Part 13 (1/2)

He bit my neck before sucking on it, hard. I was thras.h.i.+ng and shrieking from the pain and pleasure it brought.

”You f.u.c.king bit me!” No one had ever bitten me, not like that, and I was confused at the amazing response my body made, making me more wanton than I had been seconds before.

”I'm going to leave a hickey every time you lie to me.”

My body instantly froze. ”A hickey? You better not, or I'll leave one on you, too!” Of course he knew. He had known all along. It was his thing each and every time he had hollered at me for some casual s.e.x, always asking if I was on the pill. So, if he already knew, why ask?

”I don't care.” He chuckled.

His response baffled me because the old Brody would have probably made me go take a long f.u.c.king hike.

”Yeah, right. You're full of it. We both know you'd flip if I gave you one.”

His arms tightened around me before his c.o.c.k reminded my p.u.s.s.y that it was waiting for my permission to be ravaged by his hungry member, and only then did he decide to answer my threat. ”If anyone asks, I'll just say it's from you. Easy.”

”Now you're just being crazy.”

”Don't care. Maybe I am, but so f.u.c.king what? Maybe it's time people know what you and I have been up to for years.” Though he delivered the words in his typical lazy tone, I knew he meant them.

I was about to argue all the points of why he was wrong, and I was ready to go down to f.u.c.ked up memory lane before he decided to beat me to it by asking another question.

”I asked about the pill because I don't want to keep pulling out. I want to nut inside of you. Is that okay?”

I should have been appalled, yet the idea of him expanding and exploding inside of me made me a little heady and faint. f.u.c.k. Yeah, f.u.c.k. Of course, I really should stop thinking about f.u.c.k, f.u.c.king, or anything f.u.c.k related at this point since it was messing with my judgment and common sense. Brody was the past, not to mention in love with the newly minted bride Lindsey.

Sigh. The very thought of my friend and how in love he was with her dampened my mood and everything else that came with it. It also revitalized my mind, sealing my purpose once more that I needed to move on from him.

”No. Last night's s.e.x was the last. After the date, I'm done with you. That's it.”

He stilled, taking time to respond to my words, and when he did, it saddened me. ”I won't back off, not until I know you're with someone.”

Brody was pus.h.i.+ng himself and the idea of us to a point where I felt as if he was suffocating me. After all, the incident with Rob and me coming to terms with the rape and how I had somehow liked it was still fresh in my mind. How could I grasp something like that, something so vile that it made me vomit, yet I would get flashes of myself moaning as Rob f.u.c.ked me hard? Rob was right; I had been begging for it. In my messed up mind, how could I fathom dealing with that on top of what Brody was offering me?

”What if I tell you that I like Carter?” I threw the gauntlet, bracing for the imminent backlash. There was no doubt there would be h.e.l.l to pay for my insensitive comment, but I had to resort to something, or Brody would bulldoze his way into my life.

It wasn't necessarily lying, I thought. Come to think of it, I did like Carter in every sense of the word. He had an amiable personality, and after getting to know him more in Athens, I was glad our friends.h.i.+p had blossomed into something more meaningful. So, in some ways, it wasn't a white lie; it depended on how the counterpart perceived it, which wasn't difficult to decipher given how strongly he had reacted to me staying in Carter's bedroom.

Therefore, his doom and gloom didn't come as a surprise. Also just as I expected, Brody released me as if he had just discovered I had cholera.

I still had my back against him, so I wasn't sure what was going on with him, but from the sounds he was making, he felt like a ticking time bomb, ready to explode.

”Brody?” I croaked out meekly, knowing I had crossed the line with him, but it couldn't be helped. He was asking for something I couldn't give him.

Instead of responding to me, I felt his body s.h.i.+ft before I heard the shuffle of the sheets and him sliding off the bed. Only then did I choose to turn my body to look at him, and the moment I did, I felt my heart break from the stone-like expression that greeted my eyes.

”Where do you think you're going? We're in the middle of a discussion,” I huffed out, perplexed at his harshness towards me by choosing to ignore me. Then, if I wasn't shocked enough, he immediately got dressed with him barely b.u.t.toning his pants before he walked out of the room.

Maybe it was low blow to throw Carter's name in the midst of this, given that the man had been kind enough to let me use his place while he was in training in Brazil, and there I was, stretching my welcome by using his name to make his best friend think I had my sights set on the well-known stud.

