"Stop it." I swatted at him, hitting him in the chest, and realizing how firm he was. Great.
"Come on, Cora. You don't even know me. Stop acting like you do." He reached out and grabbed my hand, jerking me back before I walked into oncoming traffic.
I pulled my hand from his and let out a soft sigh. "I know plenty of guys like you. You get used to recognizing them when they're all you've dated."
"Awww, come on now. I'm a new face and a new opportunity to have a little bit of fun." He started across the road, keeping his hands to himself, which surprised me.
"Your definition of fun doesn't match up to mine, at all." I kept my eyes on the people in front of us, not willing to give him an inch.
"I highly doubt that." He touched the small of my back as we hopped up on onto the sidewalk across the street. It felt silly to slap him away, and within a second, his hand was off of me.
The wind picked up and blew my hair about as his cologne drove into me, leaving my heart racing.
No. He's a total asshole. A user. Just like Brandon.
That thought alone doused any desire I had completely.
He cleared his throat. "I can see you're not going to make this easy."
We stopped across the street from the mansion, waiting on the light to turn.
"Make what easy?" I glanced over at him. "Please do explain yourself."
He smirked. "Make getting to know you easy."
"You don't need to know me, Brody. I'm not your type of girl, nor are any of my friends. We respect ourselves more than that." I shrugged and darted out through the traffic, hoping to lose him. I wasn't interested in conversing with him for another minute. I was strong in my resolve, but even I had a breaking point. If he batted his damn eyelashes at me once, I would melt like butter.
He was far too sexy to chance it. I just prayed that my friends would find his friends complete duds. The last thing I needed was my girls wanting to hang out with his guys. That would leave me with one thing to do: get to know him.
*
"What the fuck was that all about?" Emily got in my face as I stood by the drink table in the center of the large living room as the party raged around me.
"I don't want anything to do with him, Emily. Is there some reason that you guys don't understand just how much Brandon hurt me? He was a slut and a half, and this guy is no different." I tried to keep my tone even, calm. There was no reason to feed into her anger.
"I get that, but leaving and walking over here by yourself was dangerous. I tried to find you, but didn't see you after you took off. You scared me." Her eyes filled with tears. "Don't do that again. Got it?"
"Okay. I'm sorry." I reached out and pulled her into a hug. "Don't be mad at me. I just don't need this guy in my life. Not even for a summer fling."
She pulled back and wiped at her tears. I needed to be more cognizant of her feelings. They'd lost her little sister a few years back in a sporting event and never found her.
"Alright. I get it. Just don't run off again. You're the only family I really claim." She gave me a tight smile and glanced around. "Brody might be a player, but I'm not so sure the rest of his friends are. They seem really nice. I'd let Clay take me out sometime, but I'm not sure he's the kind to ask. He's quiet."
"I thought you liked Brody, that you were the woman to teach him a lesson or two?" I chuckled, forcing myself to relax a little. The party was supposed to be fun. Brody wanting my attention wasn't going to change that. He was like every other man in the world: ignore him long enough and he would simply go away.
"He's got eyes only for you, sister." She poured herself a glass of punch. "We sure this stuff isn't spiked with drugs?"
"Nope." I downed mine and glanced around, spotting Dedra and Cindy talking to Brody's friends. He was nowhere to be seen, and though a little part of me felt guilty for being such a class-A bitch to him, it was better that way. "Come over here and introduce me to Clay. I want to make sure I'm good with him before you let him sweep you off your feet."
I lifted my eyebrow as she rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. I'm not looking for anything long-term. Life is about to change drastically for most of us."
"Not you." I rubbed her back as we walked toward the group.
Dedra turned and put her arm over my shoulders, tugging me against her and smiling down at me.
"Did you let that big bad hottie run you off?" She smirked.
"I sure did." I extended my hand to the shortest guy in the group, assuming he was Clay by the way Emily moved over toward him. "I'm Cora."