Fireworks: A Holiday Bad Boy Romance (28 page)

Chapter 30

Brody

"Do you think that alligator is
really still out here?" Cora asked as she reclined against the front of
the boat. Her long golden legs lay stretched out toward me, and I was ready to
park the boat and get over to her. Foreign emotions raged through me, and even
though I knew I should sort through them, I didn't want to. Just enjoying the
newness of being with someone for more than once or twice was thrilling enough.

"I don't know, but we'll go over near
the shallow area. There's not nearly enough water over there for them." I
got up and dropped the first anchor off the back of the boat.

"I was hoping to go skinny dipping
again." She got up and walked toward me, sliding her hands under my shirt
and scraping her nails down my back softly.

Warmth spread through my center, and I
gripped her sides before leaning over and kissing her a few times. "We can
still go skinny dipping, baby. I don't think we have much to worry about.
Besides, if it comes near us, you run, and I'll stay behind and whoop its
ass."

"Oh yeah? You'd do that for me?"
She smiled and moved back as I grabbed the second anchor.

"Are you kidding? I'd beat a hundred
alligators back for you." I wagged my eyebrows, hoping to make her smile
more than anything.

"You're such a brute." She sat
on the front of the boat again, but put her back to me and let her long legs
dangle into the water below. "It's beautiful out here. The sun is going to
set soon. Do you see the sky starting to turn red and orange over there?"

I pulled out a beer and a bag of chips and
joined her at the front of the boat. I sat down and handed her the chips as I
took a quick drink before offering her the bottle. "It's beautiful, but
it's got nothing on you."

She laughed. "I thought you weren't
the kind of guy to spout about all that poetic stuff?"

"People change." I ran my hand
over her taunt thigh before squeezing softly and releasing her. "Well,
some do."

"Do you want to change, though? It's
not like the lifestyle you had a few weeks back was a dull one. It had to be
stimulating, in more ways than one." She laughed again, and I couldn't
help but smile.

"It was the only life I knew." I
shrugged. "I honestly didn't think I would ever be the kind of guy that
could settle down, but you know what I realized yesterday?"

"What?" She reached over and
intertwined her fingers with mine, looking like an angel beside me.

"I could be that guy. A hot chick
that wanted my attention hit me up and I almost felt ill at the thought of even
hitting on her. It was refreshing. She didn't look attractive, at all, but like
a random girl that was just...there." I shook my head. "You've ruined
me. You've ruined me, and now you're stuck with me."

Lights flashed just behind us, and I
turned to see a patrol boat pulling up.

"You guys alright out here?" One
of the cops on the boat called out from the side of it.

"Yes, Sir. We were just watching the
sunset." I released Cora and moved over to the side closest to them.
"Is that not alright?"

"It's fine, but don't get in the
water over here. We had a few sightings of one of our more aggressive gators.
Just be careful, and try to stick to the more populated areas for swimming.
Alright?" He crossed his arms over his chest, eying me like he believed me
to be the hoodlum I usually was.

"Yeah, no problem. Thanks for letting
us know." I waved at him before dropping back down by Cora, who had pulled
her feet into the boat. I laughed and squeezed her thigh. "Let's watch the
sunset together and then we'll go back to the house. I got a stack of movies
that Daniel and Clay picked up a few days back. It's all action and adventure
type stuff, but I'm thinking it might do us some good to change things up a
little."

She smirked and snuggled up beside me.
"I'm good with whatever you want to do."

I let my eyes move out toward the sunset
and let out a sigh. "Man, this place is almost majestic."

"I agree, but the thought of an
alligator moving through the water around us kind of leaves me worried that
some other horny idiots will come out here to skinny dip and not get so lucky
as we did." She turned toward me, and I reached out and brushed my fingers
by the side of her cheek.

"Are we horny idiots?" I asked
as a smirk lifted my lips.

"I am. I'm not sure about you."
She leaned in closer and kissed me, stealing my breath and sucking the humor
from the moment. Passion rolled through me as I pulled her into my lap and ran
my hands over her back and down her legs as I licked and sucked at her mouth.

She moaned softly and turned to straddle
me. "Let's go back to the house. I don't want anyone coming up on us while
we're not watching."

