Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Cohen
We stayed out there for a good couple of hours. After we finished with the photos and videos, we sat in the grass, Brody with his head in my lap, a weed sticking out of his mouth. He had that mischievous grin of his plastered on his face, all that golden, tan skin on display. I wanted to strip him bare and fuck him hard. Remind him of what it felt like to have me inside him, hoping maybe it would help wipe some of that other shit away.
But the thing was, I liked talking to him too. Liked looking at him, and teasing him, and God, I was so fucking into this guy. What was wrong with me?
“You’re such a country boy.” I tugged on whatever the hell it was he was chewing.
“You like this country boy.”
“I like his ass.”
“Nah.” Brody shook his head. “I mean, you like that, but you like me too. You liked me before you had my ass.”
I couldn’t argue with that, and even if I did, we would both know it wasn’t true.
It surprised me that he was so chill about the sex, though. He didn’t seem to have any qualms or regrets, which I was glad about, but… It was hard to put into words, but I worried I was in too deep and taking this more seriously than him. That it was only a fun experiment for him. Don’t ask me how I got that by him letting me fuck him, but it’s where my thoughts went.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, grabbing my hand and intertwining our fingers. It was such a simple thing, but it felt heavy. Made me feel closer to him in some ridiculous way. I was pretty sure the country air was fucking with my head, and the crazy part was, I just wanted to inhale more of it, wanted to hold it in my lungs and make it last.
“Christ, it’s hot out here.” I wiped the sweat off my brow, thankful he couldn’t hear my thoughts. The Georgia sun beat down on us, the sounds of bugs and wildlife all around us.
“Oh no you don’t. If I didn’t get to change the subject, you can’t either.”
He was right, of course, but the truth was, I didn’t know exactly what was wrong. I just… “I’ve been thinking a lot, is all.”
“About what?” Brody grinned up at me from my lap. I didn’t know what in the hell was so cute about it, but something was.
“I don’t know…everything. What you said earlier about Big Momma is making me think about my adoptive mom. I haven’t talked to her nearly as much as I should have since I got here. It’s all a mess in my head.”
“That’s understandable. Don’t give yourself such a hard time.” He reached up and wiped his thumb beneath my eye. “Make a wish.”
I closed my eyes, didn’t know what to hope for, so I said the first thing that came to mind. “I hope we’re able to get O’Ralley out of the hole.” I blew the stray eyelash off his finger.
Brody frowned. “You’re making a wish for us and not you?”
I shrugged. As excited as I was about this, it was a new goal for me. It was different for them. “This is your legacy but not in the same way as it is for me. This is your family’s dream.”
Brody was quiet for a moment before saying, “What am I gonna do with you, No Good Mitchell?” He sat up, tugged whatever he was chewing on out of his mouth, leaned in, and pressed a slow, soft kiss to my lips. He tasted like salt and Brody.
When he pulled away, he stayed sitting up. I figured I should take the opportunity to tell him about my run-in with Big Daddy before he heard about it somewhere else.
“So…yesterday morning…” Christ, I couldn’t believe it had only been yesterday. It felt like a week ago. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you I ran into Big Daddy.”
“You what?” Brody rushed out. “Does he know? About us? No, he can’t. He would have said something.”
Not gonna lie, the fact that his first concern was whether or not his dad knew we were…whatever the fuck we were, stung. “Nah, I don’t think so. He did tell me he knew what I was doing. I asked what, and he went on about the past—the feud, my parents. I’m pretty sure he thinks my mom was a secret agent for my dad or something. It’s all fucked up.” Plus, it didn’t help that he’d dated my mom. That likely left some residual issues he wasn’t talking about.
“Shit. I’m sorry.”
I shrugged. “It is what it is. Not sure what we can do about it. I did mention the possibility of working together, and his head turned so red, I thought it might explode, so I took my leave and went inside the store. That’s when I found out everyone had been sitting around watching us on the cameras, talking about how the Mitchells and O’Ralleys would never get along.”