Chapter 27
Cora
His sister?
I couldn't stop thinking about it for the rest of the afternoon and evening. I let it go pretty quickly in front of him so that we could enjoy the rest of our afternoon together, but it wouldn't leave me alone. He was just like his sister, right? That was the assumption I made the first day I saw him. He was a player. She obviously was, too. That bitch had known that Brandon was in a relationship, and yet she still chose to sleep with him.
The number of girls I'd seen Brody with over the first couple of days of us getting to Lake Havasu haunted me as I laid on the couch that evening and ignored everyone. They were all headed out for another shopping trip, and I was honestly shopped out.
The night before with Brody had been the stuff of dreams, and yet having let myself go with him only seemed to lock in the fact that I was falling for him. I didn't want to, either. He wasn't the kind of guy that would make it in a long-term relationship, from what I could tell. Fuck, his sister was as much a whore as he was.
"Hey. You okay?" Cindy sat down on the couch beside me and reached out to rub my arm.
"Hmmm? Oh, yeah. I'm doing great. Just a little tired from last night." I smiled and scooted over to give her more room. "Did you guys have a good time at the beach?"
"Yeah, but the cops were on their patrol big time. There was one that kept coming around, and I thought Derek was going to blow a fuse." She laughed and wrapped her arms around herself. "I didn't mind him so much, though. He was crazy cute."
"Cuter than Derek?" I lifted my eyebrow.
"The cop again?" Emily walked in and sat down on the other end of the couch by my feet.
"Yep. He's worth bringing up a few more times, don't you think?" Cindy's cheeks colored pink, and I couldn't help but chuckle.
"He was a fine, fine man." Dedra walked in and sat down on the coffee table. "Come on. We only have a little more than a week left with you. Don't make us spend the evening without you. We can go see a movie or eat all the chocolate in the candy store in town, but come with us."
"I agree." Cindy turned to me and reached out to brush my hair from my face. "Our time is growing short, thanks to your dumb parents. Come with us tonight."
"Yeah, you're right. I'll come. We can go shopping, though I'm in a bit of a mood. Be warned." I pushed at her hip so that she'd move and I could sit up.
"We like moods, right?" Cindy stood up and smiled. She was a little too positive for my liking, but I swallowed my need to growl and got up.
"I don't feel like driving." I walked to the door and slipped on my sandals. "Can one of you do it?"
"I'll drive." Emily grabbed the keys and touched my back. "You okay? Something go wrong with Brody?"
"It was his sister that Brandon cheated on me with." I shrugged as my friends gasped.
"Oh, fuck. Seriously?" Dedra opened the door and gave me a sympathetic look.
"Yeah, and I know it's stupid, but I just can't shake the fact that he's just like her. I mean, I must have seen him with five girls over a three day period before we decided to give each other a try." I walked to the car and pulled my sunglasses onto my face. Going out with my friends was the like the last thing I wanted to do, but it was probably because it was the only thing that would pull me out of my funk.
After the incredible night with Brody, I couldn't help but think I was in trouble. It wouldn't take much to drown in a man like him. All I had to do was to learn to trust him and I would be completely lost. I guess it was somewhat of a good thing that I didn't trust him, at all. Especially not now.
"I know you don't need for me to tell you this," Emily started as she glanced over the top of the car at me, "but you know that Brody isn't his sister, and he's not Brandon, either, Cora."
"I realize that." I opened the door and got into the car as my phone dinged. Brody. I dropped it in the cup holder and buckled up. "I just don't want to end up in an emotional coma like I was three months ago. I was just starting to feel like the ice was melting around my heart."
I teared up, hating how emotional talking about Brandon left me. Did I still care about him or was it just the excruciating pain of rejection?
"Hey. We don't have to talk about this, but I'm telling you that I think Brody could be a different man. Clay hasn't stopped talking about how excited they all are to see a better side of him. He's the jerk in the group, and yet for the last few days, he's been chill, a totally different guy." Emily squeezed my shoulder.
"I'm not sure what to do about all of it." I glanced around. "If it's alright with you guys, I'd rather not talk about it. We can talk about anything but Brody, but I need some time to process what's up with us and what I want to do about it, first."
"Sounds good to me. Boys aren't the end all be all anyways." Dedra leaned up into the front seat and turned the radio up. "I'm saying let’s jam out, eat something greasy, and go lay by the lake and dream about the future."
"I like the sound of that." Cindy pipped in. "And maybe I can try and a new pasta dish on you guys tonight. Does that sound good?"
"Yep." I turned and smiled at them, forcing myself to let my nefarious thoughts subside. I wasn't going to bastardize the good time Brody and I had the night before—or this morning. Him washing me in the shower had been one of the most intimate times I could remember every having with a man. He'd been tender and almost loving. It probably scared me more than the scorching heat from the sex.
"And, no boys!" Emily declared and gave me a cheeky grin. "One more shitty subject and then we'll just have fun."
I gave her a sideways glance and nodded. "Sure."
"You need to call your folks today and tell them that you're not coming back early. Life is going to move fast once we leave this place, Cora. You need the summer to have fun. That's what we planned a long time ago. Fight against it and get the six weeks back that they are trying to take. We were supposed to have three months, and you're down to having just a couple of weeks."
I ran my fingers through my hair. My parents weren't going to relent. They never did.
