Текст книги "Unspeakable"

Автор книги: Michelle K. Pickett

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Текущая страница: 7 (всего у книги 21 страниц)

“Surprise him. Okay, which one should I wear… what message do I want to send?” I stood in front of my closet, looking through my shirts. I finally decided on sending a safe message to Brody and hoped Jaden wouldn’t notice or ask about the shirt. I pulled out a pink tee that read, He’s just a friend, and slipped it over my head before I could change my mind and grab the other one I was debating on wearing that read something about kissing me… which would definitely send mixed messages after the night before in Brody’s Jeep. But, oh, how I wanted to wear that shirt—wanted to finish that kiss.

Maybe I’ll have a T-shirt made that reads, I just dumped my dumbass jock boyfriend. Will you kiss me senseless now? Yeah, that’s sounds like a perfect T-shirt. I’ll get right on that… sure.

I pulled on a thin, zippered hoodie—I had a ton of them to go with the T-shirts and tanks. They were great for covering the cuts and bruises. Thankfully, he didn’t usually hit in the face. The hoodie was a light blue and matched the lettering on the tank top. I pushed my feet into my blue paisley Converse high tops. Another fashion faux pas I had that made Jenna cringe—my shoes. I went for comfort more than style. I loved my Converse, especially the ones with the funky prints. Not Jenna. She nearly had heart palpitations every time she saw me wearing them. I thought it was hilarious. She thought I’d lost my mind.

After running a brush through my hair, pulling it into a messy bun, and swiping my teeth with a toothbrush, I was ready for school.

I opened my door slowly and peered down the hall. My mother wasn’t anywhere in sight. Stepping into the hall, I made my way to the stairs. I was careful to avoid the boards I knew would make noise with the slightest change in pressure. I didn’t want to wake her up and get another lecture on how to keep men happy so they wouldn’t smack me around.

As soon as I’m eighteen, I am out. Of. Here. I don’t care if I have to flip burgers every day and babysit every weekend for four years to put myself through college. I’m leaving Middleton far behind.

I walked toward my locker when Jenna turned and saw me. “What are you wearing? I told you, shoes make or break an outfit. Those are breakin’ it. They are even worse than that horrid pink monstrosity you call a shirt.” She finally freed her book and papers from the mess overflowing from her shelf. I had to stifle a laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Brody peeked around the locker door at me.

“Oh, Jenna is just being… Jenna.”

“Ah. How’s the hand?” Brody asked.

“It’s okay. It makes getting my pants on and off interesting. Ugh… I can’t believe I just said that.” I laughed, feeling my cheeks heat with a blush.

“You’re cute when you blush.” He smiled. “I’ll see you in class. Oh.” Stopping, he looked over his shoulder. “I don’t like that particular T-shirt. Just so you know.” He winked and walked toward our biology class.

“What happened to your hand? And what the hell was that between you and Brody?”

“I jammed two fingers. No big deal. And Brody and I are… just… we just are. Like the T-shirt says. That’s all.”

“Mm-hmm. Sure, just friends.” A small smile curved her lips. “And how’d you jam your fingers?”

“Oh, you know, the usual.”

“Willow—”

“I’m fine. Really. I’m just fine,” I lied.

I sat next to Jaden, twirling my fork in the salad I was eating for lunch. Brody was across the room with some people I recognized from a few of our AP classes. Jenna and Tim sat with them, the traitors.

“I can’t believe you, like, eat that,” a blonde cheerleader said to me, cracking her gum as she talked. She was a girlfriend of one of the other football players—Sasha, or something like that.

“What?” I asked, looking at her.

Jeez, is it a requirement that all cheerleaders possess abnormally perfect genes? Big blue eyes, wavy, blonde hair, big boobs, and a tiny waist, yeah, I feel incredibly sexy next to her. She does wonders for my self-esteem. Sure. At least she’s dating a butt-ugly football player.

“The salad dressing. It has, like, a million calories and, like, a ton of fat in it,” she said, horrified.

