Unspeakable (Freedom Series Book 1)

by Michelle Pickett

  I laid the T-shirt out with a pair of Khaki skinny jeans and my brown riding boots. Dumping my crap out of my messenger bag, I put what I’d need into a small, brown leather purse that matched my boots.

  There. That looks good, right? Maybe. I don’t know. I’ll have to call Jenna. She knows about normal clothes.

  I dialed Jenna. When she picked up, I said, “Yes, you were right. There, can we talk about something else now?”

  “Yes. As long as you admit I was right, I’m good.” She giggled.

  “I need clothes advice.”

  “Why?”

  “We’re going on a date tomorrow,” I said.

  “Okay, first off, no writing across your boobs.”

  “He wants me to wear a sarcastic T-shirt. He specifically asked me to,” I said.

  “Hmm. Oh, right, I get it,” she said.

  “What?”

  “It gives him a reason to look at your boobs without looking like a perv.”

  I laughed. Hard. When I finally stopped long enough to talk, I told her, “But, I want him to look at my boobs.”

  “Slut.”

  “Who said I wasn’t? It’s gonna be all over the school by Monday anyway.”

  “Yeah, well, you’d be surprised how many people don’t like Jaden and his crap. I wouldn’t worry too much about it, Willow. When it comes down to it, you’re the one people actually like between the two of you. No one could figure out why you stayed with him in the first place.”

  “We’ll see.”

  “So what are you wearing?” She sighed.

  “Okay, I have a black T-shirt and—”

  “What’s the stupid T-shirt say?” Jenna interrupted.

  “I can’t wait to be ashamed of what I do this weekend.”

  “Actually, that isn’t too bad.” She laughed. “It might give Brody a hint.”

  “That’s what I’m counting on,” I said.

  “You’re bad. What else?”

  “Okay. I have Khaki skinny jeans, my brown riding boots, and my brown leather purse. How’s that?”

  “Sounds like I’ve created a diva. Finally.” Jenna huffed. “So where are you going?”

  “Just dinner and a movie.” I still couldn’t stop smiling.

  “It sounds like you’re a smiling fool.”

  “You can’t hear a smile,” I said.

  “I can hear the smile in your voice. I hope you’re finally happy.”

  “Thanks, Jenna.”

  “Ugh, too much mush. I gotta go. Call me after your date and tell me everything, and I mean all the gooey details.”

  “Okay. ‘Bye.”

  I went to bed right after I got off the phone. The sooner I went to sleep, the sooner Saturday would get there.

  I’m so totally pathetic.

  My phone chimed first thing Saturday morning. I slammed my hand on my alarm clock, wondering why the sound wouldn’t stop. Finally, I woke up enough to realize that it wasn’t my alarm. I grabbed my phone off the bedside table and looked at the message. A goofy smile spread across my face.

  Ugh, my cheeks hurt from smiling.

  Brody: Good morning, gorgeous.

  Me: Hey, sexy.

  Wow, I’m getting bold. Maybe, just maybe, he’ll take my hints. Kiss me. Please, please, please. Just do it. Man up and pucker up.

  Brody: Sexy, huh?

  Me: Mm-hmm.

  Why am I blushing? It’s not like he can see me or anything.

  My phone rang, I jumped, and my phone flew across the bed. I bunched up my comforter, pulling it to me so I could reach it.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, sexy.”

  Oh. Kill. Me. Now.

  “Hi, Ace.” I snuggled back into my pillows.

  “So you think I’m sexy, huh?”

  “You asked me that already.”

  “I know, but it occurred to me that I’d like to hear you tell me in your soft, sexy voice while I’m lying in bed.”

  Oh, wow. How can he say things like that and not expect my body to go berserk every time he’s around me? I need that damn kiss.

  “Yes, Brody, I think you’re incredibly sexy, with a body to die for, a smell that makes me dizzy, perfectly mussed hair, bedroom blue eyes, and full lips that send me into a frenzy every time they skim across my skin.”

  Dead silence.

  Crap. That was too much. He probably thinks I’m some kind of stalker—or worse, Sarah.

