by S. P. West
“Not in this lifetime.”
“Don’t be such a pessimist, anyway I’m going to fix us some dinner. Want to help?”
“Yeah,” she says, joining me. “What time is Brody due home?”
“Right about…now,” I say at the sound of Brody’s truck pulling into the drive.
“You so still love him.” Hope pokes me in the side as we walk to the kitchen. “And one day you’ll thank me.”
“Pffft”
“Pffft nothing.”
“I thought you didn’t like him.”
“He hurt my big sister, that makes him my mortal enemy.”
“But?”
“I can see that he is trying to put everything right, Brooke. Don’t be so quick to push him away.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I salute just as Brody walks in with bags of take-out.
“What did I miss?” he says as he places the bags on the counter.
Hope, the pig, dives straight in, then does a happy dance as she pulls a box out. “Phad Thai? You remembered?” She hugs the box to her chest and smiles. “Did I ever tell you that you’re the best brother-in-law ever?”
“Hope!” I squeal. “We’re—”
“Not together. Yeah, I know.” She rolls her eyes, scooping out another box with her name written on the side, and some chopsticks. “I’m gonna leave you two lovebirds alone.”
“Where are you going?”
“My room.”
“Our room!”
“Not tonight, I love you and all, but I kind of want the bed to myself. No offense or anything, but your snoring is bad.”
“Bitch,” I yell as she disappears out of the kitchen.
“Looks like you’re sleeping with me tonight.” Brody chuckles.
“I can take the couch if you want.” I shrug, opening the take-out box with my name on it. Chicken Kaeng Phet and coconut rice? I could kiss him.
“Or I can take the couch and you sleep in the bed.”
“Whatever.” I take a bite of the curry, closing my eyes as I savor the delicious flavor.
“An even better idea is that we share my bed. It’s big enough for two.” He grins.
“I don’t know if that is such a good idea. Not after last time.”
“We weren’t in the bed last time. It was the couch,” he says wryly.
“That’s not the point.”
“What is then?”
“That we could end up having S.E.X.” I spell out, much to his amusement.
“So? We’ve had sex hundreds of times before,” he says, putting his take-out box down. “What we did the other day was sex, Brooke.”
“I know that.”
“What would be so wrong with us making love?”
“Because we’re not together, and I don’t want to treat you like you’re some kind of F.W.B.”
“F.W.B?” he says, scrunching his nose up in confusion. He looks adorable when he does that.
“Friends with benefits?”
“Nope. You got me there.” He makes a face while shrugging his shoulders.
“Seriously? You’ve never heard of a friend with benefits? Have you been living under a rock?”
“No. Emmerton,” he deadpans.
“Really.”
“Believe it or not, Brooke, but after the way we split up, you vanishing into thin air like you did, and me trying to become a better man, that kind of thing passed me by.”
“Wow.”
“Did you have any?” His tone is suddenly cold but his eyes, so full of fire, tell a different story.
“Any what?”
“Friends with benefits?” he spits, looking away from me.
“Do you mean, did I sleep around?” He doesn’t answer, just continues to glare at me. “I had every right to after what happened, don’t you think? So why are you acting all jealous?”
“I’m not jealous.” He grunts, as he stalks over to me, and places his hands on either side of me on the countertop I’m leaning against.”
“Sure about that, cowboy?” I goad. “You’re positive that the thought of another man inside of me, making me scream, doesn’t make you mad?” Brody bends down so that we’re at eye level, fury in his eyes. “I know you, Brody. I know that you hate the thought of any man touching what is yours,” I continue, ignoring the now murderous look on his face. “Too bad. I had to listen to it, Brody, so I know how much it hurts. I don’t belong to you. You don’t belong to me.”
“So, what happened the other day didn’t mean anything to you?”
“No. Wasn’t it you that said that you could love enough for the both of us? I never made you any promises,” I taunt, my chin lifted in defiance.
