Addicted

"Hey." I caught up with them about the time we got outside. The three guys with him turned before he did, giving me a quick visual on what had to be his closest friends. We had the brain, the brawn, and the cowboy. Of course, Brody would need to be the cocky playboy. Typical. "Hey, Brody."

He turned and slipped his hands into his pockets as my friends moved up around me. "Ladies. You want a ride to the party? We got Clay's truck. It would be fun to pile in the back and get to know each other, no?"

"No," I barked as my friends all yelled yes.

They started toward the truck, leaving me standing there. I wasn't getting in the truck with him. It wasn't happening.

"Come on, Cora. Don't be odd man out." Brody turned to me as he helped my friends climb in the truck. "You can ride shotgun. Sit in my lap?"

"Fuck that." I shrugged and turned to walk toward town. I was fine not having a ride. It was a short walk, and it would prove a point.

What? That you're being a prick?

A deep growl resounded behind me followed by shoes hitting the pavement.

"Come on. Don't be like that." Brody moved up beside me. "I'm not going to bite."

"Really? You look like a piranha to me." I glanced over at him, hating how insanely good looking he was. That I couldn't be attracted to someone for their personality first and then their looks was aggravating.

"Do I really?" He nipped at the air rapidly, looking ridiculous as we walked up a steep hill side by side.

I couldn't help but smile.

"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.