We’ve been home for three days and Momma wants to have a sit-down. Lord knows what this will be about. Cydney walks into the living room where Callie and I are already sitting on the couch. She joins us, taking a seat beside Callie and asks, “Do either of you know what is going on with Momma?”
We answer in unison, “Nope.”
“Hey, girls,” Momma says as she enters the living room and sits across from us in her recliner.
“Hey, Momma!” We all greet her.
Cydney blows out a breath and finally demands, “Momma, what’s going on?”
“Girls, I’ve decided that I’ll be moving to Athens,” she announces. The three of us sit there with our mouths hanging open, trying to find the words to say. Thankfully, a knock at the door buys us some time. “Well, I see I’ve left you speechless,” Momma teases us.
Cydney stands up and walks to the door. Whoever is standing on the other side of it, has surprised her…to say the least.
“Um, Cayden? It’s for you,” she hollers, still standing there gaping.
“Ugh, Cydney, who is it? We’re in the middle of a family meeting. Who in the world would be showing up here unannounced at a time…” My words trail off when I see my visitor. “Brody?”
“Hi, Cayden,” he simply states.
Turning, I glance at Cydney and see the confusion in her expression. “I’ll give you two a little bit,” she says softly.
“Thanks, Cyd,” I reply just as quietly.
I walk out the front door, not knowing what to say to Brody. The silence between us is very awkward, something that’s never happened to us before. To try and overcome it, I shoot from the hip, making small talk. “How was school?” I ask as we walk over to the porch swing.
“Meh. Pretty good. It’s school. You know?” He says.
We both sit on the porch swing, looking at each other. It’s been so long since I’ve seen him. His appearance has changed. Brody’s physique is larger with bulging muscles under his t-shirt and a nice tan that’s turned his skin a nice golden brown. He’s also grown a beard. “You look good. College athletics agree with you,” I tell him with a smile.
“Yeah, they worked us out a lot.” He smirks.
I glance over his shoulder toward the front window and see my sisters’ faces. Those two are so nosy. I jerk my head to the side, trying to get rid of them.
“Are your sisters peeking out the window?” He asks with a laugh.
“They sure are.” We both chuckle a little. He knows us all so well.
“C’mon let’s get out of here for a bit.” Brody stands from the porch swing and reaches out for my hand. I place mine in his and we stroll toward the steps of the porch.
As we make our way down, I look over my shoulder and point to my sisters. “You’ve been caught,” I mouth. They both shrug their shoulders before disappearing from the window, seemingly unworried that they’d been busted.
Brody and I load up into his truck and drive half a mile out the dirt road to what we call our spot: a large oak tree that makes plenty of shade to cover us from the heat of the Georgia sun. We pull up under the tree, Brody parks, and cuts the engine.
I turn in my seat to face Brody, studying his strong jawline. “Why did you come home, Brody? I always thought you were getting out of this town and never coming back.”
Brody squeezes the steering wheel, then taps his thumbs against it. He turns his head to stare into my eyes. “I came home to help my parents for the summer.” Right. The deer caught in the headlight expression tells me he isn’t giving me the entire truth. I never thought that it would be hard to reconnect, but I guess after meeting Zac at school, after the amount of time that I’ve been separated from Brody, it’s made a difference.
It’s hot sitting in his truck. Scooting toward the truck door, I reach for the handle and get out of the truck. Brody follows my lead on his side of the truck to meet me at the back of the truck, where he lowers the tailgate. I push myself up to sit down on it, and he jumps up to join me.
“How was your first year of college, Cayd?”
I look out across the field, taking in a deep breath. “It was good overall. Met new people. Enjoyed my classes. Watched Callie and Cydney fall for two great guys. Momma met a man too. So...” I let out a small laugh. “Pretty damn good.”
I feel the truck move, only to notice that Brody has hopped down. He walks in front of me and places himself between my legs. Putting his hands on my thighs, he gazes into my eyes as if he is trying to find something. “And you, Cayd? Did you meet and fall for a great guy?”
Well…technically, no, or at least the guy doesn’t know that I have. Zac doesn’t seem to be interested in me at all. “No,” I answer. “What about you? You got a girl back at school? Or is it multiple friends?” I flip the switch on him to avoid answering any more questions about me.
“I’m not goin’ back, Cayd. And no, no girl or multiple friends.” His tone is stern. “I was going to transfer to the University of Georgia, but now I’m going to stay here and work on the ranch with my dad.”
“Why would you want to do that?” I ask.
“Hell, it’s who I am, Cayd. It’s home. I didn’t like being away as much as I thought I would.” He replies.
