Brody was lying on the bed with his shirt off and his eyes closed as I exited the bathroom. I stood by the doorway and just stared at him for a few seconds. He was handsome, and his chest was perfection—a deep tan and sprinkled with dark hair.
I crept forward, holding the towel that was wrapped around my hair in place so that it didn’t fall to the ground. I didn’t want to wake Brody. I swallowed hard as I realized just how attracted to him I was. His wavy, dark hair against the white pillow made me want to run my fingers through his tresses, and my mouth went dry as I stared at his handsome face.
I would never admit it to anyone, but I understood why women fell for him. Shit, I even understood why women dropped their panties for him after one glance. He was sexy. And based on the way he’d kissed me, he knew how to turn a woman on.
“Like what you see?” His deep voice was teasing as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. “Sorry, I guess I was more tired than I thought.”
“That’s okay. You should sleep.”
“But I promised you a massage.” His eyes narrowed as he looked me over from head to foot. I trembled slightly under his gaze. He shifted on the bed and ran his hands through his hair as his smile spread. “A gentleman always follows through on his offers.”
“Uh-huh,” I said as I sat on the edge of the bed. My boy shorts rode up so that my thighs were almost completely exposed, and my nipples pushed against the thin material of my shirt. I hadn’t bothered to put on a bra. But he didn’t have to know that.
“Shall we start, then?” He moved over on the bed and patted the mattress. “Lie down on your stomach.”
I stared at the mattress and then at him. All of a sudden, this didn’t seem like the smartest idea, and I normally prided myself on making good decisions.
“Relax, Susie.” Brody’s voice was calming. “I want you to enjoy this massage.”
“I want to enjoy it as well, but…” I paused, not really knowing what to say next.
“But what?” he said, a concerned tone in his voice.
“I just don’t want you to think that this is going somewhere it’s not.”
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to seduce you unless you want me to.”
“Is everything a joke to you, Brody?” I said, perplexed.
“No. Why would you say that?” I could hear the humor in his voice, but there was also a tinge of something else. Something that resembled regret. I wondered if I was just imagining that emotion.
“Because you always seem to resort to making everything a joke. Sometimes people are serious.”
“Trust me, Susie. I can be very serious. If you’ve ever seen me play baseball, you’d know that.”
“Well, I’m glad you can be serious about baseball, but what about everything else in life?”
“Whoa, you sound like my ex-girlfriend,” he said. “What have I done to upset you?”
“I’m not saying you upset me, and frankly, I’m surprised you even have an ex-girlfriend.”
“I guess I don’t really consider her an ex-girlfriend. She was more of a friend with benefits. But that’s what the argument was about.”
“What?” I wanted to turn around, but I realized that wouldn’t be a good idea.
“She thought she was my girlfriend, so when she caught me banging her best friend, she kind of got upset.”
“Oh my gosh, you’re such a dog.”
“No, I’m honest. I like sex, and I like women who like sex, and I like to have fun. She wasn’t my girlfriend.”
“You slept with her best friend, though. That’s crude. That’s—”
“I know, I know. But shouldn’t it have been the best friend that said no? Didn’t the best friend owe her allegiance more than me?”
“You say potato, I say potahto.” I rolled my eyes, and he rolled his eyes back at me in a mocking fashion. He shifted on the mattress so that he was closer to me, and I could see the unruly curls at the front of his face were tinged with blond.
“I’m not trying to get you upset, Susie.”
“Why did you even bring it up, then? You can’t think I’d love to hear that fact about you. You can’t think that would make you go up in my esteem.”
“Who says I want to go up in your esteem?”
“Well, fine. Maybe you don’t. Just give me my massage. Whatever.”
“You sound stressed.” He sighed, and his voice lowered. “I didn’t mean to make you upset. I just wanted to help you relax”
“Just give me the massage. It’s okay, Brody. I shouldn’t expect more from you than you’re willing to give.”
“What are you expecting from me? What are you hoping to expect from me? I’m confused.”
“Nothing,” I said, though I didn’t want to tell him that I thought we’d be getting closer. I didn’t want to tell him that I was attracted to him for both his body and his mind. I didn’t want to tell him that I thought he was a thoughtful, sweet guy that was frankly pained about something, because I knew I sounded like every other stupid woman out there that thought she could change a man who had issues and was a commitment-phobe.
He and I had nothing. We’d barely kissed. We’d certainly never slept together. And just because I felt like I wanted to—well, my body knew it wanted to, but that was another story—it didn’t mean we were closer than we actually were.
His hands were on my shoulders, and I sighed as he squeezed.
“Is it okay?” he said softly.
“It feels nice. Thank you. You really didn’t have to.”
“I wanted to. I know that I can be a bit of a joker sometimes, but I care about my friends. And I do consider you a friend. A new friend, but a friend. I mean, we’ve shared a tent together now.”
“Yeah, we have. At least it wasn’t a sleeping bag,” I said, half-joking.
“That would’ve been something, eh?” he said softly. “If I would’ve made more of a move when we were in the tent, would you have shared one with me?”