"You should have thought about that
before you straddled me." I brushed my fingers over her mound and brought
her in for another long string of kisses as I petted her.

The lights flashed behind me, and I
jumped, laughing as the cops passing back by us laughed, too.

"Assholes," I mumbled with a
smile on my lips and helped her move off my lap.

"Nope. Just horny idiots like
us." She wagged her eyebrows and moved over to take the driver's seat.
"I'm driving, so hold on."

*

She wasn't kidding about holding on.

I saw my life flash before my eyes a few
times on the way back to the cabin with the crazy girl driving. She seemed to
be enjoying herself, and there was no way in hell I was showing any more
insecurities for a while. I gripped the side of the boat like it had the power to
save me should we flip over.

"There. No big deal, right?" She
smiled as we pulled up to the dock.

"Yeah, you're not allowed to drive
anymore." I tied the boat up and pulled myself onto the dock before
offering her a hand.

"What? That was fun." She pulled
herself up and wrapped her arms around me. "You seemed to like the thought
of action and adventure. I was just giving us a thrill."

"On T.V." I kissed her nose and
turned, taking her hand and walking us across the street. "You wanna go
into town and grab something to eat or see what the guys are up to and make a
quick sandwich?"

She glanced down at her watch and let out
a cute little yawn. "Let's just make a sandwich and go snuggle in your
bed."

"You mean have wild sex that leaves
us both lusting for more, right?"

"Is that what we're telling our
friends?" She gave me a cocky smirk and walked up the stairs just in front
of me.

I popped her butt and laughed. "We
can, but I was half serious."

"Your lust knows no bounds, does
it?" She paused at the door and glanced over her shoulder, stealing my
heart with her beauty.

"With you? Fuck no." I reached
around her, brushing my arm by her breasts and opening the door. "Behave
in here. I don't want anyone looking your way. I'd hate to kick a man's ass
tonight. Especially a friend."

"Kick whose ass?" Derek glanced
over his shoulder as he sat at the kitchen table to our right. They guys were
playing dominoes and had at least three empty beer bottles sitting beside each
of them.

"Your ass." I wrapped my arm
around Cora's shoulders as we moved up beside the table. "Did you guys eat
anything?"

"Yeah." Clay glanced up and
winked at Cora. "There's a couple of burgers on the stove. Help
yourselves."

"And then, get in here and help me
whoop these idiots at their own game." Daniel pulled the toothpick from
his mouth and smiled. "Bring Cora, too. The more of us playing, the better
odds of me winning."

"That's ‘cause you're a chump." Derek
laughed. "Take a few risks and you'll win. Shit. How many times have we
told you this?"

"You've been teaching him our trade
secrets for winning?" I asked and tugged Cora into the kitchen.

"You win because you cheat,"
Clay called after me.

"Lies. All lies." I pulled the
buns from the cabinet above our heads. "Get the mustard and cheese out of the
fridge, baby. We'll make these burgers and then head to my bedroom."

"I wanna play dominoes. Can you teach
me how you guys do it?" She glanced back toward the table as the guys let
out a loud holler and someone slammed their dominoes down.

"Hell yeah, I can." I worked on
my burger and watched her out of the corner of my eye as my chest filled with
pride. She was the whole deal: the perfect woman as far as I was concerned. It
was scary to think that I had something so close to perfection in my grasp, and
yet there was a high chance that I was going to fuck it up.

She took a big bite of her burger and
nodded toward the fridge. "There was beer in there. Grab two and come in
here with me. I want to watch the game for a few rounds and then I can jump in
if the guys will let me."

"Oh, they'll let you." I smirked
and grabbed the beers. "They think you're going to be an easy target, so
get ready. They might be gentleman on the lake, but around a game of bones?
Fucking forget it."

She laughed and turned to walk back into
the dining room. "You guys mind if I watch and then join in?"

I rolled my eyes as I sat down beside her.
All of them were chattering loudly about her playing and them wanting to help
her learn the game.

"We're not playing for money, so stop
offering up your virginity. Idiots." I took a big bite of my burger and
smirked at Clay who rolled his eyes at me.

"You're just pissy because you lost
the last three games." He gave me a mischievous look.

Cora glanced over at me, her eyebrow
lifted. "You lost to these guys?"