I guess it’s going to be one hell of a summer, I thought to myself. Between Zac coming to the house and Brody being back, it is going to be interesting, to say the least.
The temperature has dropped and when I gaze up at the sky, I can see the clouds are rolling in. We are about to get a storm, I can smell it. I glance down at Brody. “We should probably start heading back. Those clouds don’t look too friendly. Wouldn’t want to get caught in the storm, especially under this old oak tree.”
Brody stares back at me with his deep blue eyes. “Yeah, I agree. Besides, we have time to get caught up.”
He backs away from me and I jump down. I make my way back to the front of the truck and as I climb in, I hear the tailgate slam shut. Brody climbs in on his side, but before he starts the truck, he grabs my arm to pull me closer to him. We are inches apart; our mouths close enough that I can feel his breath on my face. “I need a taste, Cayden.” His mouth crashes down on mine. Our tongues invade and explore each other’s mouths. It’s a heated, familiar feeling. The thumping sound of raindrops hitting the truck echo around us.
The intensity of this kiss increases when Brody moves his hands down my sides, pulling me closer still. I break the kiss to lift myself up and straddle his lap. Brody and I stare into each other’s lust filled eyes. “I’ve missed this,” He says as he leans forward to continue our escapade. I’ve been frustrated lately, and this kiss is making up for lost time. With the rain falling outside and the heat rising in the truck, Brody slowly moves his fingers along the sides of my waist, making a journey toward the hem of my dress. He reaches the front, ready to run his hands up my thighs and under my dress, but I grab his hand to stop him.
Jerking away from the kiss, I mutter breathlessly, “I can’t do this. We need to stop.” I drop my head and remove myself from his lap, sliding back over to my side of the seat.
His brow is furrowed, his expression confused. “What the fuck, Cayden?” He questions in a deep voice.
“Damn it, Brody! It’s just what I said, we can’t do this.” I can see the disappointment on his face.
“Never been a problem before,” He states.
“Yeah, well, that was before.” Before I started chasing after a guy that constantly pushes me away, making me want him more and more.
“Yeah, right…before. Before you left for college and left your friends in the dust,” Brody raises his voice.
“What the hell! Brody, you act like you didn’t leave. I have news for you, you did. We were nothin’ but friends with benefits. Not a couple, or don’t you remember?” He knows full well that we both were never interested in relationships, only fun. The thunder is rolling above us and the lightning is flashing brightly. This rainstorm reflects the tension in the truck.
Brody pops the steering wheel with his hand. “Shit, Cayden!”
My body jumps involuntarily, startled by his reaction. “Take me home, Brody!” I yell. No way am I doing this right now.
“My pleasure!” Brody turns the key in the ignition, puts the truck in drive, and we begin our way back to the house.
It doesn’t take long to get home with the way he’s moving down the road. We pull up and I barely let Brody put the truck in park before I’m opening my door.
“Cayden, wait!”
Not gonna happen. He has pissed me off. “No, Brody!” I jump out of the truck and slam the door shut, refusing to give him time to say anything else. Fuck! That was a great homecoming. I make my way to the front porch and peer over my shoulder to watch Brody drive away.
I shut the front door behind me and walk into the kitchen. "Hey, Momma." She’s sitting at the table, her eyes watching me closely. I’d know that look anywhere. She’s curious.
"Hey, honey. How was Brody?" She studies me over the rim of her coffee cup.
"Uh…he's good." My brows pull down tightly. I open the refrigerator and grab a bottle of water to give myself a moment. "We just hung out, Momma. That's it." I join her at the table.
She shrugs. "I'm not the one you should be telling that to."
"I don't think I need to explain it to anyone." I take the lid off my water and take a drink of the cold liquid.
"You didn't see Zac’s face when we told him you weren’t here, Cayden," Momma says.
“Zac doesn't want me, so what does it matter?" My eyes bore into hers. I don't get it. Why do I have to explain anything to him when he's the one that keeps pushing me away?
"When the boys got here, he was so excited to see you. The first thing he said was ‘Where’s Cayden?’ You may think he doesn't want you, but you're wrong," Momma explains.
I stand from the table with a huff. “Night, Momma.” I turn and walk out of the kitchen. As I make my way up the stairs to my room, I start to think about Zac and the fact that I’ve been chasing him for the past year. All he ever does is give me shit or follows up with a smartass remark. The more I think about it, the more my frustration with this whole day starts to bubble to the surface. When I reach my room, all I can do is slam my door shut and go to bed.