Текст книги "Unspeakable"

Автор книги: Michelle K. Pickett

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Текущая страница: 14 (всего у книги 21 страниц)

My phone chimed first thing Saturday morning. I slammed my hand on my alarm clock, wondering why the sound wouldn’t stop. Finally, I woke up enough to realize that it wasn’t my alarm. I grabbed my phone off the bedside table and looked at the message. A goofy smile spread across my face.

Ugh, my cheeks hurt from smiling.

Brody: Good morning, gorgeous.

Me: Hey, sexy.

Wow, I’m getting bold. Maybe, just maybe, he’ll take my hints. Kiss me. Please, please, please. Just do it. Man up and pucker up.

Brody: Sexy, huh?

Me: Mm-hmm.

Why am I blushing? It’s not like he can see me or anything.

My phone rang, I jumped, and my phone flew across the bed. I bunched up my comforter, pulling it to me so I could reach it.

“Hello?”

“Hey, sexy.”

Oh. Kill. Me. Now.

“Hi, Ace.” I snuggled back into my pillows.

“So you think I’m sexy, huh?”

“You asked me that already.”

“I know, but it occurred to me that I’d like to hear you tell me in your soft, sexy voice while I’m lying in bed.”

Oh, wow. How can he say things like that and not expect my body to go berserk every time he’s around me? I need that damn kiss.

“Yes, Brody, I think you’re incredibly sexy, with a body to die for, a smell that makes me dizzy, perfectly mussed hair, bedroom blue eyes, and full lips that send me into a frenzy every time they skim across my skin.”

Dead silence.

Crap. That was too much. He probably thinks I’m some kind of stalker—or worse, Sarah.

I cleared my throat. “Are you there?” I whispered.

“Yes.”

“Oh.” I was desperate to find a way to unsay what I’d just said. I’d made things awkward. I felt tears press behind my eyes. I wasn’t even sure why I was starting to cry. I’d just opened my mouth to tell him that I had to go when he spoke.

“I’m trying to find the right words to tell you how you make me feel, but I don’t think they’ve been discovered yet. You’re sexy, yeah. Beautiful doesn’t even begin to describe you. But that’s not all. You make me feel, I don’t know, whole.”

And then, I knew why I was crying. No one had ever said anything as sweet as that to me. No one. Ever.

“Brody.” My breath hitched. “I really don’t know what I did to deserve you.”

“You’re just you. That’s all you ever needed to do. Just be you.”

We talked a while longer, although our conversation veered away from declarations of how wonderful and sexy we found each other to more mundane topics because, as Brody complained, “It’s way too much mush for this early on a Saturday morning.”

“How can you go from telling me how beautiful I am in one sentence to being such a guy in the next?” I asked with a laugh.

“Um, gee, ’cuz I am a guy?”

“Funny.”

“Have you picked out what movie we’re going to see?”

“Yup.”

“Gonna tell me?” he asked.

“Nope,” I answered, popping the ‘p.’

“Okay. Have you picked out what you’re gonna wear?”

“Yup, and I’m not going to tell you about that either except that I found something suitably sarcastic just for you.” I smiled, picking at my comforter.

He chuckled. “Since you won’t tell me what you’re going to wear tonight, what are you wearing now?” His voice turned husky.

My hand stilled, and my heart beat a little faster. “Are you seriously asking me? Because now that we’re dating, that’s totally a question I’ll answer, and it might not be one that you’ll like. Or you might like it. I don’t know your preferences… yet.”

He groaned. “Yet?”

“Yet. I plan to find out,” I said.

“Alright, Willow, I call your bluff. What are you wearing?” he asked, a hint of teasing in his voice.

“A pair of pink boy shorts with a white tank top that doesn’t quite cover my stomach. Nothing else.”

“You’re not serious.”

“I told you I’d never lie to you. Your turn.”

“I don’t remember what I’m wearing. I can’t get the image of you out of my head.”

I laughed. He groaned.

Chores, chores, chores. Even they didn’t seem so bad. At least they helped pass the time until Brody picked me up. I hadn’t come up with a story to tell my mom and Ralph yet. But as luck would have it, my mom told me they’d be going out. Ralph had to attend a business dinner with a reception to follow. So that took care of them for the night. They’d be gone before Brody picked me up. They would most likely still be gone when he brought me home or they’d be sufficiently sloshed that they wouldn’t pay attention. Either way worked in my favor.

I listened to my iPod as I did my chores, humming along with the music and keeping an eye on the clock. I must have looked at the stupid thing a million and one times, and it hadn’t moved at all. It was the longest day in the history of recorded time.

