"What's the plan for tonight?" Daniel walked into the kitchen and sat two large bags down. "You girls want us to go grab a movie to watch?"
"Cora and I can go get something." Brody glanced over at me. "It's just a couple of blocks up the road. Come on; I've seen you looking out that window several times in the last ten minutes. You want to get outside."
Everyone was watching me, and for that reason alone, I nodded and grabbed my purse from the counter. "Yeah, sure."
The mumbles that resounded behind us were almost comical, but I would have been a fool to think the tension between me and Brody was only felt by the two of us. I waited until we got outside to turn and glance his way.
"You sure a senator's son should go anywhere without his bodyguards?" I smirked as he gave me a look.
"Are you always so full of piss and vinegar?" He reached out and grabbed my arm just before I ran into a pole.
"Fuck." I jerked back and pressed my hand to my chest. "Yes, I am, and thanks...I think."
He laughed. "You think? You're welcome, I guess."
I tried to ignore how cute the slight dimple in his left cheek was as he rolled his eyes at me. "You're not like any of the girls I've met, Miss Thing."
"Miss Thing?" I moved around the pole, trying to avoid being too close to him.
"Yep." He gave me a sideways glance as he ran his fingers through his blond hair.
"How am I so different? Is it because I don't melt the minute you look my way? You've known me for three days and have yet to see me naked? Different like that?" I stopped at the cross street and looked to my left and right.
"It's to your right. Tucked away right here." He took my elbow and turned us, ignoring my question. "What kind of movie do you girls like?"
"Chick flicks, mysteries, porn." I shrugged and walked beside him as I kept my eyes ahead of me. I'd almost embarrassed the hell out of myself by running into a pole in front of him. The last thing I needed was to owe him something for saving my ass again. He'd done it twice already.
"Hmm...porn sounds fun. It's been years since I've seen one. I bet money with the cinematography and stuff that they're pretty awesome nowadays."
"Do you really expect me to believe that you haven't seen a porn recently?" I shook my head, unable to pull myself back from being a complete ass. What the fuck was I doing? This wasn't me. My need to protect myself was working overtime.
"No need to watch one on TV when you live it every night, right?" He gave me a “fuck you, too,” smirk and held the door open. "Pick out whatever you want and I'll get it. The guys won't let me live it down if I don't, not that any of that should be your concern."
He walked down the aisle farthest from me, and my stomach dropped. I owed him an apology. I hadn't acted this shitty since I was a teenager with raging hormones. Following him down the horror aisle, I picked up Friday the 13th and turned it over.
"I've seen this one lots of times, but it's always a good scary date-night movie." I glanced up, thinking he might have given me a smile or a shitty comment over me calling the evening a date-night. Nothing. "Okay, so let's get it."
"Yep. And let's get this." He handed me The Notebook and walked toward the front, not giving me a second glance.
"Really? I'm not sure your friends would be too hip on a sappy love story."
"It's far more than that." He glanced over his shoulder as he pulled his wallet out. "Not that I'd know. I was too busy making out the ten thousand times I've seen it, but the opening scene is pretty good. Hooks you right away."
The sarcasm in his voice was hard to swallow. He was pissed that I was being so judgmental, and I could understand it all too clearly. I hated being judged for anything and by anyone. Nothing felt more condemning. He might deserve it, but it wasn't my place to give it.
The cute blonde cashier’s face lit up as Brody walked just in front of me.
"Hey, you. Where were you?" She pushed at his chest as her smile lifted to her eyes. "You push me in the lake and disappear. What are you, ten?"
He chuckled. "Naw. I like the courtship to go slow, and you were...aggressive that day. Just figured I'd cool you off a little."
I stopped beside him, having half the mind to reach over and wrap my arm around his back like he meant something to me.
Her
eyes moved over toward me as she picked up the movies and started to scan them. Her cute smile faltered, and some part of me loved it.
"Who...who's this?" She said like I wasn't there.