“Oh, I don’t really pay attention to that. I just eat what I want.” I shrugged a shoulder.

“You must workout constantly to stay so thin.”

She thinks I’m thin? Has she looked in the mirror?

“I don’t work out, actually—”

“Not unless you count moving chess pieces around a little board working out, huh Wills?” Jaden laughed.

I faked a smile and imagined stabbing him in the eye with my plastic fork. “Yup, that’s about as close as it gets.”

“Oh, you’re on the chess team?” the cheerleader asked.

“Mm-hmm.” I went back to twisting my fork in my salad.

“That’s cool,” she said before turning and talking to the girl sitting on the other side of her.

I flipped my fork into my plate and stood up. “I’m going to go say hi to Jenna and Tim,” I whispered close to Jaden’s ear, kissing his cheek and quickly stepping away before he could pull me in for another.

Dumping my tray, I tossed it on top of the bin and, wiping my sweaty hands up and down my thighs, walked toward the table where Jenna sat. I didn’t think Jaden could see Brody from where he was, but I couldn’t be sure. I’d know in about two minutes.

“Hey.” I sat in an empty seat next to Brody.

“Hey back to ya. Aren’t you living life on the wild side by sitting here?” Brody asked.

“A little. I don’t think he can see this part of the table from where he is. Or that he’s even paying attention.”

“Ah.” Brody nodded, looking down. He let his arm slip from where it rested on the table’s top. His hand brushed across my thigh before he propped it on his knee. My eyes darted to his; he was watching me through his lashes, a small grin touching his lips. He leaned back in his chair, stretching his legs out in front of him.

“So what’s happening on the other side of the world?” Jenna asked.

“Apparently, I eat too much dressing on my salad because, like, it has, like, a million calories and, like, fat.” I imitated her voice, bobbing my head back and forth. “And I should workout more because, according to Jaden, moving little chess pieces around a board is all I do… or something like that.” I rolled my eyes.

“Like, really?”

I laughed. “Like, yes. And, predictably, as soon as chess was mentioned, her eyes glazed over and she started talking to someone else.”

“That’s, like, too bad,” Tim said with a laugh.

“Like, I think I’ll, like, put that on a T-shirt. Wanna go to the mall?” I looked at Jenna.

“No. I’m done being your enabler. If you want any more of those crazy T-shirts, you’ll have to get them by yourself.” Jenna shook her head.

Brody chuckled, twirling a straw on the table.

“Eh, whatever. I’ll break you before the day is over. You’ll be begging to go to the mall with me. Begging.” I leaned back in my chair, pulled my knees up to my chest, and wrapped my arms around them.

“You’re delusional.” Jenna looked away.

“Okay. You’ll be home doing homework while I’m browsing the clearance racks.”

Jenna shrugged. “There can’t be too much new stuff. We were just there.”

“Eating a soft pretzel and drinking a slushie while I get a pedicure, soaking my feet in a lavender footbath—”

“You’re a bitch.”

“I know.” I laughed.

“But I can’t go to the mall tonight even if I wanted to,” Jenna said.

“Yeah.” I sighed, smacking my hand down on Brody’s straw when he spun it in front of him. “I can’t either. I have way too much calc. homework due tomorrow.” I popped Brody’s straw in my mouth and chewed on the tip, grinning at him. “But you have to admit, it’d make a great T-shirt.”

Oh. Holy. Hotness. Chewing on his straw is almost like touching his lips. His lips touched it and now mine… okay, I’m officially losing it.

“They wouldn’t get the joke,” Brody murmured with an amused smile.

“I know. That’s what makes it the perfect T-shirt.” I nudged his thigh with my foot and winked at him.

He laughed.

I love that sound.

I was lying across my bed, working on my calculus homework and grumbling at myself for waiting until the last minute to do it, when my phone chimed. I thought about ignoring it, but I was happy for the interruption. It felt like I’d been doing the same calculus homework for a week.

I grabbed the phone off the table next to my bed and smiled. My heart started doing all sorts of weird things and butterflies immediately started tickling the sides of my stomach and some other places that were… very new to the sensation.