"Yeah, he did." Derek snorted
before his smile faded. "Wait...these guys?"

Cora laughed and moved her burger out of
her way. "Never mind me watching you. Deal me a hand. I think I can do
this. Shouldn't be too hard to take you guys out and teach you a few lessons
while I'm doing it."

My cock hardened at her words—and even
more so at her confidence.

"Oh hell no, she didn't." Derek
pulled the dominoes back over toward him and looked my way. "You in,
Brody?"

"Nope. I want to eat and watch my
girl school you bastards." I shrugged and took another bite as Cora's hand
moved up my thigh and squeezed my dick.

"Watch and learn." She smiled,
and I almost thought to warn her. My group of friends had been playing for
years together. There was no way she was going to win.

"Okay, baby. I'm looking forward to
it." I glanced over at Clay and mouthed for him to go easy on her.

He snorted, and I knew we were in for a
really good time—or a serious ass battle. I leaned back and let things progress
as they would.

It was three hours later and two games
down, and Cora had not only beaten all my boys, but forced each of them to pony
up the twenty dollars they'd each bet against her before the start of the
second round.

I laughed so hard that my sides hurt as they
drug themselves down the hall and proclaimed her as queen of the table.

She stood and turned to me as I finished
my beer. "Alright. Queen of the Table wants King of the Bedroom to make
the night complete."

I nodded and reached for her. "What
my queen wants, she gets."

Chapter 31

Cora

The time for me to leave was getting
closer and closer. I hated the thought of heading back home without my friends.
It almost felt like doing so would be the end of the summer affair Brody and I
had started. While I knew we could make things work after getting back to life,
I didn't know if it was the best answer for either of us. He had dreams and
ambitions, and I did, too.

I let my thoughts go and enjoyed the next
few days with him, playing on the lake and taking long walks through the city
streets together. We promised each other that we would watch a chick-flick a
day for fun, and so far we'd gotten through three of his top five.

After a long day of hanging out at the
island with our friends, we made our way back to his place and made hot dogs
before settling down on the couch together.

"Are you excited about the casework
next week? I mean," he licked mustard off his fingers, "it has to be
pretty cool to see that stuff from behind the red tape, you know?"

"I'm a little excited about it, but
honestly, if you knew my parents, you'd understand why I'm dreading it all the
same." I took a big bite of my hot dog and kept my attention on him.

"Overbearing?" He popped a few
chips into his mouth.

"My dad is. My mom's just his
puppet." I finished my hot dog and stood up. "I'm not sure why she
lets him run all over her."

He followed me into the kitchen.
"Because she loves him, maybe? People do weird shit for love. My mom
stayed with my dad, even though he was a cheating bastard. Crazy. I couldn't do
it, you know?"

His words drove a stake of fear down the
center of me, but I worked hard to play it off. The last thing I needed to do
was ruin our last few nights together thanks to my insecurities.

"Yeah. I couldn't do it, either."
I reached for his plate and threw them both away. "How long are you guys
renting this place?"

"Through August, but I'm serious
about leaving a little early." He licked at his lips as he pulled me close
to him. "Come get in the shower with me. I wanna touch you all over."

"Sounds like a good deal to me."
I lifted to my toes and wrapped my arms around him, kissing him deeply and
melted into the strong frame of his chest. He was everything I'd dreamt a man
to be, and yet my fears trapped me in an odd state of mind. His sister was a
cheater, and so was his dad. Hell, he was a self-proclaimed whore—or had been a
few weeks before.

"Come on, baby." He moved back
and surprised me by picking me up.

I laughed and smacked him in the chest.
"I'm too heavy for this."

"Are you kidding me? I could bench
press you with one arm tied behind my back. Blindfolded. While skating on ice
in socks." He scoffed, and I snuggled against him, chuckling.

"You're so fucking cocky."

"You love it." He leaned down
and brushed his lips by mine.

"Damn straight, I do." I wrapped
my arms back around his neck as he lowered me to the floor and pulled my dress
over my head. He sat down on the toilet and tugged me over to him, undoing my
bra and leaning in to circle his tongue around my nipples one at a time as he
squeezed me softly.

I slid my hands through his hair,
scratching softly as I let out soft moans to spur him on. He was damn good at
making sure I had no doubt to his ability to bring me pleasure by the bucket
load.