Instead of answering, he surprises me by grabbing the back of my head, and pulling me in for a hard, punishing kiss. Before I can process what is happening, I’m twisted around so that I’m bent over the countertop with my jeans and panties yanked down to my knees.
“This is mine,” he growls, slapping my ass. “Mine,” he repeats, pushing me down against the hard surface. I try desperately to hold on to something as he undoes his zipper.
“So, what are you going to do about it?” I hiss as he slips his hand between my legs, stroking my clit until my pussy is slick.
“This.” He enters me with a hard thrust, the burn of both pleasure and pain making me gasp. He pauses for a brief moment to let me adjust to his size, and leans forward to whisper in my ear. “How do you want my cock, baby?” He teases me by gently pushing forward. “Slow?” he asks as I let out a loud moan in response. “Or fast.” He thrusts his hips rapidly.
“Oh God.” I moan.
“Tell me what you want,” he demands, yanking on my ponytail. I’ve never seen this side of Brody before, a jealous side…a dangerous side. And I like it. I like it a lot.
“Hard.” I gasp. “Fuck me hard.”
“As you wish.” He grunts as he surges forward, filling me completely. I have to bite down on my hand to stop a scream from leaving my mouth. “Do you like that, baby?”
He starts to pound into me relentlessly from behind, not letting up as I writhe and moan beneath him. Brody leans against me, taking me while gripping my wrists. I’m powerless as he thrusts over and over again.
We’ve never had sex like this before. Not where I’ve been at his mercy alone.
“You are mine,” he growls. “No other man will ever touch you. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I whisper.”
“Say it again.”
“Yes.”
“Again.”
“Yes.”
“Louder,” he growls.
“YES!” I scream as my orgasm hits, spurring him on more as he fucks me even harder.
“I’m going to fill you up with my cum. Mark you so that every fucker that so much as looks at you knows you and this tight pussy belong to me.”
“Please,” I beg, as I free fall into the bliss of another orgasm. He slams into me one last time, letting out a loud groan as he fills me with his seed before collapsing on me.
“I love you,” he says quietly as he kisses my neck.
“I love you, too,” I answer, twisting my head around to return his kiss.
“Really?” His face lights up with pure joy from the simple words.
“Yeah,” I answer, nuzzling his nose. “I do.”
“Was it my awesome sex skills that changed your mind?”
“No.”
“Was it my huge dick and dazzling good looks?”
“Don’t forget modest as well.”
“I’m such a humble guy.” He places a soft kiss on my nose. I feel his loss as he pulls out of me and walks to the sink. He gets a cloth and wets it, returning to gently clean away the aftermath of our lovemaking. Brody gives a light tap on my ass to let me know he’s done, giving me a moment to push myself up and redress before pulling me into his arms. “So,” he says, kissing me, “how come you love me again?”
I laugh so much as he starts to tickle me that I have to
beg him to stop so that I can catch my breath. “Because I do. Because I can’t fight it anymore.”
“And because we had fantastic sex?”
“Yeah, that too.”
“You’re so shallow.” He chuckles as he starts to tickle me again. “Maybe we should take this to the—”
“HAVE YOU TWO STOPPED HAVING MONKEY SEX YET? I NEED A GLASS OF WATER. I CAN COVER MY EYES, OR DO I NEED EYE BLEACH?” Hope yells through the door, totally ruining the moment.
“YOU’RE COOL,” I yell back, raising my eyebrows at Brody.
“Thank God.” Hope huffs as she walks into the kitchen. Rolling her eyes at what I imagine is our matching dopey grins. “I thought you were never going to stop.”
“You could have just gotten the water,” Brody says with a smirk.
“And catch an eyeful of your spotty, lily-white ass banging my sister? Ewww, no thanks,” she says, making a face of disgust. “Please tell me that you’ve scrubbed the countertops clean?”
“Not yet.” I laugh. “No point as we were about to have round two before you so rudely interrupted.”
