The Deadbeat Next Door

by Katharine Sadler

  “What’s your favorite thing about Carrie?”

  Cody turned to me and his expression softened, a small smile lifting his lips. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it, his expression going distant and cold. “Her tits.” He turned back to Aubrey. “She has fantastic tits.”

  His words hit me like a slap and everyone got quiet, not that they’d all been chatting, but it got so quiet it almost seemed that everyone had stopped breathing. I should have been relieved that his favorite thing about me was physical. That’s what I wanted - a strictly physical relationship. My reaction made me realize I’d broken my own rule. I straightened my spine and pushed down the hurt. I had to keep it light and physical between us or I had to end it. There were no other options with him. I might believe that he was better than his siblings thought he was, but I knew he wasn’t what I was looking for, wasn’t the right guy to be my future. “I’ve always been quite proud of them,” I said, my smile wide and my tone as light as I could make it. “A good attribute to have when fabricating an engagement.” I was stretching there, but it was the best I could come up with on short notice. Cody looked at me, something like apology in his eyes. “It’s your turn, Cody.”

  Cody dared Jared to imitate his favorite animal, a hamster, and then Aubrey was back, in pajamas pants and a sweatshirt. She demonstrated her ability to walk on her hands. This led to most of the siblings testing their own ability to walk on their hands. None of them managed anything as impressive as Aubrey’s feat. The game continued, but it wasn’t as much fun as I’d thought it would be. When Cody dropped an empty beer bottle that shattered on the pavement, I cleaned it up and then I dragged him upstairs to our room.

  He spun on me once the door was closed behind us, falling on me in a very un-sexy way and knocking me onto the bed. “I’m sorry,” he said, his words slurring a bit. “It was a shitty thing to say.”

  I didn’t meet his eyes, but glared at the ceiling above his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Your boobs aren’t my favorite thing about you. It’s your heart, the way you care about everyone and want to take care of them. I just couldn’t say that in front of them, because they’d read into it and then, when we split up, it would become another fuck-up in a very long list.”

  The hurt in my chest eased, even though I knew it was safer to be angry with him. “It’s okay. This is just physical.”

  He pressed a warm kiss to my neck and my pulse sped up. “We can still be friends, though,” he said. “And like things about each other.”

  “Sure.” Though liking things about him seemed dangerous when his hands on my ass made me want to wrap myself around him and not let go for several days.

  “I mean it,” he said. “It was a shitty thing to say. Let me make it up to you.”

  I laughed. “You’re wasted. Why don’t we go to bed and finish this conversation in the morning?”

  “No. I fuck up everything. I want to fix this. Let me fix this.”

  I was tired and I really didn’t have high expectations for his drunken prowess, but I was finding it difficult to say no to him. “Make it up to me in the morning.”

  “No. I want you now.” He straightened, seeming to sober up in an instant. “Take your clothes off and get on the bed.” His voice took on a commanding tone that made me shiver with want.

  I slid off my clothes and went to the bed. I pulled back the bedspread and sheets and sat. Cody knelt at my feet and pushed me back. “Lay down.”

  I lay back and he lowered his face between my legs, he dragged his tongue over me in one long, slow stroke that had me moaning and gripping the sheets tight. He stopped moving, his head heavy on my thigh, his breath a teasing rhythm against my throbbing clit. “Cody,” I breathed. “Don’t tease me, please.”

  He didn’t respond or move. I propped myself up on my elbows and looked down at him. His eyes were closed. I bounced my leg. “Cody wake up.” He didn’t budge.

  I laughed and slid my leg out from under him. I lowered his head gently to the bed. I dressed in the nightshirt I’d brought to sleep in and set about trying to move him into bed. I got his shoes and belt off, but he was a big guy and I had no luck lifting him onto the bed. I tried again to wake him, but he was out cold. He was sitting up, his head against the bed and he didn’t look uncomfortable. As drunk as he was, it was probably better if he slept sitting up, anyway. I covered him with a throw blanket from the end of the bed and crawled under the covers.