Brody: Whatcha doing?

Me: Calc. You?

Brody: Same. Wanna talk?

Me: Sure.

My phone rang just a few seconds later. I jumped and almost dropped it. “Hello?”

“Hey,” Brody said, his voice sliding over me like velvet rope. It caressed me as it squeezed the air from my lungs.

“Hi.” I cringed when my voice came out all squeaky and breathy. “When you asked if I wanted to talk, I thought you meant texting.”

“Oh. Sorry, we can hang up and just text.”

“No! No, it just surprised me when the phone rang.” I giggled.

Jeez, I’m giggling like a little girl. I need to get a freakin’ grip.

“How much more calc. do you have to do?” Brody asked. I could hear papers rustling through the phone.

“I’m on the last three problems. You?”

“I have five left.”

We fell quiet. I could hear him breathing on the other end of the phone. Every so often, he’d adjust the phone or I’d hear papers rustling. I’d worked through the three problems I had left and picked up my things, throwing them in my bag. Rolling over on my back, I closed my eyes and listened to Brody breathe.

“Are you finished?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“What are you doing?”

I felt my cheeks heat, which was silly since he couldn’t see me. “I’m just lying here, waiting for you to finish.” I left out the part that I was enjoying listening to him breathe—that sounded a little like a freaky stalker.

“I’m finished,” he said. I could imagine him flipping his pencil into his book and flicking it close like he did at school.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” I asked him.

“What are you wearing?” he whispered.

“Um, what?”

He laughed loudly into the phone. “I’m kidding, Willow,” he said when his chuckles faded.

“Oh, you were kidding? I was totally gonna to tell you if you told me…” I let my words trail off.

I heard him inhale. “Oh. Okay.”

It was my turn to laugh. “Kidding.”

“Bummer. I was hoping you were going to start telling me about your Victoria’s Secret lingerie.”

“Well, I am wearing this little pink—”

“Um, I think we need to move on to safer, more friend appropriate topics.”

I laughed. “Okay, you pick the topic.”

“You want to see a movie?”

“I can’t.”

“Do you have a TV in your room with satellite?” Brody asked.

“Yes.”

“Good. Turn to channel 235.”

Turning on my television, I flipped to the channel Brody suggested. “Oh, I’ve wanted to see this movie.” I pulled the blankets back on my bed and slipped under them, bunching the pillows behind my back.

“Good, I haven’t seen it yet either. We can watch it together.”

“Are you in bed?” I asked.

“Yeah.” His voice came out huskier than normal.

“Me, too. Hey, pause the movie for a minute.” An idea sparked, and a tingle of excitement ran through me.

“Okay. Why?”

“We should pop some popcorn. Do you have any?”

“Yeah,” he answered. I heard his blankets rustling through the phone as he climbed out of bed, and I had to force myself to stop imagining what he might look like. I really did want to ask him what he was wearing.

Stop it! Jeez.

“I can hear yours popping through the phone,” Brody said with a chuckle when we were standing in our separate kitchens, each waiting for our popcorn. “What kind is it?”

“Extra butter.”

“Yeah, mine too. What’s the point of eating it if there isn’t butter dripping off it?”

“I know, right? It should be a law that all popcorn has to be buttered,” I said, smiling when I heard Brody’s soft chuckle.

Popcorn made, we chatted as we made our way to our bedrooms and got comfortable before restarting the movie.

“This is new. It’s kinda fun. Only, there’s one thing missing,” Brody murmured.

“It is fun. What’s missing?” I was disappointed he wasn’t having as good a time as I was.

“You. I wish you were here, not there.”

“Oh.” I wasn’t sure what to say. I was glad he couldn’t see me because I was grinning like a fool. “Look at that. That is so ridiculous. There’s no way that could happen.”

“That’s why they call it entertainment, Willow. Movies defy the rules of everyday life.”

“Still, that’s just cheesy,” I said, tossing a piece of popcorn in my mouth.

