Fireworks: A Holiday Bad Boy Romance (9 page)

"God, you're hot. The sexiest thing
in this whole damn town." Dina moved across the bench seat and worked on
my jeans as I reclined the seat and let out a long breath.

"You're not too bad yourself,
baby." I brushed her hair back as she laid down and tugged my cock free.
It was going to take some effort to get it back up after having Cora douse my
arousal in her third denial of me. I wasn't even asking for anything more than
a conversation.

I groaned as Dina sucked me deep into her
mouth, her hands working where her mouth didn't touch. My fingers tangled into
her hair as I leaned back and closed my eyes. I forced myself to stay in the
present and not imagine her to be anyone but who she was.

"Come, Brody." She glanced up as
I opened my eyes and nodded.

"Suck harder and I will, baby."
I reached down and ran my hand up the back of her leg, playing with the bottom
curve of her ass.

"I wanna taste you," she mumbled
and went back to work, letting her aggression out on me. I couldn't reach the
edge or even come close. She was getting frustrated, as was I. The last thing I
needed was her mouthing off about me not being able to release to the whole
damn town, and she seemed like the kind of girl who would do it.

I closed my eyes and imagined Cora on her
knees, her chestnut locks in my hand, her mouth filled with me as she looked up
and nodded, wanting more of me inside of her.

My thighs tightened as my breath caught.
"You want it?" I whispered. "Tell me you want it."

She pulled off of me, licking and sucking
at the head of my cock as she whispered the words I needed to hear. "I
want you."

Not it. You.

A cry ripped from my chest as my body
convulsed. It had been too long since I'd experienced such a high, and I knew
without a doubt that it would only drive me to demand to experience it again.
But this time, I wanted the reality, not the fantasy.

I wanted to keep my eyes open.

Chapter 10

Cora

I spent most of Saturday recovering from
the hangover I got Friday night. Brody's friends had joined us for a little
while, but gone back to the party when they realized that we were headed for
pajamas and a bottle of wine, not hot sex in the back of a truck.

I couldn't help but think they were like
him more than they knew. All of them except Daniel. He was different and not in
a way that was too thrilling to think about.

"What are you thinking about?"
Dedra dropped down next to me as she worked to get her sandals on.

"That yesterday was a waste because
of all that liquor I drank." I curled up on my side, pulling my feet away
to give her more room. "Are you really going to find a church?"

"I think laying around yesterday was
good for us, and yeah...my grandmother would roll over in her grave if I missed
church. You should come with me." She popped my thigh and smiled.
"You could ask for forgiveness for all those naughty thoughts you've been
having about Brody."

"I have not." I pulled my
blanket up to just under my chin. "He's a man whore."

"Yep, and like any other woman in
this place, I'd pay for him for a night." She laughed and got up.

"Now who needs to ask for
forgiveness?" I pushed at her with my foot as I smiled.

"I'm not denying it." She
shrugged and grabbed the keys to my BMW. "Can I?"

"Of course." I glanced over
toward the kitchen as Cindy walked out.

"When will you be back from church? I
was hoping we could go do some shopping today. We could eat at that bistro that
we went to the first day we got in. Cora and Emily would love it."

Dedra nodded before walking toward the
door. "I'll be back around twelve. Be ready to go, and we'll eat and shop
our afternoon away. Sounds like fun."

Cindy tugged at my foot as the front door
closed behind Dedra. "You want some bacon and eggs?"

"I do, but I hate the idea of you
cooking." I sat up and stretched. "Where is Emily?"

"She stayed the night with Clay last
night. You passed out early." Cindy shrugged and sat down beside me.

"What?" I grabbed my phone and
called her. "Is she okay?"

"Yes. What's up with you?" Cindy
laughed and got up. "Come in the kitchen for breakfast after you're done
playing mother to your fully grown best friend."

Emily's voice filled the line. "Hey.
I'm coming home soon. Just making breakfast for the boys."

"You hate to cook." I couldn't
keep the jealousy out of my voice. Watching Brody leave with the dark-haired
supermodel on Friday night had me in knots. I didn't even know the guy, but the
fact that he was going to be part of my life for the next few months thanks to
our friends hooking up left me confused and pissy.

"I don't mind so much. None of them
were cooking." She yawned and giggled. "Stop it, Clay."