“I don’t think you should be asking me this question when I’m half-naked,” I said, sighing as his thumbs pressed into my spine. A massage was exactly what I needed. It felt absolutely magnificent, and I relaxed under his touch.
“I think this is the perfect time.”
“I feel like I could fall asleep,” I said softly. “Tell me a story so I don’t.”
“Tell you a story? I’m not you. I don’t have a way with words like you do.”
“I’m sure you do, Brody. I’m sure you have plenty of stories. Tell me about baseball, or tell me about what it was like being a nerd in high school.”
“Wow, you really want to get deep, huh? Are you some sort of shrink?”
“No, I’m not. Which I think is quite obvious. I’d have a lot more patience if I was.”
“True,” he said. “You would.”
“What are you trying to say?” I laughed. “You don’t think I’m patient?”
“Not really. But I like you, so it’s okay.”
“Well…” I said after a few seconds, not really knowing how to respond to his admission of liking me. “What are you going to tell me?”
“Do you want me to tell you a fairy tale? Once upon a time in a land far, far away…” he started.
“Come on, Brody.”
“Okay, you want a personal story, then.”
“That would be nice.”
“Let me think,” he said as his hands moved closer to my lower back. I arched slightly and sighed as his fingers dug into my flesh.
“So, I know,” he said softly. “Once—”
“Oh gosh, not again.”
“What? All I said was ‘once.’”
“Was it going to be once upon a time?”
“Actually, no, it wasn’t. It was going to be: once when I was younger.”
“Okay, continue.”
“Well, thank you, Miss Susie.”
“You’re welcome, Mr. Brody.”
“Mr. Brody? Why does that make me sound like an old man?”
“I don’t know, but stop changing the subjects. I want to hear more.”
“Fine,” he said. “When I was younger, my brothers and I liked to pretend we were knights.”
“Knights? Like knights of the round table sort of knights?”
“Yeah,” he said. “I guess every young boy likes to pretend he’s a prince or a knight or a king.”
“I guess I did pretend I was a princess. Never a queen, though.”
“Ah, but you are a princess, Susie.”
“Oh, my. Enough with the flattery, Brody. Continue with your story, please.”
“Fine,” he said. “Well, I remember we were at my grandparents’ farm.”
“In Kentucky, right?”
“Yeah. Good memory.”
“Yeah, I do remember small things,” I said. “So you were at your grandparents’ farm in Kentucky.”
“Yeah, and there was a neighbor girl. She didn’t live there. She was actually visiting her grandparents too. I remember her because she was stunningly beautiful. She had long blonde hair and big blue eyes. She was possibly the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen in my life.”
As I listened to him, I could feel twists and turns of jealousy in my gut. I didn’t know why I cared so much, but hearing him talk about this woman with the long blonde hair and blue eyes…
Jealousy was so very opposite to me, and I didn’t want him to know. I didn’t want to feel insecure. It wasn’t like she and I were in any sort of competition.
“So she was your princess?” I said.
“No,” he said with a chuckle. “She was my damsel in distress. I wasn’t the only one that thought she was pretty. Both of my brothers did.”
“You’re the middle child, right?”
“Yeah. You really listen well.”
“I try,” I said. “So you and your brothers both liked her?”
“Yeah, and it became our mission to see which one of us she liked.”
“Oh.”
“So we were knights of the round table,” he said, “and we were going to have a duel—a fight to the death for the hand of the fair maiden.”
“What was her name?” I said softly. I wondered where she was now, if she was married and had a happy family. All the things I wish I had but didn’t.
“Honestly?” He laughed. “I can’t even remember.”
“You can’t remember? She was the most beautiful woman you’d ever seen in your life.”
“Well, she wasn’t a woman. She was a girl. I was just a mere boy at the time.”
“Still, you can’t remember her name.”
“It wasn’t that serious, Susie. Trust me. That summer, it was serious, but not in the grand scheme of things.”
“I guess,” I said.
“Do you want me to continue the story or not?”
“I do, I do. Please continue.”
“So anyway, one day we decided to have a duel on some of our horses.”
“Oh, your grandparents had horses?”
“Yeah,” he said. “They loved horses. Grams grew up on a horse farm, and so she was never without a horse by her side.” He sounded thoughtful. “Sometimes Gramps used to say she loved the horses more than him, but it wasn’t true of course. She doted on Gramps. If he would’ve seen the way she looked at him…” He paused. “Well, that was true love.”
“Aw, are they still alive?” I said.
“No.” His answer was abrupt. “But anyway, I’m drifting from the story. I told you I wasn’t good at this.”
“You’re fine, Brody. I want to hear more.”
“So one day, we decided we’d have a three-way duel.”
“How does that work? Isn’t a duel between two people?”
“Yes, but we were young country boys. We decided that the three of us would all ride horses with handmade spears from long branches of wood, and whoever got knocked off was out. The last man standing, or rather sitting on his horse, was the winner.”
“I guess that makes sense. So who won the fair damsel’s hand?”