“It’s a movie about zombie aliens. I think we passed cheesy a long time ago. Oh, look at her. Now we’re getting somewhere.”

“You’re such a perv.”

“What? I’m a guy and she’s hot. If she’s going to walk around naked, I’m gonna look and appreciate the fine job God did assembling her.”

“Ugh. Whatever.” I rolled my eyes.

“Stop rolling your eyes.”

“I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did. I heard it in your voice,” he said with a laugh.

“Oh! What do we have here? My, my, my, I do believe we have the male species joining the bimbo in the shower. Mmm, he’s nice to look at. Great butt.” I sighed.

“Now who’s the perv?”

“Me. I never said I wasn’t.”

Brody laughed. “Good to know.” He cleared his throat, and his voice was a little huskier than normal when he said, “Love scene.”

For some reason, our easy teasing ended and we floundered for something to say. The television played a very hot love scene—how it got only an R-rating was a miracle. I watched it on my television, hearing the moans and sighs from Brody’s television echoing through the phone. Awkward.

I could hear every breath Brody took. I could tell when his breathing sped up. I heard the small groan he made and the rustle of blankets and I wondered what was making him uncomfortable, the love scene or watching it with me on the other end of the phone. I tried to keep my breathing steady, but it was hard listening to the changes in Brody’s and thinking of his reaction. I was glad we weren’t watching the movie in the same room because I would have embarrassed myself by throwing myself at him. Yeah.

“You want to know a secret?” I whispered.

I should stop talking now. Shut up! Shut up!

He sighed. “About you? Always.”

“I really do want to know what you’re wearing.” I bit my lip, waiting for him to say something. The sounds of the love scene still filtered through the phone.

“Mm. You’re making it very difficult for me to keep things G-rated between us,” he murmured.

“I know. I feel the same.”

“Fight scene. Ooh, did you see that arm fly across the screen?” Brody asked a little too loudly.

“Yeah. Gross.”

Finally. That love scene was killing me. I never thought I’d be so happy to see arms and legs blown off.

“Willow? Willow?” I heard Brody call softly. “Wake up, beautiful. The movie is over.”

“Oh. I fell asleep. Crap, did I snore?”

Oh, how embarrassing. If I snored, I won’t be able to face him in the morning.

“No,” Brody murmured, “you didn’t snore. You sighed a few times. It was cute.”

“Okay. Good.”

“You did talk a little though.”

Oh, no.

“What’d I say?” I squeezed my eyes shut and cringed.

“Oh, just that you thought I was incredibly intelligent, handsome, and irresistibly sexy.”

My mouth dropped open. I tried to tell from his voice if he was kidding or not, but without seeing him, it was impossible to tell, and, the truth was, I did think all those things.

“I did not,” I said.

“Okay, if you say so.” He tried to hide it, but I could hear the smile in his voice, and I let out the breath I was holding.

“I need to go. It’s late.”

“Yeah. Goodnight, Willow.”

“’Night. Thanks for the movie.”

Wait, did he call me beautiful?

Thursday morning. I was so tired and was bitchin’ at myself for staying up so late. And then I remembered what I was doing and smiled. Movie night with Brody. I got goose bumps just remembering it.

Jaden and I had never done anything like that. He’d have thought it was stupid. We hardly talked on the phone, or even texted. But Brody and I had fun. It was easy. I didn’t have to try. I could be myself, and that was enough for him. Jaden always seemed to want more from me. I was never sure which girlfriend I was supposed to be when I was with him—the football-loving girlfriend, the attentive girlfriend that waited on him hand and foot, the girlfriend that gave him his space, the girly-girl, or the tomboy. He thought I should be able to fill any of those girlfriend types, and I should automatically know which one he expected me to be. I never felt like I could just be myself—that was never enough. I was never good enough. But Brody didn’t make me feel that way. He actually seemed to want to know the real me. Maybe even like the real me.

