Page 95 of When the Storm Breaks
“It’s a perfect time.” I was meeting my personal trainer at nine, so I had an hour to myself. “I had to stop myself from calling you at least a hundred times,” I admitted, spinning my thumb ring around with my index finger. “Maybe more.”
“What would you have said if you’d called me?”
“I would have said that you’re a bonehead for letting me go.”
“And you would have been right.”
I smirked. “I usually am.”
He laughed at that one.
Curiosity prompted me to ask, “What made you change your mind?”
“I came to the conclusion that you’re worth fighting for. And what we had was neverjustsex.”
I leaned back against the cushion, my lips tugging into a smile, my stomach flipping. God, he had no idea how happy those words made me. “Took you long enough. I could have told you that from the start.”
“Nobody likes a smart-ass,” he growled. I laughed. “Now tell me about Dean the douche.”
“I’ll tell you about Dean if you promise to set a date for when I can see you next,” I countered.
“Deal.”
My brows shot up in surprise. He’d answered without a moment’s hesitation. “Wow. That was easy,” I couldn’t resist saying. “What’s the catch?”
“No catch. I already made up my mind before I called.”
“What exactly did you make up your mind about?”
“That I was going to spend as much time as I could with you. And try to figure out a way to make this work.”
My heart stuttered and I held my hand over it. Why couldn’t he have said that in the airport and spared me a week of heartache?
“Now start talking,” he prompted.
I sighed. Brody was protective so I already knew he wasn’t going to like this. But I told him the whole truth, repeating most of the conversation I’d had with Dean and Landry at the café in L.A. When I finished telling my story, I waited for him to gather his thoughts and speak.
“Let me get this straight. You’re going to be on tour for three months with yourex-boyfriend?”
I heard the accusation in his tone and didn’t appreciate it. “Yes. But Dean and I are over. Our relationship ended long before I left him. This is just about the music.”
“Uh huh. Keep telling yourself that.”
I bit my tongue and refrained from reminding him that he’d left me in the airport with no hope for a future together. That wasn’t the point. My relationship with Brody had nothing to do with my decision to help out Landry. “I’m not doing this for Dean. I’m doing it for Landry. He’s my only family. He’s mybrother.” Surely that was something Brody should understand. He would do anything for Ridge. “And I owe him so much,” I added.
He was quiet for a few seconds. “Yeah, I get that he’s family. But if he’s making you feel like you owe him for being a half-decent brother and doing whatanyolder brother would do—”
“He doesn’t.” I cut him off, immediately jumping to Landry’s defense. “It’s not like that. This is just me saying that I owe him a lot.”
“Well, good. Glad to hear it.” Although he made it sound like he was the opposite of glad, his tone brusque like he’d already made up his mind about Landry without ever having met him.
“You don’t feel like Ridge owes you anything for taking him in?” As soon as the words were out, I wanted to retract the question.
“Hell no. He doesn’t owe me a damn thing. Does he feel that way? Did he say anything to you?”
“No,” I said quickly, trying to reassure him. Clearly, this was my issue, and had nothing to do with him and Ridge. “He never said anything like that to me. And I know you’d never make him feel that way. Ridge thinks you’re pretty great.”
Brody chuckled. “Pretty sure he never said that. You’re just putting words in his mouth now.”
