I didn’t disagree. “Fair point.”
“From a personal perspective, I wouldn’t even know what to do in one of those places.”
“They’re for boning,” I replied before thinking better of it. “You have boned before, right?”
“You did not just calling it boning.” Brody looked scandalized.
“Are you offended?”
He laughed again then gestured toward the parking lot. “It’s not a brothel. It’s a place I think you’re going to love, though.”
“Where?”
He hesitated but only for a moment. “It’s going to be a surprise. Just… trust me.”
I didn’t trust easily. My mother had told me that it was a mistake to trust certain people. But I could trust Brody. I understood that on a basic level. He wasn’t a creeper. Sure, he was a bit odd, but so was I. Odd was better than boring.
“Fine,” I said after a prolonged silence. “But you’d better not be taking me to a golf course to kill me and bury my body in a sand trap.”
His eyebrows lifted toward his hairline. “Your imagination is something.”
“Yes, it’s a royal mess. But I’m fine with it.”
He laughed once and shook his head. “You’re going to like this surprise. I have a very good feeling.”
“Then show me.”
BRODY COULDN’T GET OVER THE FACTthat I’d purchased a pink golf cart.
“It’s not against the rules,” I insisted.
“It is. You can only have black or white carts.”
“Ah, but there was a recent amendment that you could have a specific cart—it’s eco-friendly—and they failed to include color restrictions when adding that vehicle to the rules.”
Brody blinked, taking it all in. He’d directed me to Green Island Road and told me to keep driving until he instructed me to stop. “So, you bought this green cart just so you could get it in a loud color.”
“It’s one of those temporary colors,” I agreed.
“How did you find out about the loophole?”
“Weirdly, the woman who sold me the cart knew about it. She lived at the Landings until her divorce and intends to return. She wants me to mess with the association for reasons she didn’t share with me.”
Brody snickered. “Well, I still think you’re going to get into trouble. This thing is Barbie pink.”
“I wanted a turquoise one, but it was definitely banned. I don’t get how they think they can mandate the color of my golf cart. It’s crap.”
“I don’t disagree. They will try to beat you into submission, though.”
“I’m really looking forward to that.”
“Your expression just went really evil,” he said.
“Something I’m fine with.”
We went a bit farther in companionable silence, then he instructed me to pull in near a huge white building.
“What is this place?” I was suddenly alert. Nothing about the building, or the darkness surrounding it, felt comfortable.