“Wouldn’t you know it? None of us.”
“None of you? What? You all fell off?” I asked.
“No.” He laughed. “My older brother won, or rather he was the last one on the horse, and he went to go and claim her hand. And do you know what she said?”
“No, obviously not. What did she say? Wait, let me guess. She said she wanted you instead.”
“No. She said violence was never the answer, and that a fight was never the way to win a woman’s heart. That we were trying to make the decision for her, and if any of us had actually really liked her, we would’ve come to her first and asked her what her wishes were.”
“Wow. Profound,” I said. “I’m impressed.”
“Well, now I understand. But at the time, we were absolutely flabbergasted.”
“So what did you do?”
“We all went and got ice cream, of course. I remember thinking that I’d gotten all those bruises for nothing.”
“Oh, no. Were you seriously hurt?”
“Not really. I think my pride was more than anything. You see, I’d come up with a calculation that was meant to help me win.”
“A calculation?”
“Well, an angle, so to speak. Remember, I dealt with math and angles and physics, and I came up with a strategy that was meant to help me win. I was going to approach from a forty-five-degree angle with my spear at a seventy-degree angle and—”
“You’re absolutely losing me.”
“Sorry,” he said. “But I was more disappointed by the fact that my calculations were wrong. I didn’t account for the fact that brutal strength meant so much more than my calculations.”
“I guess many people don’t account for that fact,” I said with a laugh.
“I don’t forget it now,” he said. “Is the massage okay?”
“It’s been wonderful. Thank you.” And I turned over because I wanted to see his face. His eyes went wide as I grabbed the towel and pulled it up to cover my breasts.
“You want me to massage somewhere else?” he asked with a wicked little grin.”
“No.” I smiled up at him. “I knew you would think that, though.”
“A man can only hope.”
I grabbed his neck and pulled him toward me before kissing him hard. He kissed me back passionately. And as he massaged my scalp and played with my hair, I opened my mouth wider.
His fingers slipped up under my shirt, and I didn’t stop him. His touch was magic, and his story had made me feel closer to him—made me feel like I knew a little part of him that no one else did. I was almost positive this wasn’t a story he’d shared with anyone else, because Brody was not a sharer. His entire persona was one of nonchalance and carefreeness, and this was a story from the heart.
I moaned as his fingers found my nipples, and he pinched them tightly. He kissed me passionately, and I kissed him back.
“You are so sexy, Susie,” he said.
“You’re pretty sexy yourself,” I said as his fingers reached down and slipped into my panties. I parted my legs, unable to think straight as he brushed me, gently at first and then with more intent. I moaned as he touched my wetness, and he groaned against my lips.
“Fuck, you’re wet.” He kissed down the valley between my breasts to my stomach, and he kissed my belly button and sucked. I cried out as his teeth fell to the top of my panties and pulled them down quickly.
He looked into my eyes, and I nodded slightly as he pulled them off my feet. He spread my legs, and before I knew what was happening, his tongue was between my legs and he was licking me, teasing me, making me cry out and beg him to continue. I didn’t know which way was up or down. All I knew was that this was the most sensual I’ve felt in years.
As his tongue entered me, I gripped his shoulders and dug my fingernails into him. This seemed to encourage him, because he started fucking me with his tongue even harder before sucking on my clit. I cried out as my arms flew out and my fingers gripped the sheets. He looked up at me with a wicked grin.
“Come for me, Susie. Come for me,” he said. And before I knew what was happening, my body was shaking and I was exploding. He licked up every drop and then kissed back up my body before landing on my lips. His hands were on the sides of my face as he kissed me on the nose and then the forehead.
“Well, I’ll say that was a massage worth remembering, huh?” He winked at me and pulled me into his arms. And I just grinned back at him, not knowing what else to say or do.
I nodded as he jumped up out of the bed and turned off the light and came back to me. I half expected that he would try to make love to me, but he didn’t. That surprised me. He seemed like the sort of guy that would go for it if he thought he had a chance, and he had a very good chance of making love with me. In this moment, I would deny him nothing, but he didn’t even pursue it.
I touched him on the shoulder and then reached down to his pants. I rubbed against his cock hard, and he groaned.
“Don’t, Susie,” he said softly.
“Why not?” I said teasingly, seductively, as my fingers played with the head of his cock. He groaned and shifted so that he was gyrating against my hand.
“Because if you touch me, this night will go down a path I don’t think you want it to.”
“What path is that?”
“I will have you on all fours, and I’ll be fucking you from behind so good and hard that you’ll never forget the feel of my cock inside of you.”
I shivered as I listened to his words. “But I don’t think you want that, Susie. Not yet.” He pulled me against him and kissed me. “Let’s sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”
I kissed him back, then buried my head into his shoulder and closed my eyes as I stroked his chest.
He was right, of course. If I slept with him, I’d never be able to forget it. And if we were going to be in each other’s lives due to our best friends being together, then it was better that I didn’t put myself in that position. I didn’t want to make things awkward for any of us.