  I woke the next morning to sunlight and soft kisses on the back of my neck. A warm arm lay over my waist. “I’m sorry,” Cody said.

  “For what?” I was almost certain he didn’t remember what had happened.

  “Um, whatever got me kicked out of your bed.”

  I twisted in his arms until I faced him. “I didn’t kick you out of bed. You fell asleep there mid-cunnilingus.”

  His eyes widened and then closed to bare slits, pain wrinkling his forehead.

  “Not feeling so good?”

  “Like I was run over by a truck, kicked by a horse, and dragged through the mud.” He shuddered. “I’m getting too old for this.”

  “Why do you do it?”

  “I don’t believe you,” he said. “I’ve never fallen asleep in the middle of any kind of sex and I’m positive I wouldn’t fall asleep with your beautiful body spread before me.”

  “Well, then you’d be positively wrong. What is it about your family that drives you to drink?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t honestly know. My father was a social drinker and he made a big deal of drinking with us when we were of age. It just became the thing we did when we all got together. It might be time to drop the habit.”

  I reached up and smoothed the wrinkle between his brows. “I’m going to get you some water and a couple aspirin. If I’m not back in fifteen minutes, it’s because I got lost on the way to the kitchen.”

  “There’s a bottle of water and a bottle of aspirin in my bag.”

  I got him what he needed and left him to recover alone while I showered.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Cody

  “Feeling any better?” Carrie asked, stepping back into the room we shared. My head ached and my throat was sore, but the sight of her, in a cheery, yellow sun dress, her hair still damp, and not a bit of make-up on her face, eased something tight in my chest.

  “If I had the strength,” I said. “I’d demand you undress and get back in that shower, so I can show you my favorite thing to do there.” Just the idea, the image of her smooth skin beaded with water and her naked body displayed for me, made me hard in a place I thought wouldn’t be hard for another six hours or so.

  “You’ll feel better if you take a shower,” she said, her face pinched in concern. I couldn’t fathom why she’d feel anything but anger and distaste for me after the way I’d treated her. I’d told my family my favorite thing about her was her boobs and then I’d fallen asleep before she’d gotten a moment’s pleasure. At least I thought she hadn’t. “Did you come?”

  “What?” she sat down on the edge of the bed.

  “Before I fell asleep,” I asked. “Did you come?”

  She laughed. “Nope. One taste and you were out.”

  “I’m a moron. I’ll make it up to you.”

  She kissed my forehead and smiled, looking so beautiful that my breath caught in my throat. “I know you will. But right now, you need to get in the shower, because your family is at breakfast and, unless you want them to know we aren’t entirely platonic, we should go down.”

  “Down is exactly where I’m going to go.” I sat up and my head spun and pain lanced through it. “Later. Down is where I’m going to go later.” She laughed and stood.

  “I’ll see you downstairs.”

  “You’re facing that crew alone?” I didn’t want to face them alone. In fact, I was quite glad I’d have Carrie by my side.

  “Yep. Aubrey and I are great friends and she’ll love the story about what hap
pened to you last night.”

  “You can’t tell her. My family can’t know we’re sleeping together. It’ll give them ideas.”

  Her expression turned inexplicably sad. “I know, Cody. But Aubrey won’t tell anyone, she’s got her own secrets.”

  I didn’t want to know Aubrey’s secrets. My own secrets were all I could handle. “I’ll take a quick shower.”

  She left and I dragged my sorry ass out of bed. I needed to get my shit together. I was better than this and, if I wanted to prove to my family that I’d changed and was on a good path, I needed to stop acting like the idiot loser they’d always known me to be.

  I showered and dressed and was about to head downstairs when a brisk knock at the door stopped me. I opened the door to find Noah on the other side. “Hey, douche nozzle,” he said. He pushed his way into the room and looked around, his gaze lingering on the single bed with the rumpled sheets. “You did a good job of getting completely soused last night.”