  I cleared my throat. “Are you there?” I whispered.

  “Yes.”

  “Oh.” I was desperate to find a way to unsay what I’d just said. I’d made things awkward. I felt tears press behind my eyes. I wasn’t even sure why I was starting to cry. I’d just opened my mouth to tell him that I had to go when he spoke.

  “I’m trying to find the right words to tell you how you make me feel, but I don’t think they’ve been discovered yet. You’re sexy, yeah. Beautiful doesn’t even begin to describe you. But that’s not all. You make me feel, I don’t know, whole.”

  And then, I knew why I was crying. No one had ever said anything as sweet as that to me. No one. Ever.

  “Brody.” My breath hitched. “I really don’t know what I did to deserve you.”

  “You’re just you. That’s all you ever needed to do. Just be you.”

  We talked a while longer, although our conversation veered away from declarations of how wonderful and sexy we found each other to more mundane topics because, as Brody complained, “It’s way too much mush for this early on a Saturday morning.”

  “How can you go from telling me how beautiful I am in one sentence to being such a guy in the next?” I asked with a laugh.

  “Um, gee, ’cuz I am a guy?”

  “Funny.”

  “Have you picked out what movie we’re going to see?”

  “Yup.”

  “Gonna tell me?” he asked.

  “Nope,” I answered, popping the ‘p.’

  “Okay. Have you picked out what you’re gonna wear?”

  “Yup, and I’m not going to tell you about that either except that I found something suitably sarcastic just for you.” I smiled, picking at my comforter.

  He chuckled. “Since you won’t tell me what you’re going to wear tonight, what are you wearing now?” His voice turned husky.

  My hand stilled, and my heart beat a little faster. “Are you seriously asking me? Because now that we’re dating, that’s totally a question I’ll answer, and it might not be one that you’ll like. Or you might like it. I don’t know your preferences… yet.”

  He groaned. “Yet?”

  “Yet. I plan to find out,” I said.

  “Alright, Willow, I call your bluff. What are you wearing?” he asked, a hint of teasing in his voice.

  “A pair of pink boy shorts with a white tank top that doesn’t quite cover my stomach. Nothing else.”

  “You’re not serious.”

  “I told you I’d never lie to you. Your turn.”

  “I don’t remember what I’m wearing. I can’t get the image of you out of my head.”

  I laughed. He groaned.

  Chores, chores, chores. Even they didn’t seem so bad. At least they helped pass the time until Brody picked me up. I hadn’t come up with a story to tell my mom and Ralph yet. But as luck would have it, my mom told me they’d be going out. Ralph had to attend a business dinner with a reception to follow. So that took care of them for the night. They’d be gone before Brody picked me up. They would most likely still be gone when he brought me home or they’d be sufficiently sloshed that they wouldn’t pay attention. Either way worked in my favor.

  I listened to my iPod as I did my chores, humming along with the music and keeping an eye on the clock. I must have looked at the stupid thing a million and one times, and it hadn’t moved at all. It was the longest day in the history of recorded time.

  Finally, it was time for Ralph and my mom to leave. They gave me the standard spiel about no wild parties, remembering curfew, blah,
blah, and blah. It was all I could do not to shove them out the door. There was barely an hour before Brody got there. I still had to shower and do my hair and makeup.

  I’d just finished up when my phone chimed.

  Brody: I’m here. Should I come to the door?

  Me: Yes.

  I ran around my bedroom like a crazy woman, throwing dirty clothes in the hamper and swiping the makeup bottles from the counter into the vanity drawer. Scanning my room one more time for stray underwear or bras, I heard the doorbell ring. One last look at myself in the mirror, and I decided I looked about as good as I was going to. I hurried into the hall and padded down the stairs to let Brody in.

  I opened the door and let my eyes roam over him. “Hey, Ace. You look nice. What’s the occasion?”

  He grinned the crooked way that sent my blood pressure through the roof. “I’m taking this incredible girl out on a date tonight. I just stopped by to cancel our plans.”

