Fireworks: A Holiday Bad Boy Romance (19 page)

We got close enough for me to see the
blonde in his lap, and they were laughing, but not making out from what I could
tell. Obviously, I'd missed that part. He glanced my way and his eyes widened.

"Good day for boating." I smiled
and tilted my head to the side.

He stood, almost dropping the poor tramp
on the floor. "Hey. Cora. How are you?"

"I've never been better. Where is the
rest of the group? We were thinking about skinny dipping tonight." I
pulled my glasses off my face and kept my expression friendly. "I see
you're busy, but can you give them the message? We just wanted to have a bit of
risqué fun before the big event on Monday night."

"Skinny dipping?" The girl
beside him moved up to his side and put her arm around him. "I wanna
go."

He ignored her. "I'll be there. We'll
all be there. What time?"

"Around ten? Bring your friend,
too." I waved at her. "I'm Cora. Brody's little sister."

His expression turned sour as he shook his
head. "Alright. Keep it up."

"Seems you have no problem keeping it
up yourself." I chuckled as if we were old friends. "See you later,
playboy."

I turned and dropped down into the seat
beneath me as my heart contracted painfully.

"What the fuck was that?" Dedra
turned to me, whispering roughly.

"I don't know." I shrugged.
"But you guys have to go skinny dipping now."

"So do you." Emily pressed her
arms to her legs as she leaned toward me. "And, you know he's coming
now."

"No, he's not." I glanced up at
her. "And no, I don't. I'm not going anywhere near him."

"Then, he wins." Cindy pulled
off her hat and started the boat.

"Fuck. Fine." I glanced back
over my shoulder to watch him watching me intently. "He's not winning.
I'll go."

"Of course, you'll go." Dedra
patted my leg. "It was your damn idea, anyway. Crazy girl."

Chapter 20

Brody

Skinny
dipping? Shit.

"So, what time are we meeting up with
your sister tonight?" Veronica squeezed my middle as she held on tightly
to me.

"I'll let you know later." I
unwrapped her arms from me and took her hand. "Come on, let's get you off
the boat and let me go find my friends. I'm sure I'm going to get an ass-chewing
for not being there when the game started."

"Sounds good. I can play if you guys
need me to." She gave me a warm smile as my stomach sank. I didn't want
her touching me, or hanging around me, or anything. I wanted Cora. I'd wanted
Cora since first laying eyes on her. Just the thought of pressing my lips to
hers drove me toward need like I couldn't remember experiencing before.

Why though? What was it about her? Was she
really so different than every other girl I'd tried to get in bed? Was I trying
to get her in bed? If so, I'd fucked that up royally a few days back.

"Come on. We'll see if they need
extra players." I pulled out my phone and wrapped my other arm around me
to ensure that Veronica wouldn't grab it. We weren't together, nor would we be.
I had no doubt that Cora would have assumed that I was trying to seduce the
girl beside me, but it was just another strike in my corner.

I texted the guys to let them know that I
was headed their way and that they needed to help me get rid of my new tag-along.

"Veronica?" a girl called out
and waved wildly.

"Tanya?" She turned to me.
"Oh my God. Come meet my old friend from high school."

"No, you go ahead. I'll see you in a
little bit." I smiled, grateful for the chance to slip away without
hurting her feelings.

Since
when the fuck do I care about anyone's feelings?

"Oh-okay. Or just wait here and I'll
be right back." She left me there as if I was going to wait for her
return.

"Right," I mumbled and walked
toward the volleyball courts. The guys were knee deep in a game with another
group of guys, but called me in the minute I walked up. I dropped my phone into
my back pocket and moved onto the make-shift court.

"We're going skinny-dipping with the
girls tonight. About time we got to see some tit. Jeez. How long have you guys
been working this group? A week?" I moved into place and ignored the looks
I got.

"We are not going
skinny-dipping." Clay glanced back at me. "Who told you that, or are
you back to being your dickish self?"

"Well, there is that, but Cora and
the girls came by the boat while I was dropping the anchor and shit."

"You mean while you were making out
with that hot blonde?" Derek chuckled. "You're depravity knows no
bounds, my friend."

"Right. Fuck you, too." I winked
at him and turned to spike the ball. "We're meeting them at 10. One of you
in a committed relationship can text and ask them where. I've yet to get the
girl's number...remember?"

