13
The ending credits on the firstAvengersmovie rolled and I turned on the lamp sitting next to me on the end table. My house was dark and it was after closing time at the shop. I'd nearly called Sierra several times during the evening but Brody convinced me to leave her alone. She would be coming home any time now and I was a little sad about that. I liked having her around but I knew Brody would leave when she walked in. He had to work tomorrow anyway and it was after nine already.
The remains of our pizza littered the table since we'd given up walking back and forth to the kitchen when we wanted another slice. There were also a few candy wrappers, soda cans, and napkins strewn about. Sometime around seven, Brody called in and ordered us tacos from a local Tex-Mex joint and somehow finagled a delivery so the take-out boxes were amidst the mess. All in all, we'd spent over six hours together, eating, watching movies, and teasing each other. It was like old times, only better, because he wasn't as cool or distant with me as he had been before.
He also touched me. Not a lot, but enough that I couldn't ignore the way it made my heart race or my skin prickle. A brush of his fingers on my arm when he wanted my attention. Or how he told me to lay my legs on his lap when I wanted to stretch out but he was in the only recliner portion of my couch. Then, he'd rested his hands on my shins and I'd never been so glad that I'd remembered to shave my legs in my life.
"We'll have to pick this up next weekend," Brody said, taking me out of my thoughts.
I winced. "I'd love to, but I have to work." Hopefully, my weekend hours would slow down a little once we trained Lee to manage the store.
"And I'll have Jacks. Maybe the next weekend she's with her mom?" he asked.
I hesitated. "I imagine I can arrange a night off in another week or two. I'll be home tomorrow night though if you want to come over."
Brody shook his head. "Jacks is coming back tomorrow afternoon sometime. I want to take my girl to dinner and let her tell me all about her weekend with her mom."
"We'll figure it out," I said. I swung my legs off his lap and stood up. The coffee table was as disgusting as it had been that morning, but this time I couldn't blame Sierra. I grabbed the pizza box and started stacking paper plates and containers inside. Brody joined me and together we hauled everything into the kitchen. He held open a trash bag for me while I dumped it all inside and then insisted on carrying it out to the can beside the garage.
By the time he came inside, I'd already washed my hands, wiped down the coffee table, and used my little handheld vacuum to suck the crumbs off the couch and the floor.
"Get lost?" I teased him as he went to the sink and squirted dish detergent into his palm. I shook my head but didn't say anything about the fact that there was a hand soap dispenser literallyright next to himthat he could have used instead.
"Not lost. Just had a stare down with a raccoon. I wasn't sure if he was going to jump me or run away. I don't think he was either."
"Oh, you met Gary."
"Gary?" he asked as he rinsed his hands and reached for a paper towel.
"The neighborhood sort of adopted him after his mom died. He was just big enough to survive on his own, but some of us made sure to leave some food out for him from time-to-time. Just to make sure."
Brody laughed and walked over to me to toss his paper towels in the trashcan beside the counter where I stood. "Let me guess...some of usmeans Cameron McClane."
I shrugged. "Maybe."
Brody stopped in front of me and our eyes met. Anything I might have said vanished from my mind. "Raccoons carry diseases," he said. "Like rabies for instance."
"Meh. He was a baby at the time and he's friendly enough."
"He's not a baby anymore. He's huge, probably around twenty-five pounds, and he, he,hissedat me when I came around the garage. He was sitting on the trashcan, trying to pull up the lid but his tub o'lard butt was planted on it. When he saw me, I swear his eyes flashed red and he made a sound that I'll hear in my nightmares for the rest of this year."
I laughed. I couldn't help it. Gary had never hissed at me, but he'd never seen Brody before, so it didn't surprise me that he would find his presence offensive.
I laughed until Brody's hands grabbed my hips, yanked me against his body, and his mouth crashed down on mine.
Laughter was the furthest thing from my mind then.
I didn't think and, surprisingly, didn't freeze. I wrapped my arms around Brody's neck, plastered myself against him, and kissed him back with everything I had.
I used to daydream about kissing Brody Murphy when I was thirteen. In my fantasies, his lips would be soft and sweet. Gentle.
This was nothing like my girlish daydreams. No, it was better.
This was incredible.
Brody's lips were soft, but there was nothing sweet or light about the way he kissed me. His mouth was hot and voracious, as though he wanted to eat me alive.
And to be entirely honest, I would have damn well let him.