"Maybe I can come back after we go through the case work that they are wanting me to see." I picked up my phone and read through Brody's message as a smile lifted my lips.
Brody: Just wanted you to know that I was thinking about you. I'm a little concerned by how badly I want to see you again. Feels like we could make a chick-flick out of our situation. I was trying to think of a title, but all the good ones are gone.
Me: How about, Beauty and the Beast?”
Brody: Don't talk about yourself like that, baby. You're only a beast in the bedroom. :)
I laughed and put the phone down. "I will tell you one thing: Brody Myers is the all-around package, isn't he?"
"He seems like it." Cindy let out a sigh. "What are his plans after this summer? Is he staying in Arizona or going somewhere else?"
My smile faded at the thought of him moving away. "I don't know. I haven't gotten around to asking him. We just started treating each other cordially over the last three days."
Dedra chuckled. "You mean you just started treating him cordially. He's been good to you since we met the guys. It's you who was fighting that sexy ass attraction between you two."
"It is sexy, isn't it?" I pressed my teeth into my lip and glanced out the window.
"Hey, are you going to talk to your folks or what?" Emily tugged at the sleeve of my t-shirt.
"No. There's no reason to. I'll try to get back out here, Emily, but they've made it pretty clear that they expect me there for these trials. As much as I hate it, it's my future for right now. Until I can figure out if there's something worth fighting them over." I shrugged, tired by the conversation. The lack of sleep the night before had to be adding to my weariness.
My phone dinged again, and I pulled it up to see Brody calling.
"Hey." I closed my eyes and tried not to grin like an idiot.
"Hey, am I being overbearing? I've never done this 'see someone after a night of fucking' thing before, so you'll have to tell me if I'm doing it wrong."
I laughed. "You're so ridiculous. You know that?"
"Yeah, I get that a lot." He let out a short sigh. "I'm sorry about my sister, Cora, but I'm not sorry, too. If things hadn't have happened between you and Brandon the way they did, then last night wouldn't have been mine. I'm greedy as fuck, I know, but it was the best night of my life. It felt good. Right."
He was being too open. I wasn't ready for the confirmation that something lustful was soon to turn into love for me.
"Me, too." I pressed my fingers to the bridge of my nose. "I'm headed out with the girls for the evening, but I'll call you later. Is that alright?"
"Yeah. Let me know if you're up for me coming over, or you come on over here. I'm tired as hell, but I wouldn't mind snuggling up to the back of you and letting you take advantage of me while I sleep." He laughed softly.
"Only beasts do that." I smiled and turned to watch Emily looking at me as we sat at a stop light. "Alright. I'll talk to you later."
I dropped the phone into the cup-holder between us and lifted my eyebrow at her. "What?"
"You know what." She smirked and put her hands back on the wheel. "I might regret my words completely, but I really think he's going to be good for you."
"Maybe." I shrugged and turned up the radio. "But...we promised no more boy talk, so let's have fun and forget about the need to find the perfect man that will make our lives complete."
"Please. I don't need no man." Dedra bounced in her seat. "I do need a bag of candy from Tutties in town, though. Let's go there first."
"Sounds good to me." Emily pulled across the street and parallel parked perfectly, surprising me.
"Damn." I looked around. "When did you learn to do that? You usually suck at parallel parking the car."
She beamed. "Right? Clay taught me the other day. We spent the afternoon in his truck working on it. It was cool. Really cool."
I smiled and got out of the car before walking around and giving her a quick hug. "You know why the summer vacation is going to be all I need to get me back on the right track?"
"Because you've met the man of your dreams, and like every good girl wants of a bad boy, you can change him for the better?" She smiled like she knew some great secret.
"Nope." I laughed as her face fell. "Because you're here. Let's not get our own places when we get home. Let's stay together. Do you want to?"
"Really?" Her face lit up. "I would love that. I know you wanted to live in the city in one of those smaller flats, but if we shared a two bedroom apartment between downtown and Arizona State, we could still see each other all the time."
"Yep. Let's do it." I moved to her side and wrapped my arm around her shoulders as we walked to the candy store. I'd broken her heart a few months back with my desire to get my own place. My parents thought it was a good next move for me, and much like I'd always done, I followed their advice, though it wasn't what I wanted, at all. I would go into pre-law and try hard to become the woman they expected me to be, but I was going to do it my way.
"What are you guys being all chummy about?" Dedra moved up on the other side of me and slipped her arm around the back of my waist.
"We're going to get an apartment together for the fall." Emily beamed, and I knew I'd made the right decision. My dad would give me absolute hell over it, but it would be worth it. Emily and I didn't have forever left, only a few years at best. Hell, if things kept progressing at the rate they had with Clay just over the short time we'd been at the lake, then we wouldn't even have a few years.
While I figured Brody and I might fall in love, I was pretty sure that Emily and Clay were already there.
"And, I'll come visit all the time and sleep on the couch." Cindy moved up beside Emily. "I'm going to get a small apartment above the culinary school in town and see about teaching a few classes. I need to make a few more connections before looking at opening my own place."
"And, you need a sugar-daddy," Dedra threw in. "To sponsor your restaurant."
"I'm not thinking that will be too hard to find." She wagged her eyebrows and opened the door to the candy shop as we laughed.
The smell of sugary goodness washed over me, and I breathed in deep, letting everything go and walking for the closest bin of chocolate. I was good for now, but the chocolate would help insure that I'd be just as good later.