  I smirked at my older brother. He’d always been the perfect son I’d by turns resented and strived to be like. “It’s what we do, right?”

  He shrugged. “I guess so. I like Carrie. She’s gorgeous and sweet and she tolerates your obnoxious ass, which means she’s a saint.”

  My headache increased and my hands curled into fists. Noah had a habit of always getting everything he wanted and women were no different. He was as much a womanizer as I’d ever been, he was just more discreet about it. I didn’t want him to decide he wanted Carrie. “She’s not your type.”

  Noah turned to me, eyebrows high. “Is that jealousy I hear in your voice? I never thought I’d see the day you were jealous of anyone.”

  “I’m not jealous.” The burn in my chest was heartburn from my hangover, not jealousy. “I’m pragmatically telling you she’s not your type.”

  Noah sat on the end of my bed, settling in for a long discussion. “She’s not your type either, brother. In fact, you told us all last night that her boobs are your favorite quality.”

  I winced. “Can you get to the point? I need to put some food on this hangover.”

  “She seems like a nice person and she not only tolerates you, she actually seems to like you. Don’t fuck up by expecting to fuck up.”

  I rubbed my temples. “Truly your logic is dizzying. Can you repeat that in English?”

  He slapped his thighs and stood. “Nope. You’re smart, you figure it out.”

  I didn’t need to figure it out, I got it, I just didn’t buy it. I wasn’t looking for a long-term relationship and Carrie needed a solid guy, a guy as good as she was. I ignored the twinge in my gut that suggested she might be better off without me, but I wouldn’t be better off without her.

  He slapped my shoulder as he passed. “We’ve all made mistakes, brother. Don’t let your past be your excuse for not going after what you want.”

  I snorted. “Perfect Noah has never made any mistakes.”

  His gaze clouded and he frowned, a heavy sadness taking over his features. “Believe me, I’ve made mistakes.”

  He walked out, leaving me wondering what he could have possibly done that put that sad look on his face.

  I found Carrie downstairs, her head bowed over something with Jenna. I got closer and saw that there was a Kindle resting between them. “What are you two up to?”

  “Jenna has the complete juvenilia of the Bronte sisters and she’s showing me her favorite bits.”

  I stared for a long moment and then shook my head. “I’m going to get my breakfast and pretend I understood what you just said.”

  “It’s the stories, poems, and plays they wrote when they were kids,” Jenna said. “They lived in such a rich imaginary world.”

  “Hmm, sounds fascinating.”

  They ignored me and got back to whatever it was they were reading.

  I walked over to the buffet table where my mother had laid out croissants and bagels. At the end of the table was a big bowl of fruit. “Good morning dear.” My mother walked over and kissed my cheek, just as I’d finished filling my plate. “I’ll cook a big breakfast with all your favorites tomorrow.”

  “I’ve missed your big breakfasts.”

  “That’s your own fault.”

  I sat at the large table in the center of the room and my mother took the seat next to me. “Your fake fiancée is lovely.”

  I groaned. “Not you, too.”

  “What?” Her expression was all innocence. “What have I done now?”

  It occurred to me that she might not be on the verge of telling me I ought to make Carrie my real fiancée and I didn’t want to give her any ideas. “You’re trying to have a conversation with me while my brain is still at the bottom of a bottle.”

  “Again, that’s your own fault. Carrie didn’t drink at all, I hope she’ll be a good influence on you.”

  I put my fork down, my appetite fading. “She doesn’t need to be a good influence on me. I’m perfectly capable of being a good influence on myself.”

  My mother gave me a sad smile. “I know you are, dear. I just worry that your goals are a bit skewed.”

  Carrie sat down next to me, relieving me from the pain of whatever wisdom my mother was about to share. My mother smiled at her warmly. “Did you get enough to eat, Carrie?”

  “Yes,” she said, matching my mother’s warmth. “It was all so delicious.”

  “I’m glad. I don’t know what your plans are for the rest of the day, but there’s a lovely little park just across the street and they rent canoes to take out on the lake.”