"First time for everything,
right?" Daniel glanced back at me. "Stop mulling over seeing Cora naked
and help us win this game."

"I'm not the one sporting a
boner." I laughed as Daniel glanced down toward his shorts as if checking
to see if he had an erection. The ball hit the side of his head and knocked him
back.

"Dick." He looked over at me
with a smirk on his mouth. "I'm going to get you for that."

"What? No fucking way. You've never
threatened retaliation. Is this a new man I see coming into the light?" I
could feel my emotions settling.

Cora wanted me.

Her request to go skinny-dipping was a bitch
move. It was something I would have done if I wanted her attention. If I wanted
to drag her out to the lake and then deny her. I had no clue what the night
held for us, but I was all in. I owed her an apology regardless if things were
going to go anywhere with us.

The tension between us had gone from hot
and palpable to uncomfortable. Time to right at least that much.

*

"Did you grab the marshmallows?"
Clay dropped down in the sand near the lake and worked on the fire Derek had
started. It was just a small flame at that point, but we would have it roaring
within a few minutes.

The girls had decided to meet us just
after nine across the lake where not too many people went that late at night.
We'd offered to pick them up in our boat, but they wanted to drive their own,
so we grabbed the stuff that would be needed for a weenie roast and got our
asses over there. Each of us seemed to want to make the night perfect for the
others.

"Yeah." I bent over and pulled
them out of the bag, wagging them around. "You alright?"

"Me?" Clay stood up and dusted
his hands against his shorts. "Yeah, just a little concerned over how this
night is going to go. Emily and I have been avoiding the discussion over you
guys, and I'm sure it's coming."

"What?" I smirked, knowing
exactly who he was talking about.

"Right." He turned to face me.
"What's going on, anyway? Anything happen since the date night that went
belly up thanks to you being a dick?"

"No, dude." I pressed my hands
to my hips. "And, I wasn't being a dick. I was trying to be a good guy for
the first time in my life. It worked out really well for me. See if I do that
shit again."

"I really like this girl, Brody. I'd
rather you not fuck it up for me." He walked past me, popping me in the
stomach with his hand.

"What? That makes no sense, at
all." I turned to follow him, tired of him acting like I was the only
jackass in the house. "The only one that's going to fuck things up is you,
when you pull out your miniature cock and scare her."

Clay turned and moved toward me
aggressively. "She likes my cock, so you shut the fuck up."

"Whoa...what the hell?" Daniel
moved in between us as Clay lifted his fist. I was almost looking forward to
putting a hurting on him. It would have felt good for both of us to release
some of the tension we had in our lives. Funny how it wasn't really related to
the other and yet we were going to act like it was. We'd been doing the same
song and dance our whole lives. It was one of the many reasons why we were best
friends.

"What's up?" Derek jogged toward
us as I backed up.

"Nothing. We're just tense." I
turned to Clay. "Sorry, dude. I'm not going to fuck anything up,
alright?"

"Wow." Daniel laughed. "Who
are you, and where is our friend? What have you done with him?"

I smirked. "Maybe I'm growing up.
Nawww...just not in the mood to explain to the girls why Clay is missing a
tooth."

"Just be cool tonight, alright? Don't
upset anyone. Can you do that?" Clay barked at me, still pissy over
something, but I wasn't going to dig to find out what it was. He could figure
that shit out on his own.

"Yep." I turned and walked back
toward the fire as I rubbed my chest and watched the flames dance in front of
me. I could be completely chill, or so I hoped.

The sound of another boat approaching
caused my stomach to tighten as nervousness blasted through me. I glanced down
the length of my body, brushing off the sand I'd gotten on me and making sure I
looked as good as I could.

The girls’ laughter lifted in the air, and
I could pick out the sound of Cora as if she were standing beside me. I turned
to watch Derek help her out of the boat and couldn't help but groan. One week.
It had been a little over one week, and I could feel myself changing. Why? And,
how the fuck did I stop it?

Her eyes met mine, and a cocky smile
lifted her lips. One stained my face, as well.

"Don't you look like you're up to
something over here?" She walked toward me, and I was grateful that
everyone else stayed near the boats for a few minutes. Her white dress looked
amazing on her in the firelight, and with her hair down and playing along her
shoulders, I could have sworn she was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen.