  “Ha. You’re so very funny.” I pulled him inside.

  “Are you sure it’s okay that I come in? You’ve told them about us?”

  A twinge of guilt stabbed my heart. “They aren’t here. Come on. I’m almost ready. I just need to get my boots on and then we can leave.”

  “I’ll wait here.”

  I stopped on the bottom stair and turned to look at him. “Why?”

  “You’re going to your room?”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “I’ll wait here.”

  “Jeez, Brody, it’s just a room. I think we can stand to be in the same bedroom together. We have before, not to mention the backseat of your car and in your bed. Come on.”

  He followed me upstairs. “This part isn’t so bad. The view is spectacular.”

  “You’re such a perv.” I laughed.

  I went to my closet to grab my boots. Brody stood in the middle of my room, looking around. “Hot pink and black stripes, huh? Doesn’t it make you a little dizzy?”

  “You’re funny tonight. A real comedian.”

  “I half expected there to be posters with all sorts of sayings all over your walls.”

  I grabbed my boots out of my closet. “Nope, I just wear those across my chest,” I said, and then held in a groan.

  What a way to invite him to look at my boobs. Could I have been any more obvious?

  “Speaking of which…” He walked behind me, gently turning me around. “I didn’t get a chance to read tonight’s message.”

  Watching his face as he read my T-shirt, I could feel my cheeks heat with a blush as his eyes roamed over my chest. Any other time, I wouldn’t have thought anything about it. People read my shirts every day, but knowing he was looking, watching him, made it seem personal, like he was reaching out and touching me.

  He grabbed each side of my shirt close to where it tucked into my pants, pulling it taut. “You know, now that I think about it, I kinda agree with Jenna. You need to start dressing normal.”

  I tilted my head to the side. “You said you liked them.”

  “I do. I just don’t know that I like other guys reading them.” He let go of my shirt and moved his hands to my hips, sliding them slowly up my sides. He hesitated when his fingers brushed the sides of my breasts, before moving upward to cup my face. I forgot how to breathe.

  I was sure I was going to pass out. Brody Victor just passed second base, and we hadn’t even kissed yet. How was that possible? Of course, I wasn’t sure skimming his fingers over the side of my breasts, through my shirt and bra, for a mere second, counted as second base. I didn’t really know what the bases were. I wasn’t a guy. And I’d had people accidently bump into me who got more of a feel than that. But that was… just delicious. He’d intentionally touched me, his gaze locked on mine. And my stomach dropped to my toes. I still wasn’t breathing.

  He stepped closer to me, backing me up against the wall. One hand on either side of my head, he leaned down, his face close to mine. The length of our bodies touched. I dropped my boots. They hit the floor with a dull thud. Wrapping my hands around his arms, I made a moaning sound deep in my throat when I felt his muscles flex. I ran my hands up to his shoulders and across his back, feeling his muscles contract under my touch.

  He leaned in closer to me, his mouth skimming my skin just in front of my ear, sending shivers through my body. “Willow?”

  I think I said, “Yeah?”

  “We’re going to be late.”

  “Mm-hmm.”

  He kissed my shoulder, moving up my neck, across my jaw, stopping when he reached my lips. His mouth was so close that his breath tickled them, and my tongue slid across to moisten them. Brody cursed under his breath and grabbed my hips, pulling me even closer against him.

  The front door opened, and Ralph’s voice boomed through the house, followed by my mother’s softer voice. My heart skipped a beat, and then another. And not in a good way.

  “Did you park in the driveway?”

  “No. In the street,” Brody said.

  “Thank God.” I moved to the door and clicked the lock closed. “Just be quiet.”

  I stood at the door and listened. Someone came up the stairs, the floor creaking when they walked past my bedroom. Judging by the sound of the footsteps, it was Ralph. I squeezed my eyes closed, praying they’d just forgot something and would leave.

  My doorknob rattled, followed by a knock. “Willow?” my mother called.

  “Yeah?”

  “What are you doing in there?”

  “Just reading,” I lied, rubbing my hand over my face.

  “Open the door.”

  Crap.