Hope makes a retching sound as Brody doubles over with laughter.
“For the love of God, take it to the bedroom. Do you know how unsanitary you two are?”
“And you’ve never done anything like that before?”
“Not the point.”
“Don’t whine like a baby.”
“I’ll be so glad when we can go home. Then I won’t have to worry about walking in on you holding a little fuck-fest.” She moans, stomping out of the kitchen with her precious glass of water clutched in her hand.
Brody shakes his head, an expression of wry amusement on his face. He slips behind me and wraps his arms around my middle. “Want to take this to the bedroom?” he murmurs, placing a kiss in my hair.
“Yeah.” I giggle, putting my arms over his. “Only if you can keep up. You’re a year older from when we last—”
“I’ll show you old,” he growls, picking me up in one swift motion and carrying me off to the bedroom.
Brooke
“Your bed is so comfy.” I yawn, snuggling further into his naked chest as he plays with my hair. We’ve lain here, basking in an after sex high, for I don’t know how long. Could’ve been five minutes, could’ve been ten since Brody rolled off me, gasping for air while his cum trickled down my thighs. What I do know is that I’m going to have trouble walking tomorrow.
“Glad you like it…you know what else it’s good for?” I don’t have to look at him to know that there is a devilish smirk plastered on his face.
“Sleeping.”
“You don’t fancy another go?” Brody cups my right breast in his hand, massaging it gently.
“Haven’t you run out of sperm by now?” I moan as he pinches my nipple between two of his fingers, which sends a delicious mix of pain and pleasure all the way down to my pussy.
“Nah, I’m good. I’ve got a whole year’s worth to share with you.”
“Really?” I ask, as I raise myself up to rest on my elbow. “So you’re saying that you didn’t jerk off.”
“I didn’t say that.” He grins. “But I have had a serious case of blue balls.”
“And wankers cramp?”
“What the fuck is a wanker?”
“Some British term I picked up from a guy at the club.”
“Yeah? Did he try to get in your panties as well as teach you dirty words?” The pout on his face is adorable, but I can tell Brody is pissed.
“Yes, he did, but”—I gently slap his chest as he tries to get up—“he didn’t get anywhere. Before you say anything, Jez is a really nice guy.”
“He tried to get in your panties.”
“But he didn’t, nor did any other guy.” He lets out a snort of annoyance and looks away from me. “When did you get so…possessive?”
“When I found out that the men you’ve worked with over the past year are every woman’s idea of the perfect male.”
“Did you look on the website?” I’m biting on my bottom lip to try and stop myself from laughing at his sulking.
“Yes.”
“That explains it.” I place a light kiss between his eyebrows. “You should know that none of them compare to you.”
“That right?” He’s struggling not to smile now.
“Uh-huh.”
“So, I can compete with them?”
“Most of them.”
“Most of them?” he repeats, raising an eyebrow.
“Jake’s pretty hooooo…Brody!” I squeal as he flips me over and starts to tickle me.
“He is, is he?”
“Stop,” I scream with laughter. “Please, stop.”
“Who’s hotter?” He carries on ignoring my pleas. “Jake or me?”
“Jake.” I laugh.
“What was that?” He grins evilly as he makes a dive for my feet.
“Noooooooooo.”
“Sorry,” the bastard says while he attacks my right foot. “You were saying?”
“Stop.” I pant. “I’m going to pee myself.”
“Not until you tell me.” I try to kick out but he’s too powerful for me. “Jake or me?”
“You.” I squeal.
“Me what?” He pauses for a moment, his fingers dancing lightly across the soles of my feet.
“You’re hotter than Jake.”
“Good.” He smiles, letting go of my feet and crawling back up my body.
“I hate you.” I huff.
“No, you don’t.” He smirks, pulling me back down on to his chest. “You love me.”
“I don’t know why.”
“So tell me.”
“What?”
“This guy, Jez, right?”