In a most tiresome manner, I slid out of bed, pondering what I should do. Should I seek him out and apologize or get on with my life just as I had planned, with Brody hating me from a distance? I wasn't sure what I wanted from him. Apart from wanting to have a meaningful life instead of pining for this unrequited love, I knew I didn't want a distorted relations.h.i.+p with him.

Plucking his abandoned s.h.i.+rt from the floor, I hastily dressed myself in it, deeply inhaling his amazing, familiar scent while doing so.

”If this was any other man...” I muttered to myself, knowing full well that I wasn't going to intentionally hurt him and not apologize about it. I might not admit to the falseness of my insinuations, but I could at least say I was in the wrong for ever uttering some s.h.i.+tty stuff to him.

I left Carter's room and paved my way across the hall to Brody's bedroom. If he wasn't in his room, he would most likely be in the kitchen, making coffee, and if he wasn't there ... Well, I supposed my apology could wait until whenever I encountered him next, which I was almost sure wasn't far away.

Upon reaching his bedroom, I didn't even give the courtesy of knocking. I simply had the b.a.l.l.s to barge inside in an aggressive manner, ready to continue our argument. However, as I charged in his room, I found him sitting on his bed with his soles planted on the floor, elbows sitting on each of his thighs, and still bearing the sour, a.s.shole face he had left me with minutes ago, and it took some of the wind out of my sails, dissipating my anger a bit. Much to my dismay, he only stared at me, waiting for me to say something, as if I was the last person he wanted to see.

”Listen...” I started, licking my lips while I pondered the next word to say as I took in his blatant dislike of me. ”About what I said earlier about Carter, I'm sorry for that.”

He threw me a blank face. ”It's already forgotten. Anything else? 'Cause I have somewhere to go.”

Well, that was quick.

”I thought-I thought you were taking me out on a date.” It wasn't as though I was fis.h.i.+ng for another invitation; it was merely out of curiosity because his swift actions were boggling my mind. Though I didn't want it to bother me, it was hard not to. I cared too much.

”I changed my mind.”

”Where are you going? Are you taking someone else out now because I p.i.s.sed you off about Carter; is that it?” It was a common theme to people who didn't take rejection or compet.i.tion lightly. They went out there again in the blink of an eye to catch someone who would supply some nourishment to their depleted ego. Heck, it was my strategy time and time again after he would cast me aside once he didn't need me. I had to admit that it was bizarre to see the situation reversed for a change. In a f.u.c.ked up way, it was kind of refres.h.i.+ng. Again, in the most f.u.c.ked up of ways.

The mere mention of Carter's name was a dead giveaway on how he hated me saying his best friend's name. It was twisted, I knew, but the dark side of me liked seeing him react in a jealous way to Carter, because it was a first coming from him. It was satisfying to serve him the same dish he had served me all these years.

”I'm done talking, Amber,” he said in a dismissive manner, insinuating I leave his room.

Anyone who knew Brody knew him to be a well-liked person. He always had a great smile on hand, and he had a way of making someone feel instantly comfortable in his presence, even if you had just met, so this reaction-the jerk att.i.tude and all that entailed-was a different part to him, one I had never gotten the chance to see, since it was reserved for people he was pa.s.sionate for. Apparently, I had finally managed to score a spot on his romantic agenda after years of waiting.

This entire situation was as maddening as it was sad. I was sad for him, for me, for the both of us wanting the same thing at different times. Regardless, my love for him had brought me here, and there was no going back.

Although I couldn't deny seeing him torn because of me made me feel all sorts of emotions, one emotion stood out-the weird thing they called attachment. Yes, whatever emotions he had, I was attached to them. Whatever he was going through, as much as it pained me to admit it, I was feeling it, as well. It was a dreadful position to be in, but that was how it was with him, and it seemed like it would remain that way.

Taking a few steps towards him, I made a quivering smile, quite unsure about everything. ”Please don't be mad. I said I was sorry-”

”I'm not mad.” He barely glanced in my direction. Instead, he perused the floor with rapt attention.

A great liar, he definitely wasn't.

”You are. You know you are,” I insisted, standing my ground as I slowly approached his side before finally having the will to sit next to him on the bed. ”You look at me differently when you are,” I finished saying, my heart thudding madly against my chest.

”I said I'm not, so can you please drop the subject now?” His eyes remained glued to the floor, uncaring about my efforts in trying to reach out to him.

Well, I would on one condition. ”Am I forgiven?”

”If you move your things from Carter's room to mine, I just might.”

Did he just say that without even looking at me? Was he totally serious? Because if he was ... well, what the f.u.c.k? He was playing a whole different game here. If he wasn't rattling my cage before, he was after this new development. This was a game changer.