your face.”
Brody and I met each night at midnight. Usually, we drove to his aunt’s property and gazed at the stars while we talked. Some nights, we didn’t talk at all. We just lay side by side, holding hands. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. It fit. Nothing with Brody was uncomfortable, except when he touched me—and that was a good uncomfortable. One my body craved. I needed his touch almost as much as I needed to breathe.
Each night I was with him, I felt myself doing something I shouldn’t…
I was falling.
Falling fast and hard for Brody Victor. It felt like a dream. One when I’d jolt awake with the sensation I’d been falling. I wondered if Brody would be there to catch me or if I’d hit bottom. Because the bottom scared me. I knew who waited for me there.
Brody and I talked about everything when we met each night. There was no topic off limits. There was nothing I didn’t want to tell him, even though there was one thing I wouldn’t. Something no one knew the truth about, except Ralph and Jaden. The two people who had no trouble using it as a way to torment and force my mom and I to bend to their will.
“Favorite color?”
“White,” I answered.
“White isn’t a color,” Brody said. “Why white?”
“Yes, it is a color, and because it’s clean, pure. What’s yours?”
“Red. Favorite food?”
“Your aunt’s milkshakes.”
Brody laughed. “Same here. They rock.”
“Yes, they do,” I agreed. “Where’s your dad?”
“Around.” Brody rolled to his side and picked up a lock of my hair, twisting it around his finger. “They got a divorce. That was an excuse for him to take off and disappear.”
I turned my head to face him. “I’m sorry.”
“It is what it is, I guess.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” I licked my lips. “You and your mom seem to do okay.”
“Yeah, my mom’s great. What about you? Do you all get along?”
“Ralph and my mom are really… well, they just are, I guess. I’m not sure if it’s love or a match made in Heaven or whatever.” I rolled toward him and lay my head on his out stretched arm. “But they have someone. So they aren’t alone, you know?”
“I suppose. I’ve heard of couples getting together just for companionship. I guess it depends on the people.” Brody shrugged a shoulder. He picked a pebble off our blanket and tossed it. It was swallowed up in the inky blackness surrounding us.
“Okay, here’s a question. How did you get your love ’em and leave ’em reputation?” I smiled and lifted a brow.
“I dated a cheerleader at Stanton, and we had a bad break up. I dated another girl right after her. It was a rebound thing. It didn’t last long. The cheerleader started a rumor that we slept together, and then I dumped her right after. The rebound girl jumped in, said the same thing, and there you go—instant reputation.”
“Did you?” I bit my bottom lip, waiting for his answer.
“Did I what? Sleep with her?” He let out a long breath and looked at the stars before his gaze found mine again. “Yes. But it wasn’t like she made it out to be. I didn’t dump her as soon as we slept together. We dated for nearly a year.”