Finally, it was time for Ralph and my mom to leave. They gave me the standard spiel about no wild parties, remembering curfew, blah, blah, and blah. It was all I could do not to shove them out the door. There was barely an hour before Brody got there. I still had to shower and do my hair and makeup.

I’d just finished up when my phone chimed.

Brody: I’m here. Should I come to the door?

Me: Yes.

I ran around my bedroom like a crazy woman, throwing dirty clothes in the hamper and swiping the makeup bottles from the counter into the vanity drawer. Scanning my room one more time for stray underwear or bras, I heard the doorbell ring. One last look at myself in the mirror, and I decided I looked about as good as I was going to. I hurried into the hall and padded down the stairs to let Brody in.

I opened the door and let my eyes roam over him. “Hey, Ace. You look nice. What’s the occasion?”

He grinned the crooked way that sent my blood pressure through the roof. “I’m taking this incredible girl out on a date tonight. I just stopped by to cancel our plans.”

“Ha. You’re so very funny.” I pulled him inside.

“Are you sure it’s okay that I come in? You’ve told them about us?”

A twinge of guilt stabbed my heart. “They aren’t here. Come on. I’m almost ready. I just need to get my boots on and then we can leave.”

“I’ll wait here.”

I stopped on the bottom stair and turned to look at him. “Why?”

“You’re going to your room?”

“Yeah, so?”

“I’ll wait here.”

“Jeez, Brody, it’s just a room. I think we can stand to be in the same bedroom together. We have before, not to mention the backseat of your car and in your bed. Come on.”

He followed me upstairs. “This part isn’t so bad. The view is spectacular.”

“You’re such a perv.” I laughed.

I went to my closet to grab my boots. Brody stood in the middle of my room, looking around. “Hot pink and black stripes, huh? Doesn’t it make you a little dizzy?”

“You’re funny tonight. A real comedian.”

“I half expected there to be posters with all sorts of sayings all over your walls.”

I grabbed my boots out of my closet. “Nope, I just wear those across my chest,” I said, and then held in a groan.

What a way to invite him to look at my boobs. Could I have been any more obvious?

“Speaking of which…” He walked behind me, gently turning me around. “I didn’t get a chance to read tonight’s message.”

Watching his face as he read my T-shirt, I could feel my cheeks heat with a blush as his eyes roamed over my chest. Any other time, I wouldn’t have thought anything about it. People read my shirts every day, but knowing he was looking, watching him, made it seem personal, like he was reaching out and touching me.

He grabbed each side of my shirt close to where it tucked into my pants, pulling it taut. “You know, now that I think about it, I kinda agree with Jenna. You need to start dressing normal.”

I tilted my head to the side. “You said you liked them.”

“I do. I just don’t know that I like other guys reading them.” He let go of my shirt and moved his hands to my hips, sliding them slowly up my sides. He hesitated when his fingers brushed the sides of my breasts, before moving upward to cup my face. I forgot how to breathe.

I was sure I was going to pass out. Brody Victor just passed second base, and we hadn’t even kissed yet. How was that possible? Of course, I wasn’t sure skimming his fingers over the side of my breasts, through my shirt and bra, for a mere second, counted as second base. I didn’t really know what the bases were. I wasn’t a guy. And I’d had people accidently bump into me who got more of a feel than that. But that was… just delicious. He’d intentionally touched me, his gaze locked on mine. And my stomach dropped to my toes. I still wasn’t breathing.

He stepped closer to me, backing me up against the wall. One hand on either side of my head, he leaned down, his face close to mine. The length of our bodies touched. I dropped my boots. They hit the floor with a dull thud. Wrapping my hands around his arms, I made a moaning sound deep in my throat when I felt his muscles flex. I ran my hands up to his shoulders and across his back, feeling his muscles contract under my touch.

He leaned in closer to me, his mouth skimming my skin just in front of my ear, sending shivers through my body. “Willow?”

I think I said, “Yeah?”

“We’re going to be late.”

“Mm-hmm.”

He kissed my shoulder, moving up my neck, across my jaw, stopping when he reached my lips. His mouth was so close that his breath tickled them, and my tongue slid across to moisten them. Brody cursed under his breath and grabbed my hips, pulling me even closer against him.

The front door opened, and Ralph’s voice boomed through the house, followed by my mother’s softer voice. My heart skipped a beat, and then another. And not in a good way.

“Did you park in the driveway?”