“Yeah?”
“What British words did he teach you?”
“Only a few. Wanker, twat, cockwomble.”
“What do they even mean?” Brody snorts.
“Wanker is someone jerking off, I think. Twat is a pussy, but can be used as an alternative to idiot. And cockwomble…I have no idea.”
“Good to know.”
“Why?”
“We might go to England one day.”
“Oh yeah? And why would we go?”
“For our honeymoon,” he says smugly.
I walked into that one, didn’t I?
“Has all the sex gone to your brain?” I joke. “Or have you forgotten that we’re not engaged anymore?”
“I haven’t forgotten.” Brody bends his head to place a kiss in my hair. “And I intend to rectify that situation as soon as you admit you want to marry me.”
“You haven’t asked.”
“Will you marry me?”
“Uh, no.”
“Why not? You accepted straight away the last time.”
“Because, buster, we’ve only just gotten back together. Literally.”
“All the more reason not to waste any time.”
“I said no, Brody.”
“Is that a no, as in never ever, or no as in maybe someday?”
“The latter.”
“Like next week?”
“You need to slow it down, buddy.” I laugh. “There are things we need to sort out first.”
“Like?”
“Like...like.” I struggle. “Like…I don’t live here!”
“You can always move back.”
I let out a huff of annoyance at that answer.
“Well you could,” he continues. “Emmerton is your home.”
“Scottsdale is my home now.”
“For a year,” he says dismissively.
“And?”
“And what?”
“I have a life there. A job. Friends. An apartment.”
“You had a life here.” He shuffles down the bed so that we are facing one another. “With me,” he says, eyes boring into mine. “You have friends here as well you know, and a home.”
“Pfft…where?”
“Here,” he says, kissing my nos
e. “This house. You could move back in.”
“Brody.” I sigh.
“I don’t see the problem.”
“Well, I do.”
“I love you, you love me, so what’s stopping you?” he asks, bemusement clouding his handsome face, which then turns to panic. “You do love me, don’t you?”
“Yes.” I lightly stroke his brow in an effort to calm him. “I’ve loved you my whole life.”
“Then why won’t you come home?”
“It’s complicated.”
“I still don’t see any problem.”
Inwardly, I sigh. How do I explain to him, that in the year we were apart, I grew up? I became who I was meant to be, not who I was expected to become. No one in Scottsdale knew me as one half of Brooke and Brody, the couple who were destined to marry from birth. No one expected anything of me. They helped me see that there is a life outside of the small town that I called home. That I am my own person—not just the other half of a couple, or the much-loved deputy’s daughter. In Scottsdale, I’m free from judgement, free from prying eyes, free from expectations. Yet, these are the people who helped raise me, who picked me up and dusted me off when I scraped my knee. Who fed Hope and me for months after our parents died. Who know every single bit of my business.
“I’ve made a life there, Brody.” I place a finger on his lips to prevent him from interrupting me. “A happy life, with a good job and good friends. I…I feel…I don’t know how to explain it.” I take his hand in mine, bringing it to my lips. “I’m sorry.”
“You feel free,” he says, resigned. “That the weight of expectation has been taken off of your shoulders.”
“How did you…”
“I get it, okay. I get how you feel, because I feel that weight too. Like everyone expects me to do the right thing all the time, and kicks me down when I fuck up.”
“Wow.”
“I understand why you don’t want to come home, you don’t have to say any more. I want us to be together. What makes you happy makes me happy.”
“You could always move to Arizona,” I say hopefully, Brody makes a face in response. “That’s a no then.”
“I’m not saying that, baby, but please think about how difficult it would be for me to up and move across the country. Everything that I know and love is here…except you.” He kisses the palm of my hand before continuing. “It won’t be that easy to start over. In Emmerton, I have practically no competition—I’m the go-to guy. You know how long it’s taken me to build up a good reputation. I’d have to sell McAllister Construction, then build my business again from scratch.”