He kissed my breasts a few times before
tugging my panties down. His gaze moved up to mine as his expression hardened a
little. "Tell me this isn't it for us, Cora. I want to come see you in the
city. Are you getting a place or staying with your folks or what?"

It was odd to see someone like him showing
insecurity. It turned me on beyond anything he could do physically to me.

"I'm getting a place with Emily at
the end of the summer, but I'll be staying with my parents until then." I
leaned down and kissed him a few times as his hands moved over my legs.

"I have a few friends in the city.
We'll stay with them when I come to see you." He stood and tugged at his
clothes as I turned and started the shower.

"Alright. We'll figure it out when we
get there." I forced myself not to dive into why we should just enjoy
ourselves and let things lay where they did when I left. Who knew if he would
end up staying in Arizona? As badly as I wanted to think about the future with
him in it, I wasn't willing to let myself dream that big just yet. Life had a
way of taking everyone's attention off of the things that mattered most. I
would leave, and he would most likely find someone else.

I stepped into the shower and moved up
into the spray as he climbed in behind me.

"I hate how badly you make me wanna
offer you the world." He slid his hands around my waist and up to cup my
breasts as he pressed himself to my back.

I groaned in delight and pressed my hands
to the wall in front of me, arching my back and rubbing my ass over his
erection.

"I want to do the same, Brody, but
you know that isn't how things work. Let's stop talking about it and enjoy our
time together, instead." I glanced back at him, memorizing the way his
gaze said that he coveted me. Goosebumps raced across my exposed skin as he
reached out and took charge of me, forcing me to turn and lift my ass just a
little.

"Alright, baby. Alright." He
pressed into me and gripped my shoulder tightly as he fucked me long and hard.

I could barely stand by the time he pulled
out, panting loudly. "I don't have a rubber. We'll finish it later."

I'd come three times over the course of
our long shower. There was no way I was watching him go without release.

"No way." I turned and gripped
the soap in my hands, rubbing a lather between my fingers, and I reached out to
stroke him a few times.

He groaned as his teeth sunk into his
lower lip and his hips jutted forward, forcing his thick cock to squeeze
through my tight fingers.

"God, yeah." He gripped the side
of my neck and moved back with me as I washed the soap off and replaced my
hands with my mouth, taking him in as far as I could, and massaging the base of
his cock where I couldn't reach.

His groans got louder and louder as I
worked him thoroughly. His legs locked into place as he gripped my hair and
glanced down.

"Move back, Cora. I'm right there,
baby." The look of pain etched on his face tore at me.

"Come," I mumbled and moved back
down, taking his thick head in my mouth and sucking as I pumped my fingers over
his swollen flesh.

"Fuck," he cried out and
thrusted farther into my mouth as he let himself go. I held on and took as much
as I could, enjoying how much he seemed to lose himself in the moment.

I moved back and washed my face and hands
as he pulled me closer and wrapped me in his arms from behind.

"Delicious." I glanced over my
shoulder as he captured my face and leaned down for a long kiss.

"Jeez. I swear I'm falling in love
with you. I've never in my life been with a woman that knew how to take such
good care of me." He kissed me again as his words tore through my mind. I
wanted to be that woman for a long time, but the warring emotions inside of me
just wouldn't rest.

"Come on, let's go pile up in the bed
and watch T.V." I turned off the water and got out, towel-drying quickly
and sneaking down the hall to his room with a large white towel wrapped around
me. I got into his bed as weariness washed over me.

I wasn't going to last much longer, but it
was good. We'd had a lot of long nights and far too many full days out in the sun
not to give in to the need to sleep, even though it felt too early to do it.

He closed the door and climbed up into the
bed next to me, dropping down on his back and lifting his arm. "Come here
and lay on my chest."

"Nowhere I'd rather be." I moved
up and snuggled into his side as a yawn left me. "I'm not going to be able
to keep my eyes open."

"Good. Sleep here with me tonight.
I'll make you breakfast in the morning." He kissed the side of my head,
and I couldn't seem to respond. He didn't need to make me breakfast. He was
supposed to sneak out in the middle of the night and leave my heart whole and
protected, but he wasn't going to do that.

