What the fuck was I doing? I was unwinding the calm between us and driving us back to her being defensive and me being back on the chase. It had been three days. Three days and she was softening. I wanted her to open up to me, but for some reason, it felt like sex would be the end of things, not the beginning. Was I refusing sex with her? No fucking way.
"A night?" She moved back another step and wrapped her arms around herself. Hurt brushed across her features, but she seemed to be working to hide it from me. "Anyway, I guess the ambiance and the music made me think... You know what, never mind. It was stupid."
She turned and I reached for her, but she wasn't having any of it, anymore. I walked behind her until we made it to the restaurant and stopped beside the bikes.
"I think I'm going to walk. Thanks for dinner. It was great." She gave me a half wave and turned, walking across the street without waiting on a reply from me at all.
"What the fuck just happened?" I pressed my hands to my face and let out a low growl before walking back out on the sandy shore of the lake and sighing loudly.
How the hell had we gone from having a great dinner to her leaving before I even got a kiss in or learned anything more about her?
Had she wanted sex? Just sex? Was she like every other woman around here?
"Fuck this life," I mumbled and stared out at the water, unsure of what to do, but too mentally fried to figure it out.
Chapter 18
Three Days Later
Brody
I pressed my arms to the railing on the deck and turned my head to give Clay a look. He'd been after me to talk about what happened between me and Cora since Wednesday, but I didn't have anything to say.
"Dude, I fucked up. Okay? Lay the fuck off of me over it. I'm not telling you again." I stood up and pushed my chest out a little, warning him that I was done talking and ready to hand out an ass-whooping to the next idiot that brought her up.
"You can blow up to someone else, Brody. I'm your best friend, and we've been watching you mope around this fucking cabin for three days. At least tell me why?" He moved up closer, pressing his chest to mine.
"There's nothing to say." I pushed him back as I deflated. "I like her, okay? I can't remember another time liking someone this much. I want to know what her favorite candy is and where she likes to read books or shop for panties or...ugh. I like her, shit."
"That's great news. Why are you so damned depressed?" He patted my back as I leaned back over. "Hell, why is she so depressed? What did you do on Wednesday? Something got fucked up. What was it?"
I pressed my face into my hands and growled. "I know. Fuck. I know."
"What?" He moved up beside me and pressed his shoulder against mine. "Stop being a dick and just talk to me."
I glanced over at him. "I need to leave it alone, Clay. I know you think I should make amends and fix this thing with her, but I'm pretty sure she's the kind of girl that could have me swearing off all others. I don't want that right now, and I'm telling you, she deserves far better than me."
"Did you guys fuck?" He turned and glanced out toward the lake.
"No, but she wanted to. Or I think she did." I stood up and rubbed my chest just over my heart. The dull ache inside of me wouldn't seem to go away. "Maybe I need to find some other chick and just lose myself in the carnality of sex for the afternoon."
"I think you should fix this shit, but then again, I'm a different kind of guy than you are. I like long-term. Being with one woman feels good—right." He shrugged. "If you need a fuck-fest to get you past this depression shit, then get to it. It's almost the Fourth of July and we're going to have fun—together, which means Cora will be there. I'm not choosing between you and Emily. That's not happening, and as selfish as you've been our whole fucking lives, you own me this shit."
"You're right." I stood up and pulled my phone from my pocket. "I'll hook up with some hot piece of ass this afternoon and get my mojo back. Cora's a great girl, but I bit off more than I could chew, Clay. She's like the catch of all catches. I'm not grown up enough for that shit yet."
"I agree." He patted my back and went into the house, leaving me with my tarnished thoughts. I should have just taken her back to the house and made love to her all night, given her anything she wanted, but I couldn't.
I wouldn't have been able to sneak out before the sun came up and ignore her for the rest of the summer. How she'd gone from ignoring me and talking trash to wanting to be close to me so quickly was almost stifling. Had her friends convinced her that I was a better man than I was? Fuck, had my friends helped to convince her? Someone had because her change of heart was almost overnight.
"Help!" an attractive girl yelled from across the street, her face a mask of terror as she waved her arms at me and turned to dive into the water.
"Shit." I jumped over the railing and ran to the water to see what she was screaming about. A kayak was sitting a little ways into the lake, but it was turned upside down. She was swimming furiously toward it, but not getting there fast. I raced down the dock and dove in, swimming hard until I reached it and forced it over with all of my strength.
The little boy in the thing couldn't have been more than ten years old. He took in a deep breath as I reached over and rubbed his chest.
"It's okay, buddy. You're okay. You good?"
He glanced over at me as he bit his lip, fighting back tears like I would have done, as well. He nodded, and I moved back as the woman reached