Page 78 of Without You

Katie

Our lips don’t separate as we fumble into his once-ugly-now-in-the-middle-of-being-renovating-kitchen. Dinner was excellent and the company even better. But the drive back to Benton? Torture.

T-O-R-T-U-R-E

Worse than when he had me pinned against the door and I wanted nothing more than for him to rip our clothes off and ravage me.

It was a good thing that Brody had planned for there to be something to keep us occupied during dinner because as it was, every chance we got, we were touching. Our hands were tangled or rubbing thighs, lips were lightly grazing cheeks or temples, whispers of what we wanted to do to each other were spoken next to ears. It was back and forth torture between the two of us and I loved every minute. I’ve never been with a guy who was so affectionate before, especially in public.

I didn’t think I was one for public displays of affection, but when he caught me outside of the restroom before we headed home, shuffled me back against the wall and kissed the living daylights out of me, I wouldn’t have minded if the entire restaurant sat and watched.

The drive home was worse yet. I begged and begged Brody to pull over and “just do me in the back seat”, but he held firm to wanting to wait until we got home. I couldn’t believe the words had escaped my mouth, but they did. Right there in front of him, I begged him to do me. I should be mortified over my zealousness but it truly isn’t even in me to care. I’ve wanted him since I was sixteen years old. Sixteen years of longing and wanting all boiled down to this moment.

He slams the door shut behind us and stumbles forward a bit, bringing me with him. We laugh against each other’s mouths as we shove coats off shoulders and continue toward his bedroom, letting them drop.

He whips his shirt off and my breath stalls when I look down at his chest.

There’s only one explanation on how Brody’s body can look this way.

It’s a thought definitely worth repeating. God himself chiseled out Brody’s abs. I wouldn’t want to offend God and not stare at his handiwork, right?

“You realize that your body is insane, right?”

He’s busy kissing his way down my neck as he walks backward, pulling me along with him. “Huh?”

“Your… body…” I suck in a breath because holy hell, whatever he’s doing to me right now is probably sinful and I should no longer be bringing God into it. Though, I’m likely to be yelling out his name pretty soon.

“Yes?”

“It’s… oh my gosh, don’t stop doing that,” I moan and stretch my neck, pushing him to move quicker. How freaking long is this hallway, anyway? I feel like we’ve been walking to his room for ages. His lips are attacking the sensitive spot below my ear and I’m losing the ability to think straight. My stomach coils tight and I try to rub my legs together as we shuffle along to alleviate the ache building there.

His fingers graze the smooth skin of my stomach and my hair flies out around me as my shirt goes over my head. And I’m being lifted by strong arms that are flexing with biceps that aren’t bulging too much but enough that I see definition and power and strength.

My legs don’t even have a chance to get the memo that we’re being carried before I’m turned around, tossed onto the bed, and covered with the most attractive male body I’ve ever seen. And it’s only partly because of his outward appearance.

That whole beauty is only skin deep thing?

It doesn’t apply to Brody Redding.

His beauty runs deep into his soul.

Not only is he letting me rent the apartment for next to nothing, I know he also rented it to someone else before me for seriously cheap just to help him get on his feet.

He helps his mother even though I know it hurts him to do it, especially when she is always trying to take advantage of him. But he loves her despite her flaws.

Sabrina, his cat, was a stray that he found beside the dumpster of his tire shop. He brought her home, nursed her back to life, and now she’s his.

Chad wouldn’t have a successful construction business if it weren’t for Brody, either. He had fallen to the been gaining traction in Benton as a reputable business to work with then he was injured on the job. Not just cutting off the tip of his finger injured, either. It was a severe cut to his leg that he thought would heal without going to the emergency room.

The cut had gotten infected, causing him to lose the lower half of his left leg. Between the time he’d spent in the hospital and recovering after, his business was crashing. Rather than letting it happen, Brody stepped in and covered for him, managing his tire shop and Chad’s construction company at the same time. He made sure jobs were booked and his workers were doing their jobs. If there was a place that needed filled in, Brody and his dad did it.

Of course, aside from him telling me about his mother, I wouldn’t know any of this if I hadn’t bumped into Johnny at the sub shop one day. I had planned on taking my sandwich to go but he asked me to join him. Over sub sandwiches, chips, and pickles, we reminisced about high school, talked about the fourteen years that had passed us by since then, and he filled me in on what a catch I’d landed with Brody. Not that I didn’t know it already, but hearing it from one of his best friends was different.

“You’re beautiful,” he murmurs, looking down at me.

I lift a hand and cup his cheek. “I was just thinking the same thing about you.”

“Men aren’t supposed to be beautiful. We’re handsome,” he mumbles against my neck then rises up on his fists. His smile is beaming. “Or I’d accept sexy, too.”

---