  Grabbing Brody’s arm, I pulled him toward the door. I positioned him behind it before unlocking and opening it, standing in the doorway so my mother couldn’t walk into my bedroom.

  “Why’s your door locked?” she asked.

  “Oh, um…” I put my hand on the top of my head; the other held the door so tightly my fingers hurt. “Someone knocked on the door earlier. I didn’t know who he was. It freaked me out a little so I locked my door.” I let my hand drop from my head and shrugged. “What are you guys doing back so early?”

  My mom flicked her hand like she was waving my question away. “We just forgot something Ralph needed, and I forgot my cell phone, like always. We’re leaving now. We’ll probably be late. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Okay. Have fun.”

  “Yeah, right,” she grumbled. She hated going to work functions with Ralph. She knew what people thought of her. It didn’t matter if they said it to her face or not. She could read it in the way they talked to her—or didn’t talk to her. She’d always be the gold-digging hussy that snagged the most eligible bachelor in Middleton.

  I held my breath until I heard the door shut. “Stay here.” I crept downstairs, looked out of the window, and saw Ralph drive away.

  That was too freakin’ close.

  Despite Brody’s worry that we’d be late, we made it to the movie theater in plenty of time to get our tickets and popcorn with lots and lots of butter.

  “I’m glad we have the butter thing in common. It would have been a deal breaker if not.”

  Brody grinned and squirted more butter on the popcorn. “What are we seeing?”

  “Beyond the grave.” I gave my best impression of a ghost’s voice. I didn’t quite pull it off judging by Brody’s laughter.

  “I thought you didn’t like horror movies.”

  “No. I don’t like watching them in the backseat of your Jeep, in the dark, in an isolated field, surrounded by nothing but woods. That,” I pointed at him, “by the way, is a scene in most horror movies, and it never turns out well for one or two of the actors.”

  “You’re quirky,” he said and kissed the tip of my nose. “I love that about you.”

  Hold. The. Phone. What did he just say? The L word? And it wasn’t Like or Lust. Calm down. He didn’t say he loved me, just that I was quirky. Yeah, totally different. So what am I supposed to say back? Nothing? That
I love that he loves that I’m quirky? That I love him? Wait! What?

  “Hi, Willow.”

  I looked up and saw Natalie from English class. “Hey, Natalie!” I looked at her date and recognized the guy with the personality of a rock. “Hi, Earl. I remember you from the fall dance. You went with Jenna.” Earl rolled his eyes. I guess Jenna’s master plan of making his life miserable so he wouldn’t ask her out again worked. “Do you know Brody? Brody, this is Natalie and Earl.”

  “Hey, man,” Brody said to Earl, shaking his hand and doing that weird shoulder bump thing guys do. “Hi, Natalie. I remember you from English class.” He smiled at her, and her cheeks turned slightly pink.

  Yeah, that smile gets ’em every time. And it’s mine. All mine. Mine, mine, mine. Jeez, I sound like I’m two. But it is mine.

  “I heard you broke up with Jaden and you two are dating now.” Natalie looked between Brody and me.

  “Yes. I’m sure the whole school’s heard by now,” I said with a shrug of a shoulder.

  “Pretty much. Everyone thinks you two make such a cute couple. Way better than Jaden. What an ass.” I blinked in surprise. It wasn’t what I expected her to say at all. “Well, I’ll see you two in English. We have to go. We have dinner reservations.” Natalie smiled at Earl. He actually smiled back. It was the first time I’d seen his face register any type of expression other than boredom.

  “Have a nice dinner,” I called after them. “Huh.”

  “What?” Brody asked, looking down at me.

  “Nothing, just something Natalie said.”

  “The thing about Jaden? I told you, no one could figure out why you stayed with him.”

  Brody and I saw four more people from school, and none of them seemed the least bit concerned about what happened with Jaden. I was cautiously optimistic that my reputation would survive the break up intact. Then again, one never knew about these things. It was high school, after all.

  “Did you like the movie?” Brody asked as we walked to his Jeep.

  “Yeah. Did you?”