"I'm always up to something. I'm the
black sheep, remember?" I gave her a cheeky grin.

"Where's your friend?" She glanced
around as if she really had expected me to bring Veronica.

"I don't have many friends." I
moved around the fire to stand beside her. "That girl just needed a ride
to the island. Nothing more."

"Right." She glanced over and
smiled at me, not showing a hint of jealousy or being upset. "And, the
ride including sitting in the captain's lap?"

I lifted my eyebrow at her. "Don't
all rides?"

"Not the ones I've been on." She
chuckled, and I was surprised by her calmness. Was she upset over Veronica, or
did my dealings with other women really not matter to her?

"You've been tricked." I licked
at my lips as my pulse spiked. The smell of her perfume rolled over in as the
breeze picked up. Vanilla. Clean. Delicious.

"Clearly." She smirked.

"You look good. Really good." I
let my eyes run around her face, taking in the intensity in her warm brown
eyes.

"Thanks." Her eyes moved down to
my arm, and she turned, pressing her hands to my shoulder. "What's this
tattoo mean? I meant to ask the last time we were together."

I pulled up the sleeve of my white shirt
and glanced down at it. "It's a symbol of brotherhood. It's the sign my
fraternity back at Arizona State uses."

"I like it." She brushed her
fingers by it and smiled before stepping back and breathing in deeply. "It
feels great out here tonight."

"Cora. About the other night." I
turned as she lifted her hand.

"No. It's good. I came onto you and
overstepped our friendship boundaries. It's okay. Really. It's better that
we're just friends. Sleeping together and me breaking your heart after a good
night of fucking would leave the rest of the summer a shitty mess." She
smiled as if she were good—right as rain.

"You breaking my heart?" I
reached out and took her hand before lifting it to my face and kissing her
palm. "Actually...that's probably exactly what would have happened."

She pulled her hand back slowly.
"Then we'll just have a good time acting like fools while the rest of our
friends pretend to have found everlasting love."

I glanced over at the rest of the group who
had split off into couples. Couples that looked happy. Thrilled, even.

"I didn't take you to bed because I
wanted to be the good guy for once. That shit blew up in my face. It won't
happen again." I licked at my lips and bent down, picking up the sticks
for the weenie roast.

"You won't be the good guy with
another woman?" She moved closer and pulled out the hot dogs.

"No, I won't be the good guy with you
again if I get another chance." I pulled a few more things out of the bags
before turning to glance up at her. "I just didn't want you to think I was
another Brandon, or whatever dude's name was."

"But you are." She smirked and
took a few sticks from me before walking toward our friends. "Get over
here, you weenies, and claim your...weenie?"

I stood up, ignoring her comment and
trying to figure out how the fuck I was going to get fully back into her good
graces. My emotions were all over the place and I felt like I might need meds
to keep myself on an even-kilter. The warring desire to grab her and force her
to acknowledge that the tension between us was still very much there was almost
overwhelming. I wanted to be the good guy, and yet... I wasn't sure I could.

"Claim your weenie? Sounds like a fun
game we could play in the water later tonight." Dedra laughed as she
walked up and took a stick from Cora. Her eyes moved toward me, and I gave her
a smile.

"You look very pretty tonight,
Dee." I walked around the fire and took a stick from Cora before offering
everyone a hot dog and helping thread them onto the sticks for Cindy and Dee.

"You think so?" She turned
around in a circle showing off her long legs and shapely arms.

"Absolutely. Do you play ball?"
I asked and moved up next to Cora as we started to roast the hot dogs.

"I do. I'm captain of the team back
at Arizona State." She smiled.

"No, you're not. How could I have
missed that?" I lifted my eyebrow, trying to think through if I'd seen her
before. I mostly stuck to the soccer fields with Clay, but I'd been to a few girls’
basketball games over the years.

"She looks a tad bit different with
her hair back and all sweaty in her jersey." Cindy laughed and moved
closer to Derek.

It was once again odd being the only one
around the circle without a girl tucked up to my side. I was almost grateful
that Daniel was too much of a puss to move closer to Dee. Otherwise it would
have been incredibly uncomfortable.

"She's the best of the best."
Cora pulled her stick back from the fire and blew on her hot dog.

"I like the way you blow on that
weenie." I couldn't help myself.