“No. In the street,” Brody said.

“Thank God.” I moved to the door and clicked the lock closed. “Just be quiet.”

I stood at the door and listened. Someone came up the stairs, the floor creaking when they walked past my bedroom. Judging by the sound of the footsteps, it was Ralph. I squeezed my eyes closed, praying they’d just forgot something and would leave.

My doorknob rattled, followed by a knock. “Willow?” my mother called.

“Yeah?”

“What are you doing in there?”

“Just reading,” I lied, rubbing my hand over my face.

“Open the door.”

Crap.

Grabbing Brody’s arm, I pulled him toward the door. I positioned him behind it before unlocking and opening it, standing in the doorway so my mother couldn’t walk into my bedroom.

“Why’s your door locked?” she asked.

“Oh, um…” I put my hand on the top of my head; the other held the door so tightly my fingers hurt. “Someone knocked on the door earlier. I didn’t know who he was. It freaked me out a little so I locked my door.” I let my hand drop from my head and shrugged. “What are you guys doing back so early?”

My mom flicked her hand like she was waving my question away. “We just forgot something Ralph needed, and I forgot my cell phone, like always. We’re leaving now. We’ll probably be late. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Okay. Have fun.”

“Yeah, right,” she grumbled. She hated going to work functions with Ralph. She knew what people thought of her. It didn’t matter if they said it to her face or not. She could read it in the way they talked to her—or didn’t talk to her. She’d always be the gold-digging hussy that snagged the most eligible bachelor in Middleton.

I held my breath until I heard the door shut. “Stay here.” I crept downstairs, looked out of the window, and saw Ralph drive away.

That was too freakin’ close.

Despite Brody’s worry that we’d be late, we made it to the movie theater in plenty of time to get our tickets and popcorn with lots and lots of butter.

“I’m glad we have the butter thing in common. It would have been a deal breaker if not.”

Brody grinned and squirted more butter on the popcorn. “What are we seeing?”

“Beyond the grave.” I gave my best impression of a ghost’s voice. I didn’t quite pull it off judging by Brody’s laughter.

“I thought you didn’t like horror movies.”

“No. I don’t like watching them in the backseat of your Jeep, in the dark, in an isolated field, surrounded by nothing but woods. That,” I pointed at him, “by the way, is a scene in most horror movies, and it never turns out well for one or two of the actors.”

“You’re quirky,” he said and kissed the tip of my nose. “I love that about you.”

Hold. The. Phone. What did he just say? The L word? And it wasn’t Like or Lust. Calm down. He didn’t say he loved me, just that I was quirky. Yeah, totally different. So what am I supposed to say back? Nothing? That I love that he loves that I’m quirky? That I love him? Wait! What?

“Hi, Willow.”

I looked up and saw Natalie from English class. “Hey, Natalie!” I looked at her date and recognized the guy with the personality of a rock. “Hi, Earl. I remember you from the fall dance. You went with Jenna.” Earl rolled his eyes. I guess Jenna’s master plan of making his life miserable so he wouldn’t ask her out again worked. “Do you know Brody? Brody, this is Natalie and Earl.”

“Hey, man,” Brody said to Earl, shaking his hand and doing that weird shoulder bump thing guys do. “Hi, Natalie. I remember you from English class.” He smiled at her, and her cheeks turned slightly pink.

Yeah, that smile gets ’em every time. And it’s mine. All mine. Mine, mine, mine. Jeez, I sound like I’m two. But it is mine.

“I heard you broke up with Jaden and you two are dating now.” Natalie looked between Brody and me.

“Yes. I’m sure the whole school’s heard by now,” I said with a shrug of a shoulder.

“Pretty much. Everyone thinks you two make such a cute couple. Way better than Jaden. What an ass.” I blinked in surprise. It wasn’t what I expected her to say at all. “Well, I’ll see you two in English. We have to go. We have dinner reservations.” Natalie smiled at Earl. He actually smiled back. It was the first time I’d seen his face register any type of expression other than boredom.

“Have a nice dinner,” I called after them. “Huh.”

“What?” Brody asked, looking down at me.

“Nothing, just something Natalie said.”

“The thing about Jaden? I told you, no one could figure out why you stayed with him.”

Brody and I saw four more people from school, and none of them seemed the least bit concerned about what happened with Jaden. I was cautiously optimistic that my reputation would survive the break up intact. Then again, one never knew about these things. It was high school, after all.

“Did you like the movie?” Brody asked as we walked to his Jeep.

“Yeah. Did you?”

“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.