“Watching people pee is not on the list of things I’m curious about, so you can quit trying to get me to look.”
Brody cocks his head at me, a slow grin playing over his lips. “No? I’ll mark it off then.” He finishes, zips himself up, and walks over to the sink next to me to wash his hands. “So what is on the list?”
I gape. I wanted to diffuse the tension and redirect us back to more comfortable territory, but it’s just as dangerous here. Maybe more so.
“Nothing,” I mutter. “I mean, I don’t have a list.”
Brody’s eyes narrow like he’s already caught me in a lie. “You seemed pretty curious to me.”
“I’m not,” I snap, too fast. “I just…reactwhen you say things. Sometimes. It’s stupid, and I don’t like it, and it needs to stop.”
Brody drags a thumb across his bottom lip, thoughtful in a way that makes my stomach plummet. “See, the thing is…” He pauses, evaluating me, deciding something. “I don’t believe you, but I’m also not trying to be a creep. So here’s what we’re going to do.”
He takes one slow step forward.
I instinctively take one back, only to feel the cold edge of the sink behind me. There’s nowhere for me to run. Nowhere to hide. His presence fills the room, pours in through my lungs and chokes me.
“Remember our safe word?” he asks quietly.
My throat bobs. I nod once.
“Say it.”
The heat in the room is stifling. Part of me doesn't want to, because I know if I say it, it shuts the whole thing down. The other part of me doesn't want to acknowledge the existence of a safe word because then I can't pretend this is out of my control.
Don’t lie to yourself about it being your choice.
Caty’s voice buzzes in my skull like a warning and a dare.
“Becky?” Brody prompts, soft but commanding, a dangerous blend that makes my knees tremble. “What is the safe word?”
I squeeze my eyes shut, hating and loving everything about this at the same time. “C-call you c-captain,” I stammer.
Brody hums, low and pleased, like he’s savoring the vibration of it in his own throat. Then he steps into my space, so close our chests almost brush.
“That’s a good girl…”
I push off the sink ledge and skirt around him to get some more space. He’s not really going to test my boundaries here, is he?
By the looks of the devilish grin on his face and the way he licks his lip, he is most certainly thinking about it.
My stomach flips. I hate him.
Okay, I don’t. Not entirely. But I hate that I don’t hate him the way I wish I did. The way I should.
He steps closer, and I can tell he likes the chase. What I can’t tell is ifIlike it or not. I might, sort of, very deep down, like thathelikes it. He backs me up until my shoulder blades are pressed against the row of stalls.
“Brody,” I warn.
He arches a brow. “Say it like that again.”
“I’m not doing this here.”
“You sure?” He nudges the stall door behind me. “Because I think you are.”
“I’m not?—”
He pushes me gently inside the first stall, crowding me inside. His voice is gravelly, eyes flaring with lust. “Why don’t you take me out and see how hard your bullshit makes me.”