Maybe I needed to?

*

I woke the next morning with far too much
on my mind. The clock beside the bed read 4 a.m., and I knew that I needed to
head back to the house to think things through for a while. I would be leaving
in a few days, and my heart ached in my chest at the thought. I was working so
hard to protect myself, and yet if I was being honest, at all, I knew I was
without a leg to stand on anymore. I wasn't falling for Brody. I'd already
fallen for him.

After slipping out of the bed quietly, I
dressed and closed his door behind me. The house appeared to be quiet, and the
deep sound of someone snoring caused my lip to lift in a smirk. The guys were
all so cute in their own way, and having met them over the summer would most
likely prove to be a life-long friendship with each of them.

I snuck down the hall and stopped as I
reached the kitchen and realized there was someone standing by the window,
looking out toward the lake.

"Clay?" I turned and smiled as
he glanced my way.

"Hey, Cora. How are you?" He
walked over and gave me a friendly hug. "Did you leave the oaf in there
asleep?"

"Yeah." My heart constricted as
I glanced back down the hall. "Tell him that I needed to get back to my
own bed?"

"Sure, but that's a weird message to
leave him." He chuckled. "Is your bed so much better than his?"

"It's far safer." I laughed, but
the sound fell flat. "Anyway, I should be going."

"Cora." Clay reached out and
gripped my wrist likely. "You know that you don't have to care about him
just because he cares about you. He's a big boy. If you don't want this thing
between you-”

"What?" I smirked. "Why
would you think that?"

"I don't." He crossed his arms
over his chest. "But I can tell you that he does want it. He's not stopped
talking about you since you guys bumped into each other at your cabin the first
day."

A smile lifted my lips. "You know he
had some hot little number pressed to my car, trying to convince her that the
car was his?"

He smiled. "That sounds a lot like my
old friend, but not so much like my new one."

"What's that mean?" I gripped my
keys in my hand as emotion raged deep inside of me.

"It means that people can change.
Just like you might be a great girl today, and tomorrow you could make one
mistake that ruins everything. People make mistakes. All of us. You
included."

I nodded. "I agree with that. I've
made plenty of my own and certainly have suffered at the hands of a few
mistakes made by others around me."

"Right, but on the same token, people
who live their lives full of mistakes and bad choices can change in a heartbeat,
too. It just takes the right person coming into their lives, and they want to
be someone different. Not for themselves, but for that special someone. You
know what I mean?"

Tears burned my eyes. "I think so.
I'm just not sure that's me. I'm honestly terrified of letting someone like
Brody into my heart. It wouldn't be a fling that I could just discard as summer
fun, Clay. It would be so much more."

"Yeah. It would be fucking
amazing." He smiled and touched my shoulder. "You would be amazing
for him, and man, do I think he would rock your world, too."

I chuckled and let a few tears roll down
my cheeks. "Alright. I'm going home. I need to think things through a
little more. Tell him to call me when he gets up?"

"Absolutely." He winked and let
me go without another word.

I drove down the few blocks to our cabin
with indecision rushing through my heart. I knew what the right answer was, but
it seemed like a huge risk to take on someone I didn't know that well. I'd been
straightforward with Brody over the fact that I really wasn't a fling-type of
girl. And, I wasn't. I wanted long-term again, but I knew I wouldn't be much
good at it until I could process everything that had happened with Brandon.

"Or maybe that's just an
excuse." I growled and pulled into our driveway. My phone sat in the cup
holder beside me, and before I chickened out, I reached down and grabbed it to
call my mom.

She answered on the first ring, which was
a little surprising seeing that it was so early.

"Baby? What's going on? Are you
hurt?" The concern in her voice was enough to melt me.

I let out a soft sob and sunk back in my
seat. "I'm fine. Just so torn right now, Mom."

"About what, Cora? Talk to me. Do I
need to come get you?" She cared. I could hear it for the first time in a
long time.

I wiped at my eyes. "No. I just met
someone and he reminds me so much of Brandon, but I don't think he's anything
like him. I want so badly to figure out if there's something between us, but I
need more time, Mom. Coming home is something I'm doing for you and Dad, but I
don't want to live my life for you guys, anymore. I'm almost twenty-three. I
want to live it for me."