I collapsed on Brody’s chest, his heart racing right alongside mine. We were exhausted but it had been worth getting to that point. The sheets were gathered around my waist, covering us from my hips down, and the pillows were strewn across the room. The last streaks of sunlight shone across his muscular stomach, making him look like a God, basked in eternal sunlight. I looked up, resting my chin between his pectoral muscles, and found his half-lidded gaze fixed on me.
His dirty blonde hair was a mess, sticking up in every direction. He looked so damn sexy that way. I smiled and he wiped my hair from my sweaty forehead. “What?” I asked with a light, breathless giggle. Brody’s mouth tipped up into a lazy grin that made my insides do flip-flops. Not that it took much from him to solicit that response, or any response for that matter, from my body. He knew what got me going and that grin just happened to be one of those things.
“That was…incredible,” he murmured. “That thing you did with your hips was new.” I blushed and bit my lip. “I might have to do it again when you’re misbehavin’.”
“I might let you,” he sighed, looking content. “You look gorgeous like this.” His voice had that rich timber to it that made women want to rip off their own underwear and throw it at him. It made my insides quiver and I tried hard not to squeeze my thighs together in anticipation. He was still buried in deep and if I had to squeeze anything he’d be ready to go again. I needed rest so there was no need for me to stir the beast a fourth time.
I scrunched my nose. “I look gorgeous sweaty and out of breath?”
He chuckled and the vibrations bounced between us before crash landing at the spot where we were still connected. “Especially when you’re sweaty and out of breath.”
I slapped his chest playfully and he caught my wrist. “You just like getting me this way,” I said. “You’re a caveman.”
His lips brushed my pulse and my breath stuttered. I felt him stir between my legs and the sensations made me squirm.
“Only with you, baby,” he whispered. He licked his lips and without warning sat upright. His arms wrapped around my back and he shifted me forward so that we stayed joined. I felt him harden.
“Again?” I asked. I shouldn’t have been surprised though. Brody had more stamina than a raging Bull during mating season. He knew how to take pleasure from my body and he knew how to give it. The man was a talent in the sack and he knew it. He was also all mine.
Brody watched me intently, his brown eyes searching my face. Suddenly I wondered if he’d somehow figured out my secret. But how? I’d only found out earlier today and had every intention of telling him my news. Well, our news. But that was before he attacked me and took me to bed. Not that I was complaining. I liked where we were, the way our bodies were positioned as if they were made for the other.
Brody’s voice came quietly, but I had no trouble hearing him. “I need to tell you something.”
I swallowed hard. Oh God, I thought. He knows. He’s going to leave me.
“O-okay,” I stuttered, blood rushing to my ears.
“I got a call today.” Oh crap, someone from the doctor’s office called him and told him I’m – “I got a job offer in Chicago.”
I started apologizing before what he said registered. “I’m so sorry Brody, I should’ve – wait, what? You got a call from Chicago?”
My body sagged. At least now I would be the one to tell him, instead of having to hear from a nurse at the hospital.
“The C.E.O of Johnson Waterman called me. A job opened up in their agency and they’re offering it to me.”
Johnson Waterman was one of the biggest and most successful sports recruitment agencies in the United States. Brody had been waiting for this opportunity since graduating two years before and now that it was in front of him, I had no idea how to respond. Of course my nerves had everything to do with what I had to tell him since it could very well change everything, not only for him, but for both of us together.
“That’s amazing, Brody,” I said with a half smile. The look in his brown eyes told me he wasn’t buying it. I never did have a good poker face. Then again, neither did Brody. Everything started to click into place and I realized that Brody had used sex to butter me up for this. That’s why he had been so impatient when I got home.
He opened his mouth to speak but I beat him to it. “Is that why you were so eager to get me into bed?” My half-smile faltered when he hesitated and looked down. I tried to pull away but he wouldn’t have it and tightened his grip.
“Will you listen to me, please?” he pleaded softly. He was patronizing me and I hated it. It was supposed to be a good day for us but I couldn’t help but feel my excitement fade. I should’ve told him, I chastise myself internally. Then maybe we’d be having an entirely different conversation.
“This is a big opportunity for me,” he started, “for us. Think about the life we can have in Chicago. Just you and me.” I wanted to add and our baby but it wasn’t exactly how I had envisioned telling him I was pregnant. Surprise.
I stared at him, unable to reconcile the man in front of me with the man whose baby I was carrying. I wanted a family with Brody more than anything, but I wanted to stay here in Breckinridge.
“I can’t leave now, Brody. Graduation is less than a month away and I’ve already accepted the job at Breckinridge Elementary next year.”
“Then you come to Chicago after Graduation and we can find you a job at a school there. Or even better, you don’t have to work.”
I shook my head. “No.” I shoved at his chest and his grip finally loosened enough for me to get off his lap. I winced, feeling a little a sensitive between my legs, and grabbed a sheet to wrap myself in. Brody was sitting buck ass naked in the middle of my King-size bed and I hardly noticed. I was too preoccupied with how he’d planned out our entire lives without talking to me about it.
“I don’t understand what the big deal is, Demetria. This has been my dream and - ”
“Don’t you dare,” I interrupted, pointing my finger at him from across the room. “You know how I feel about leaving here and still, you make this big decision for both of us without talking to me about it first.”
Brody climbed off the bed and slipped his jeans on, not bothering to button them up.
“I’m talking to you about it now aren’t I?”
I snorted. “Yes, after we had sex three times and after you’d already made the decision without me. How does that seem fair?”
Brody threw his arms up, clearly as exasperated with me as I was with him. “Fair? You want to talk about fair? What about the fact that I’m miserable here, but I suck it up to make you happy? What about my dreams huh? Do you think I want to be stuck here for the rest of my life?”
I froze and my eyes widened. His words hit me like a bulldozer and I struggled to inhale oxygen into my lungs. Brody saw the shock on my face and stepped closer but I put my hand up to stop him. I hugged the sheet closer to me, as if it would somehow make the hurt pounding in my chest go away.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he said loudly. My eyes traveled over his face, taking in the roguish features that had become so familiar to me. He might’ve been all man now, but in his eyes I saw the little boy I’d loved all my life.