  “I’m going to take Carrie sightseeing,” I said. “She’s never been to Atlanta before.”

  My mother’s smile broadened. “That will be lovely.”

  ***

  “We moved to the city when I was fourteen,” I told Carrie, once we were back in my truck and headed toward downtown. “Our place in the woods was about an hour from the city. it was a hard adjustment for me to make, from the country to the city.”

  She watched the streets flash by as we drove into the outskirts of the city. “Whereabouts did you live?”

  “In my father’s first hotel, in the center of downtown. Noah was out on his own and Jill had just started college, but Jenna, at sixteen, loved being in the middle of everything. She’s always been outgoing and social and it didn’t take her long to have a group of friends who ran around the city like they owned it.”

  “And you?” she asked.

  “I was only fourteen and I couldn’t drive. I could walk to just every shop or restaurant I might want, but I spent most of my time at a park not too far from the hotel. I wasn’t as easygoing as Jenna and Jared, and I got in more fights than I made new friends.”

  “I can’t imagine.” I glanced at her and saw a smile tickling her lips. “You’re not abrasive in the least.”

  I laughed and hopped off the interstate and onto a downtown street that would take us past some beautiful Atlanta buildings. “Where do you want to go? Do you want to see Margaret Mitchell’s house? The Martin Luther King Jr historic site? The zoo? Little Five Points?”

  “I want to see it all,” she said. “Is that possible? I’ve just never really been anywhere and I…I want to see everything I can.”

  I glanced over to see her looking at me, her eyes bright, her smile wide. Beautiful. Her excitement was contagious and I couldn’t help my smile. “It’s already after ten, Carrie. You have to pick just one for today. But we can come back. As many times as it takes, until we’ve seen it all.”

  “Right.” Her tone had lost some of its happy vibrancy and her smile had faded. I realized then what I’d said. I’d spoken like we had a lifetime together, not just three more weekends. “I guess I was being unrealistic,” she said. “What’s your favorite place?”

  If I was being honest, I would pick one of the parks, but Carrie could see all the nature she wanted in Catalpa Creek. So, I considered what would be best for her, and I lied. “My favorite is the zoo. And you should definite
ly see the Martin Luther King Jr Historic site. We’ll have dinner in Little Five Points. If we go fast, we can do it all in one day.”

  “I’ve never been to a zoo before,” she said, her earlier enthusiasm back.

  We were already on the right end of the city for the zoo, so I made good time there. Carrie was excited about everything we saw. Even the birds fascinated her. Her love of animals and of learning was obvious in the way she read every educational plaque we passed. She didn’t linger, clearly conscious of our time restraints, but I saw the regret in her expression each time she turned away from another animal. She could have easily spent an entire day there, and I felt guilty, like I’d screwed up yet again by being too hungover to get out of the house earlier.

  She didn’t complain once, in fact she laced her fingers through mine and walked with me like we were a real couple. I’d never really dated and I’d often looked at couples at tourist sites with disdain and smugness. I’d loved the freedom of being single and figured the poor schmucks with a woman on their arm were probably counting the minutes until they could get back to all the things they’d rather be doing. With Carrie, I hated the passing of the minutes that would end our day together, would end our relationship. I didn’t have a place in my life for a girlfriend or for weekends spent doing tourist things but, for the first time, I wished I did have more time to spend exploring new places with Carrie, showing her all the things she hadn’t seen before.

  We had lunch next to the giant pandas and took our time walking back through the zoo to the parking lot. We made the short drive to the Martin Luther King Jr. Historic Site. Carrie showed no less interest in this site than she had in the zoo and we took our time exploring the visitor center, the Baptist church where King had been reverend, the King center, the great man’s tomb, and the eternal flame. We walked down the street where he’d grown up and saw the house where he was born. We didn’t have time to schedule a tour of the inside of his home and again I wished for more time, because Carrie seemed fascinated with everything. We were really cutting it close, but we drove to midtown and got to the Margaret Mitchell house just in time to catch the last tour of the day.