“Okay, what to wear today? Something that says, Had a great time last night; next time, let’s do it in the same bed? No, not a good idea.” I slid my shirts across the closet rod, looking for something to wear. Nothing jumped out at me. For once, I couldn’t find a sarcastic shirt that matched my mood. So I picked a black, long-sleeved T-shirt that had three, neon-green alien heads on the front. Beneath the aliens it read, The aliens made me do it.

When I walked into biology, Brody looked at me and laughed. “Huh. Just what did the aliens make you do?”

“I don’t think you could handle knowing what they made me do,” I said with a grin. When I bent over to hang my messenger bag over the back of my seat, I leaned over a little further than necessary so my mouth was near his ear. “I had a lot of fun last night.” My voice was soft and quiet, and I heard him draw in a deep breath. He turned his head, and our faces were just mere inches from each other.

“I did too. We’ll have to do it again.” He looked in my eyes. “But next time, I’d rather we be in the same bed.”

A small smile curved my lips, and I had force the next words out of my mouth because it wasn’t how I felt. At. All. “We’re just riding the friend bus, remember?” The truth was my ticket on the friend bus was about to expire. Every second I spent with Brody, he stole a piece of me. No, that wasn’t true. I opened my heart and invited him to take what he wanted. Piece by piece, I let him dismantle me and rearrange the pieces so I was whole again. Not the shell I’d let myself become. Brody was bringing me back to life.

“Yeah, yeah, I remember, but a guy can dream, right? And besides, since when do girls ask their guy friends what they’re wearing?” He smirked and winked.

I’m with Jaden. I need to keep reminding myself of that because Brody’s grins, smiles, and little comments make my heart twirl inside my chest and butterflies flutter inside my stomach. I’m starting to wish more than anything I was with him and not Jaden. But Jaden knows. He knows what she did. And he can’t tell. So what Jaden wants, Jaden gets.

The instructor walked into the room and saved me from answering. Since I didn’t know what to say, it was better to say nothing at all anyway.

I’d hoped for a movie day so I could sleep through class. I was so tired from staying up late the night before, but unfortunately, the teacher droned on about our next dissection. I hoped Brody was listening because I sure wasn’t. My mind was wandering, mulling over the comment he’d made.

About halfway through class, I couldn’t stand it any longer. I reached over and pulled his notepad toward me. At the bottom of the page, I wrote, So, what’s the answer?

Twirling the notepad around so he could read it, I watched his face as his eyes skimmed across my note. A small smile touched his lips.

He leaned over, put his lips against my ear, and all but growled, “Just boxer briefs.”

“Mm, the torture,” I whispered. He pulled back and held my gaze a moment too long before returning his attention to the front of the class.

That’s it. I’m officially unable to concentrate on anything except the knowledge that I was talking to Brody while he was in just his boxer briefs while in bed! Why did I ask?

Brody and I teased and talked through our classes the rest of the morning. There weren’t any more little comments about what each other was wearing—or not wearing—the night before. I wasn’t sure if I was happy about that or not.

“What are you doing after school tonight?” Jenna asked at lunch that afternoon.

I shrugged. “Nothing, I guess.”

“Well, I know this afternoon is football practice, so you’ll be Jaden free for the day. We should do something.”

“Oh, I almost forgot, today’s chess club. I can’t do anything after school.” I twirled a fry in a puddle of ketchup on my plate.

“We could always do something after,” Jenna said, grabbing a fry off my tray.

“Maybe. I’ll have to see what time I get out of chess club. I’ll be right back. My bloodstream is severely depleted of caffeine.”

I jogged to my locker to get my afternoon dose of Red Bull. While I was walking back to the commons, I saw Brody talking to Jenna. She smiled and looked at me. Nodding her head, she said something to Brody. He went back to his seat and sat down, quickly glancing at me over his shoulder.

What the heck was that?

I found out during independent study when Brody sat down next to me at our normal table in the back of the library. We were working separately on our homework. For some reason, the air seemed filled with tension. At least, I felt it. He seemed unaffected, as always.

