Brody Read Free

chest, but I couldn’t find the strength to push him away. It had been too long since I’d kissed him, since I’d felt his arms around me like this. I’d been dreaming about him, fantasizing about him for months. Now he was here, and I couldn’t bear to push him away.
    “What happened?” I asked finally, after stealing a much-needed breath.
    He was kissing my neck, making me forget all the reasons this was a bad idea, as he hoisted me up on the edge of the chair. Of their own volition, my legs and arms wrapped around him. His tongue trailed down my neck while he slid the shirt’s thin straps over my shoulders.
    “Answer me,” I said.
    “My old man came to see me tonight.”
    His hands were distracting me, kneading my breasts, so at first I wasn’t sure I’d heard him right. “Your father came to see you?” He hadn’t seen his father in more than twenty years. I’d never even met the man, though I knew how much Brody hated him. “When? Where?”
    “I was in Vegas. I had an event. He showed up after it was over. It was televised—thank God he didn’t show up while the cameras were there.”
    I’d never seen him so shaken. His muscular body was practically vibrating.
    “Listen to me,” I said, curling my hands around his face, trying to get his attention. “Sex isn’t the answer. If you want to talk about what happened tonight, about what you’re feeling, I’m here to listen. But I told you before, I’m not going to be your booty call anymore. I deserve better than that.” My body was screaming at me that I was a traitor, that I was denying my desires. I needed this. I needed him, but not as much as I valued my self-respect.
    “This isn’t about him,” he said, looking stunned that I could even suggest such a thing. “I’m here because I love you. Because I’ve been going crazy without you.”
    I love you. Those words reverberated through my head. It had been so long since I’d heard him say that. I hadn’t realized how much I missed hearing it, how much I craved it… until now.
    “You’re not thinking clearly. You—”
    “Listen to me,” he whispered fiercely, wrapping his hands around my face, “the only goddamn thing that makes sense in my screwed-up life is the way I feel about you.”
    My heart was pounding even harder now than it had been when he knocked at the door. Was he saying he wanted me back? Would I be a fool to believe that this time would be any different than all the others?
    “You,” he said, resting his forehead against mine, “are my world. You have been since the second I laid eyes on you in that stupid algebra class we both hated.”
    I smiled while my hands slipped to his shoulders. The only good thing that came of that class was meeting Brody.
    “Everything makes sense when I’m with you, Ri. Without you, I don’t even know who the hell I am anymore. I don’t know where I belong.”
    I wrapped my arms around him, my heart hurting for both of us. I knew seeing his father again after so many years couldn’t have been easy for him, and if he could find some small measure of comfort in my arms, I wanted to help him.
    He kissed me gently, deepening the kiss only when I didn’t push him away. “Please, don’t send me away. Not now. Not tonight.”
    I hated to think about what tomorrow would bring. He would likely be back out on the road in a day or two, picking up where he left off while I was left to pick up the pieces. Again.
    “I told you I can’t do this again,” I said, burying my face in his neck when he pulled me close. I drank in the familiar scent of him, tears stinging my eyes as I reveled in the rightness of being wrapped in his strong arms. “It’s taken me so long to try to get over you.”
    “You’re not over me,” he whispered, holding the back of my head as he pressed a kiss to my temple. “You’ll never be over me, just like I’ll never be over you.”
    Was he right? I didn’t want to believe it, but I’d been trying to deny it