"Hey, I'm on the phone still. No
grossing me out." I got up and walked to the kitchen, hating how badly I
wanted to ask her if Brody was there.

"Sorry. What are we doing today? The
guys want to get together tonight, I think."

"We're going to lunch and shopping.
We'll talk about all that jazz when we see you. Be here by noon." I got a
glass from the counter and turned to find Cindy watching me.

"Alright. See you soon."

I dropped the call and sat the phone down.
"What?"

"You know what." She put her
hands on her hips. "You like him."

"Daniel? He's alright, but I'm not
attracted to him. He's too studious." I shrugged and walked to the fridge,
pulling out a gallon of orange juice and pouring me a glass.

"Okay. We've been friends for forever
and you're going to stand here and lie to my face?" I could hear the hurt
in her voice. She was my most sensitive friend by far.

"Fine. I don't like him at all, but
I'm insanely attracted to him. Okay?" I turned to face her and lifted my
juice to my lips. "The fact that he took his
cousin
home on Friday is still bothering me. But..." I shook
my head to stop her from getting excited, which was exactly where she was
headed. "He's a user. I'm not getting involved."

"Not even for a night?" She
leaned against the kitchen counter.

"What? No. Who would survive that? He
would be
that
dude." I took
another drink of my orange juice and staved off the images that continued to
push through my mind's eye. I couldn't stop myself from seeing the way he
looked on the dock a few mornings before. I'd licked water from his abs ten
times in my mind over the last day.

"What dude?" She pulled a few
things from the fridge as she turned her attention back on me.

"The guy you compare everyone
to." I sighed and sat my juice down. "He's a playboy, Cindy. That
means he's probably a terrific lay. Not many guys care to be a great lay. So
then, for the rest of my life, I'm going to be settling for the okay lay when
I've had the terrific one?"

"You should hear how ridiculous you
sound." She laughed and turned toward the stove. "I look at it like
the opportunity to have a terrific lay. I've been with a lot of guys. Good or
bad, in between, and I'm telling you, the terrific ones in the sack were worth
every ounce of heartache afterward."

"I doubt that." I grabbed a
banana and walked to the front door. "I'm going to sit out on the porch
for a little while. Come get me if you need me."

"You still want breakfast,
right?"

"Yeah, if you're cooking it, but if
not, no worries, really." I opened the door and walked out to the patio.
The sun was shining in the far end of the sky, and boats were already covering
a large portion of the lake. A part of me wanted to get the keys to ours and
disappear for a few hours. I wasn't on summer vacation to fall in love. It
wasn't part of the plan. Though, there was a slight chance that it would
happen, if it did, Brody was exactly the type of guy it would happen with.

He was a Brandon, and for that reason
alone, I was going to fight like hell to ignore his advances.

Now, I just had to stay sober enough
around him not to make any advances of my own.

Easy. Sort of.

*

"Let's go." Dedra shook my
shoulder, pulling me from the sleepy state I sat in on the porch after
breakfast. After eating more than I should have, I'd gone back outside to rest
and think through all the reasons why liking Daniel rather than Brody would be
a better option for me. The chances of anything physically happening between us
were out, since he wasn't at all my time. And the best part? If Brody thought
his friend was interested in me, then there was no way he was dick enough to
step in Daniel's way. Right?

"Where are we going?" I shaded
my eyes as I glanced up at Dedra, half expecting to find her still in her
Sunday best.

"Shopping. Emily and Cindy are
already in the car. Get up, missy." She readjusted her sunglasses and
pulled off her hat.

"Alright. I'm coming." I sat up
and let out a long yawn before walking to the house to find some sandals. My
shorts and t-shirt were cute enough to keep up with my friends’ clothing
choices for the day, and seeing that I was working to repel most men rather
than draw them in, I was good. I'd dress up as soon as I found a good reason
that wasn't Brody.

"Hey, sleepyhead." Emily reached
over and squeezed my arm as I got into the driver’s seat.

"Hey." I rolled my shoulders.
"How was spending the night with Clay? Were the other guys good to
you?"

"Just ask." She gave me a
sideways glance as Cindy chuckled in the backseat.

Dedra got in as I started in on them.

"Just ask what? I'm not interested in
him. Okay?" I turned a hard gaze onto Emily, and then turned to make sure
Cindy saw it, too. "Not. Interested."

