So instead of crawling back into bed, even though I could have used the sleep after the last few days of worrying, I went downstairs to find the coffee pot to wake up with instead of Knox’s tongue.
As hard as that was to admit.
I tied my silk robe around my waist and fingered my hair up into a messy bun, yawning as I walked into the kitchen.
And there he was.
Brody.
The man of my literal fucking dreams. Shouldn’t tell him that.
He sat in a chair at the kitchen table, looking positively devastated as he stared out the window. I didn’t think it was possible, but he looked worse than Knox had when he crawled in last night, and a huge part of me wanted to take care of him, just like I had his boyfriend.
I didn’t pick sides in the argument they had, because it wasn’t my place. However, a part of me desperately wanted them to find a way to heal those wounds. And I was going to use my neutral position on the situation to serve that purpose if I could help it.
“Hi,” I called, and Brody whipped his head around, surprised by my presence.
His black eyes raked down my body, taking in my attire, and his jaw clenched.
Was he mad I was in his house? Shit. Leave it to Brody to make being on his side hard.
“When did you get home?” I walked across the room and leaned against the island a few feet away from him.
“About three orgasms ago.” He bit out and then sighed, looking back out the window. “Are they coming down?”
“They’re asleep.” I tilted my head to the side.
He nodded, but kept his gaze outside like he didn’t want to even look at me. It prickled, but my skin was thicker than that. “Coffee?”
He scoffed, “I’ve drunk enough coffee in the last six hours to last a month.”
“Ice pack then?” I asked, and he whipped his head around at me as I pointed to my jaw. “Got a pretty nasty bruise with Parker’s knuckles imprinted there.” I walked to the freezer and grabbed a gel ice pack and a clean kitchen towel before going back to the table. “My guess is the swelling’s only going to get worse if you don’t ice it now.”
“I don’t need ice.” He turned away, and I rolled my eyes, almost smirking at his stubbornness, but narrowly avoiding it.
“Fine.” I sat down on the edge of the table and put the ice on his cheek myself. His black bottomless eyes snapped to mine and I could see fire burning in them. “I don’t want to be your enemy anymore, Brody.” I gently cupped my free hand on the other side of his cheek to hold him still as the ice worked on his wound. “If you don’t like me, say it. I can take your ugly words better than you think. But don’t fight me just on principle, because right now you could use an ally.”
His gaze was penetrating as he stared up at me, and it almost made my resolve falter under the weight of it. Would he lash out because it was what he was used to, or would he give into the need for a friend?
“Do you hate me?” He finally asked, working the words through his dry throat.
“For what you said to Knox? Or in general?”
He clenched his teeth again and tried to look away, but I held his face and leaned down so he had nowhere else to look but at me. “The answer to both of those is no.” I sighed, and tentatively ran my hand over his brow, brushing his crazy hair back off his forehead. “Was what you said to him the truth?”
“No.” He closed his eyes, and it was the first time I noticed how forlorn he was. “God, no.”
“I won’t ask why you said it then,” I traced my fingers over the faint lines in his forehead as he stayed still with his eyes closed. “Do you want this?” He opened his eyes and held my gaze, so I clarified, “This home with Hannah and Knox? With me? Do you want it?”
“I want it.” He growled, “You have no fucking clue how badly I want it.”
“Then prove it to them.” I reasoned gently, “With more than just your words.”
“And you?” He scowled slightly, “I don’t understand why you’re being so nice to me.”
“I’ve never not been nice to you, Brody,” I said, and he scoffed lightly as I smiled and ran my hand over his stubbly cheek again. “I challenge you because it’s foreplay for me.” His eyes rounded slightly, and I leaped headfirst, like I did with Knox last night. “I guess in a way my body knew it wanted you even before my head did. So I flirted with you, the only way I know how.”
“Flirted.” He growled, “I wasn’t nice to you, even when you were never not nice to me.” He used my words before.
“And here I thought maybe you were just flirting with me, too.” I joked with playful outrage, and then barely restrained from shrieking when he quickly grabbed me by the waist and pulled me down into his lap to sit sideways across his legs. I gasped and ended with my face inches from his.
I rode the man’s washboard abs like my very own sex toy the other night, but being this close to his lips made me nervous.
“I want to flirt with you.” His gaze fell to my lips, “But I don’t know how.”
“Then it’s a good thing for you I’m a take-charge kind of girl.” I leaned forward and gently placed my lips against his, moaning the instant he opened his and deepened the kiss like he was expecting it.
His hand slid over my cheek and he tilted me how he wanted, dominating the kiss and I let him, giving him that victory after such a shitty few days as I sucked his tongue into my mouth.
“Lex.” He growled, tightening his hold on my waist as I clenched my thighs together. “I don’t deserve any of you. I don’t think they even want me anymore.”
“They need you, Brody, even if they don’t want you at the moment.” I affirmed, “Love is weird like that.”
“Have you ever been in love?” He asked, holding me close to him, but no longer kissing me, which was a shame because Brody Sinclair could fucking kiss.
“No.” I ran my hand down his chest, “But I’ve seen a really good example of it before, right here in this house.” I held his gaze, “You love them, and they love you. Which means you can overcome this with them if you try.”
“I want to try.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I want to make it work with all of you.”
