guys really
think that’s all we think about? Just pushing shopping carts down aisles of
pancake mix and Pop-Tarts, thinking about big hairy dicks?”
Ben frowned,
clearly appalled by the suggestion. “Pretty much. And besides, I couldn’t have
followed you because Mandy wouldn’t tell me where you moved to.”
Her heart
sputtered in her chest, the fire spreading down below. She wasn’t sure if it
was the booze or his eyes. “You went back to Mandy’s?”
“This morning.”
He rubbed his face, the memory making him cringe. “She thought I was there to
win her back.”
“Oh, hell no.”
“It was an
absolute train wreck.”
Brooke set the
drink down without looking. “What were you thinking?”
“I don’t know.”
He took a long pull from his beer.
“Oh my God, that
poor girl! Why would you do that to her?”
“I had to find
you!”
“So you go
snooping around the scene of the crime? What are you? Ted Bundy?”
“If it’s any
consolation, she tried to kill me with a lamp.”
Brooke chuckled,
her head buzzing. “I hope it wasn’t my lamp. That was my grandma’s.”
He leaned forward
and rested his elbows on his knees, his t-shirt stretching over his rounded
shoulders. “All I’m saying is I can’t stop thinking about last night.”
Brooke held his forceful
gaze until she realized her hand was on her heart. She dropped it into her lap
and broke eye contact with him, looking to the patio door where some people
were coming back inside from a smoke break. “Well, that’s real sweet, Romeo,
but last night was a mistake. A big one.”
“How can you say
that?”
“Have you not
been paying attention?” She found her drink again without looking. “I lost one of
my best friends, my home, my freedom and my dignity all in one shot because of
you.”
“ Me ?”
“You knew I was
her roommate! I told you I lived there when we were out on the patio. You knew
this would get me into serious trouble.” Her anger pushed her desire back
beneath the warm waters, turning the flames into smoke.
He stared at her
without speaking. “You’re right, and I’m sorry.”
Despite her best
intentions, her hard glare loosened just a little. “You should be. That was a
shitty thing to do.”
“Now hang on a
second, you wanted it just as bad as I did. Admit it.”
“I will not
admit any such thing. I, obviously, had too much punch and wasn’t thinking
clearly.”
Ben snorted.
“You seemed fine to me. And if I remember correctly, Mandy was the one who had
too much punch.” He pointed at Brooke. “You kissed me first.”
Her face folded
like a chair. “That is not true! And I wasn’t the one with the huge boner!”
Ben hid behind
his hands and laughed, shaking his head in embarrassment. After a few seconds,
he pulled his face away and leaned closer. “That was my first time doing
anything like that. I swear to God that is not my style.”
“Sure it’s not.”
“It’s not.”
“You some kind
of public exhibitionist or something?”
“No.”
She glanced into
his lap. “You’ve never taken that… thing out in a movie theater before?”
Ben stared
flatly at her without responding.
“Never took it
out on a roller coaster?”
His expression
remained the same.
“Never drilled a
hole in a bathroom stall and plugged it with your mutant baloney pony?”
He watched her
twist beneath the weight of his eyes, clearly bemused. “Maybe we should get
going.”
“Now, that’s the
first good idea you’ve had all day!” She grabbed her purse and pushed out of
the chair.
Ben got up and
stepped in front of her, breathing her scent in with deep breaths, getting lost
in her emerald colored eyes. “Sooo…my place then?”
Brooke laughed
sharply and stomped her heels across the room to the front doors.
Chapter
Nine
Avenged
Sevenfold’s double bass drums nearly drowned out Brooke’s screams. Her wrists
were starting to hurt but she didn’t
Maggie Brendan
Barbara O'Connor
Jan Washburn
Terri Blackstock
Norah Simone
Barry Kemp
G.P. Taylor
Alan Cumyn
Linda Barnes
Lisa Jackson