"Okay. Okay. Put your teeth back in
your head, Cujo." Emily lifted her hands and laughed. "They were all
good to me, Brody included. He's hilarious when you get to know him a
little."

"Excellent. Glad you had fun." I
pulled the car out of the driveway and ignored the need to scream at her. I
needed to get myself together. I wasn't at all the type of person that would
attack my friends due to something internally that I was wrestling with. It
wasn't their fault that the center of my wet dreams was a demanding asshole who
wasn't going to let up until I gave in.

Or
maybe he would?

I couldn't help but remember how quickly
he'd moved from giving me attention to ignoring me on Friday night. It almost
seemed worse that he would pretend that I wasn't there at all. It was part of
his game, and he was damn good at it, but I could play a few games of my own.

Stop
it. Shit.

"So, here's what I'm thinking,"
Cindy began, leaning up into the front seat a little as I drove toward town,
"You need to find a cute guy that's not Brody and get laid. Your mood has
gone from good to worse to sucky. We're going to throw your pretty ass in the
lake if you don't stop being crabby."

I laughed, unable to help myself. Emily
was usually the one to set me straight and threaten my life, but never Cindy.
She was too sweet and motherly for that.

"Wow." Dedra chuckled.
"That's what I'm talking about. Let's get our girl laid by a non-Brody
stud and we'll be back on track."

"Alright. Thanks for the offer, but I
can rein myself in. No need to pimp me out." I shook my head and pointed
to a café across the street. "That looks good. You guys wanna try that
one?"

"Absolutely. The quiche is fantastic
there and there are ten different ones to try." Cindy's voice lightened a
little as she sat back. "Drop me and D off at the door, and we'll go grab
a table. It gets crazy packed. You can park just about anywhere you find a
spot."

"Alright, sounds good." I
glanced over at Emily, who was smirking at me over Cindy, verbally popping me
no doubt. To see our friend out of her shell a little was almost worth my
mini-ass chewing.

I dropped them off and pulled into a spot
near the water before turning to face my best friend.

"I'm sorry. Forgive me?" I
reached over and squeezed her hand.

"What? Are you kidding me?" She
tugged her hand away. "I've known you most of my life. You don't have to
apologize. I know you're interested in Brody, and I know that having any desire
toward him scares the hell out of you. I was there when that shit went down with
Brandon, remember?"

"Yeah." I pulled my hand back
and turned the car off, but didn't move to get out. "He's so damn hot. I
can't stop thinking about him, and yet...there is no way in all the realms of
hell that I'm letting him near me. I don't need the drama in my life, Emily."

"I agree. He's not the kind of guy
that settles down, from what I can tell. The guys teased the heck out of him
last night for screwing the whole damn city." She reached for her door
handle. "But, I will say this..."

"No, don't say it," I chuckled
and got out of the car, breathing in deeply and letting my eyes scan the faces
around us. As much as I prayed that I wouldn't run into him again soon, I sure
was looking for him to pop up.

"Yes, I am." She walked around
the car and looped her arm into mine, tugging me toward the bistro. "He's
a funny guy. I think there is more beneath the surface than he's willing to
show in front of his friends. You know how guys are."

"This isn't about how he acts with
his friends." I glanced down at her as I worked to pull my hair from my
face with my free hand. "It's about him sleeping around. I don't care if
he's cocky. I actually prefer cocky, confident meat-heads. It's that he's the
exact kind of guy that would be found sleeping around, no matter what commitment
he promised to make and keep."

"You're looking for a fling, though.”

"I'm done talking about this." I
pulled my arm from hers, once again fighting the need to turn into a bitch.
"I love you like crazy, and I'm stoked that you and Clay might have
started something, but I'm not considering Brody for anything more than what he
is. A good-looking guy who's part of the friend group that I'm going to be
around this summer. Nothing more."

"Alright. Suit yourself." She
shrugged and held the door open for me. "I guess I won't tell you how many
questions he peppered me with last night."

"Questions about what?" I walked
in as my chest constricted.

Don't
say questions about me. Don't say-

"Questions about you." She
walked by me and shrugged as I stopped dead in my tracks. "You might not
be interested, but I can tell you one thing for damn sure: he is."