Page 79 of Break Out

“I suppose.” I set my phone down and get out of bed. “I’m going to shower,” I mumble, slipping past him and into the bathroom.

As I’m showering, it hits me that I probably can’t work remotely from Brody’s next week like I’d planned, and I should change my flight back from Orlando to tomorrow so I can start packing and talk to my boss. I probably won’t get to see Brody again before I move. I push the tears down that threaten to fall as I finish my shower and get dressed quickly. When I come out of the bathroom, I see that he’s already started packing his suitcase. I find him on the couch drinking a cup of coffee and watching SportsCenter.

“Shower’s all yours,” I say as I make myself a cup of coffee.

“Aubrey, we need to talk.”

“Not here, please. Can we talk about this when we’re back at your place?” I peek at him over my shoulder and see him watching me. I think he’s going to argue, but he just nods before getting to his feet and walking into the bedroom.

I’m mid packing when Brody ambles out of the bathroom in only a towel. My breath catches in my throat when I see him drop it out of the corner of my eye. I can’t help watching him bend down and pull a pair of briefs out of his suitcase. He must feel my eyes on him because he grins at me over his shoulder, the underwear still in his hand. He turns to face me, and my eyes travel down his body as if they have a mind of their own. My gaze catches on the tattoo on his thigh.

The one for me.

For us.

“Like what you see?” he rasps out.

My mouth gapes open, and he lets out a throaty chuckle, reaching down to stroke his hardening cock. He strokes himself from root to tip a couple of times. Just the sight of him has me aching for his touch. I blink a couple of times and take a few deep breaths, forcing myself to meet his gaze.

He smirks at me as he steps closer. Before I know what’s happening, he’s got me pinned against the dresser, his hard length nudging against my center. My shorts and underwear are the only barriers between us.

Brody leans down and ghosts his lips along my throat and chin before moving upward and pulling my ear lobe into his mouth, sucking on it gently. My hands fall to his shoulders, and I hold on to him, not sure what he’s going to do. He lets go of my ear lobe with a pop.

“See what you do to me? And I think I have the same effect on you. If I slipped a hand down your shorts, would I find you wet and wanting?”

“Brod, we can’t,” I mumble.

“We have plenty of time before we have to leave for the airport.”

But that’s not what I mean. If we touch each other, fall into each other again, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to leave him to go to Hawaii. I’ll decide to give it all up for him and stay in Florida. I’ll end up like every other member of my family and sacrifice myself for someone else. But I don’t say that. I just shake my head and push gently against his chest.

Brody studies my face for a few seconds before stepping back. “What’s going on, Aubrey?”

“We can’t,” I repeat, turning my back to him and pulling the rest of my clothes out of the dresser. “I know we said we’d talk after we got back to Orlando, but I think we should go back to being friends. And leave all the rest here in Key West. Chalk it up to a vacation fling.” I cringe at the word but can’t come up with a better one for what we had.

“Why?”

I take a few more deep breaths, and when my heartbeat has steadied, I whirl around to face him and am thankful that he’s pulled on underwear and a shirt. “I’m moving to Hawaii, Brody. Next month. Even if it was still in the fall, what would we do? Long distance? I can’t do that.”

“But what if I come with you?” He cocks his head, studying me.

I cross my arms. “And how will you play hockey?”

“I wouldn’t.”

I shake my head. “I think we’re better off agreeing that our relationship was fake and we go back to being friends.”

“I thought we both agreed that we didn’t want this to be fake. That we would talk about it after we got back to Orlando.”

“Brody, I care about you. I do. You know that. You’re my best friend. But that’s all we can ever be. Our lives are on two different tracks. It was crazy to think that there could be anything more between us than friendship.”

“Stop lying to yourself. What we feel for each other is more than friends. You and I both know that,” he argues.

“Brody, I can’t.” I put up a hand to stop him. “I can’t have this conversation with you now. We have to leave for the airport soon. Can we please talk about it later?”

He nods. I let out a breath and go back to packing my suitcase. Silence settles over us as we finish packing and get ready to leave. I try to ignore the thoughts swirling around in my head.

The things that Brody said.