"Couch or table?" he asked.
I walked to the couch in the living room without a word and plopped down. Brody grabbed a handful of paper towels and brought them with the plates.
He sat on the opposite end of the couch, handed me a plate, and asked, "What happened?"
I stared down at my pizza, my stomach heavy rather than growling.
"That bad, huh?" Brody asked.
I finally looked up at him. "Not bad. I feel awkward talking to you about this."
"Why?" He took a huge bite of his pizza and stared at me as he chewed.
I had to laugh because his cheeks were puffed out like a chipmunk's and there was no way I could take him seriously. I'd known him long enough to understand that he wasn't going to let this go. I was pretty sure he was the only person I knew who was as stubborn as I was.
I waited until he swallowed before I answered. "It was about you."
"What?" he asked. Then he choked. Which was exactly what I wanted to avoid and the reason I hadn't answered until he finished the first bite.
I put my plate on the coffee table and leaned over to smack the palm of my hand between his shoulder blades.
After a few seconds he waved me off and grabbed his Coke. Once he'd settled and taken a few sips, he turned to look at me.
"Why exactly was your brother fighting with you about me?"
Man, I wanted to lie so badly. I didn't want to tell him the truth because I was pretty certain that, despite what J.J. said, Brody Murphy didn't have a thing for me. And it was going to sting when he admitted it after I explained what happened.
Fuck it. I'd been embarrassed in front of Brody before. I was also a grown woman. I'd live.
"J.J. warned me not to break your heart. For some reason he thinks you've had a thing for me since high school."
If I hadn't been looking straight at him, I would have missed the change in his expression. I couldn't discern exactly what he was thinking, but he no longer looked quite as relaxed.
"Is that so hard to believe?" he asked.
I nearly laughed but tamped down on the knee-jerk reaction. Based on the strange expression on Brody's face and the tension in his upper body, he probably wouldn't agree that it was funny.
"Um, well...yeah, Brody. You weren't exactly flirty when I was in high school." My eyes flicked away from his. "Most of the time, you acted like you could barely stand me."
He took a deep breath. "I should have known he would see right through it anyway," he mumbled.
Wait. What?
My eyes moved back to his and I knew they were huge. "It's true?"
I couldn't figure out how I felt. It was an amalgam of euphoria, anger, hurt, and, strangely, fear.
Brody evaded the question. "Thisis what you fought with J.J. about?"
"Not exactly. It was because he seems to think I'm a man-eater leaving a trail of broken men in my wake. I would never intentionally hurt someone, especially if I cared about them."
"So does that mean you care about me?"
I gave him a dry look. "How about you answer my question first and then I'll answer yours?"
He didn't reply right away but eventually he said, "You've always been...special to me."
I could feel my eyebrows lifting as I stared at him. "And you're special to me too, Brody," I stated, my delivery as wooden as a two-by-four.