“So…” He continued writing in his notebook, not looking at me. I put my pencil down and watched him. The scratching of his pencil lead across the paper was the only sound, and it grated on my nerves as I waited for him to finish his sentence.

I let out an exasperated sigh when my nerves grew so taut I felt as though I’d fly around the room like a snapped rubber band. “What?”

He shrugged a shoulder. “I was wondering if it would be okay with you if I watched you at chess club today?”

I stared at him for a minute, trying to process what he was asking and why. “I guess. But why? It isn’t a tournament today.”

“I know. I just want to go and watch.” He put his pencil down and his gaze found mine.

“You can come, but you’ll be bored,” I said.

He grinned at me. “I don’t think I’ll be bored.”

When the bell rang, we gathered our things and he followed me to the classroom where chess club was held. I sat at a table in front of a chessboard. He pulled out a chair next to me and sat down, scooting it as close to my chair as possible. I hung my bag over the back of my seat and looked at him.

“Is this okay?” he asked me. “If you want me to sit somewhere else, I will.”

“No, this is fine.”

It’s totally not fine! I’m not gonna be able to play with him sitting so close to me, smelling his cologne, feeling his thigh brush against mine. I’m not going be able to concentrate on the game when I’m concentrating on him. I’m so going to lose and embarrass myself.

Tim walked over to me and said, “We have an uneven number of people. Too many people are out sick.”

“I don’t have to play today.” I started picking up my things to leave.

“I’ll play you,” Brody offered.

I glanced up from gathering the game pieces and placing them back in the box. “How long has it been since you’ve played?” I twirled a rook between my fingers.

Brody shrugged. “A while.”

Tim looked at me. “I don’t mind if you don’t mind.”

“I guess so.”

Brody walked around the table and sat down across from me. We set up the pieces on the board. “Your go,” he told me.

I made my first move, and he followed with his move. The game progressed quickly, and I was surprised at how well he played. I beat him the first game, and he beat me the second.

Brody rubbed his hands together and stared at me over the table. “All tied up. Third game’s the tiebreaker. Let’s make it interesting.”

“What did you have in mind?” I leaned forward and tilted my head to the side.

“If I win, you have to go get something to eat with me,” Brody said with a grin.

“And if I win?”

Brody shrugged a shoulder. “What do you want?”

Ohmigosh, if he only knew what I wanted. Things I shouldn’t be wanting. I’m with Jaden. I shouldn’t want kisses from Brody, but that’s exactly what I want.

“I’ll tell you after I win the game, Ace.”

Brody laughed. “Pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?”

“Yup.”

“Okay, challenge accepted.”

I spent the whole game trying to figure out what it was I was going to ask for when I won. I was so distracted, I lost the game. Brody was not gracious winner. He laughed and said, “Looks like it’s burger time. I think I’m gonna have a cheeseburger with the works, and a chocolate milkshake. Maybe two. Oh, and onion rings. Can’t forget the onion rings.”

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t help but grin. Secretly, I was glad he’d won. I really wanted to spend time with him, but I wasn’t going to examine my reasons why too closely. I shouldn’t want to go get a burger with Brody, but I did. More than anything

“Just out of curiosity, what would you have asked for if you would’ve won?” Brody asked.

I smiled and winked at him. “I’ll never tell.”

“Ugh, you’re such a tease.”

“Let’s just say, you should have let me win.”

Brody groaned.

We gathered our things and walked out to the student parking lot. Brody unlocked the door of his Jeep and held it open for me to get in. I felt a little awkward. Jaden never held the door open for me and we were freakin’ dating—sort of.

“Thanks,” I said, climbing into the Jeep. I watched Brody in the side mirror as he walked around the back. He twirled his keys around his fingers on one hand, the other tucked in his jeans pocket. “So, where do you want to go? The Dive?” I asked when he got in the Jeep.

“No, I didn’t think you’d want to go to The Dive.” He put the keys in the ignition and angled his body toward me. “I know we’re going as friends, but your boyfriend doesn’t seem the type to allow you to have guy friends. The Dive is going to be full of people from school. Someone will tell Jaden we were together.”

I looked out the window and blew out a breath. “Um…”

“Hey, it’s okay. I know a little place not too far away. I doubt anyone from school would be caught dead there. At least, no one in your social circle.”

I swung my gaze back to his. “I don’t have a social circle.”

“No? Are you sure about that?”

“No. I mean, yes, I’m sure. I hate that people assume just because I date Jaden, I belong to a certain clique. Did you already forget I’m a member of the chess club? One of my best friends is the captain of the club? I fit in more with him than I do with any of Jaden’s friends.” I shoved my things to the floor of the Jeep with a frustrated breath. “I don’t know why I’m even bothering to explain myself to you. It’s not like it matters what you think. Let’s just go and get this over with.” I fell back against the seat and stared out the side window. Suddenly, the idea of going anywhere with him lost its appeal.

“Hmm, and I wouldn’t know anything about stereotypes, huh? I’m just the bad boy, man-whore of Cassidy High,” he murmured.

I turned to face him, and his sapphire gaze locked onto mine. “I guess you were judged before you even stepped foot in school,” I whispered. He didn’t answer, but his gaze held mine captive. I lay my hand on his arm and skimmed my fingers over his skin. “I’m sorry. I was one who judged you, and I’m sorry.”

He didn’t answer me for a long time. The silence stretched between us, awkward and uncomfortable. I fought the urge to squirm in my seat. And then he did something that caught me completely off guard and threw me totally off balance. Brody took my hand from his arm, turned it over, and kissed the inside of my wrist, letting his warm, soft lips linger against my skin just a moment longer than necessary for a normal kiss. But it was no normal kiss. It was a silky whisper caress of his lips across my skin that sent my body into a frenzy.

I sucked in a breath. My insides did all sorts of weird things. Forget butterflies, I had balls bouncing around my stomach—bounding from one side to the other, hitting the wall and springing back again. My heart beat so hard it hurt and if someone had asked me about Jaden, I would have said, “Who?” Not good, not good at all. And so very dangerous.

I slowly pulled my hand away, still looking into his eyes. “Just friends, remember?” My voice was barely a whisper.

“That was my just-friends kiss. If it was my kiss for more than friends, we wouldn’t be talking right now.” He turned and started the Jeep.

I let out the breath I was holding and tried not to think about the more-than-friends kisses he would give.

Houston, I definitely have a problem.

We drove in silence for about five minutes when Brody pulled into a small, gravel parking lot. I looked around. “This is a bar,” I said. “They’re not going to let us in here.”

“Don’t worry. My aunt owns the place. She makes the best burgers in town. Makes The Dive’s look like dog food… and her milkshakes? Don’t even get me started.”

We walked into the small, white building. It was much larger than it looked from the outside, and it wasn’t at all what I thought a bar would look like. It wasn’t dark and smoky inside. It was light, without being too bright. And the smell of burgers filled the air, not the smell of cigarettes and stale beer like I expected. A large, square bar sat in the middle of the room with bar stools surrounding it. Booths lined the left wall and tables were scattered throughout the remaining area, with the exception of the right side of the room, which was full of pool tables, a couple of air hockey tables, and arcade games.

Brody took my hand and pulled me gently with him as he made his way to the back of the building where a small counter was located. A petite woman, who couldn’t have been much taller than five feet, greeted him with a broad smile.

“Hey, Brody! Whatcha up to today?”

“Hi, Aunt Bess. I’m just in the mood for one of your awesome burgers,” Brody said with a smile, dropping my hand so he could give his aunt a hug over the counter.

“And who’s this?” The woman glanced at me and then back to Brody.

“This is my friend, Willow. Willow, this is my Aunt Bess.”

“Hi, sweetie,” Bess said, turning her smile on me.

“Hi. It’s nice to meet you.” I smiled back at her. Her smile was contagious.

“So, you’re here for burgers, huh? Let me guess. A big Cheesy and a chocolate milkshake for you, Brody?”