Page 18 of Brodie

“Red, it is.” She holds up her glass, and I open the bottle,pouring some into it for her. She takes a sip and scrunches her nose.

“Bad?”

“It tastes salty, like all sports drinks do to me, but theflavor isn’t bad. It’s kind of like fruit punch.” She hands the glass over tome, and I take a sip.

“It’s not bad. And it doesn’t taste like dirty bathwater.” Iwatch her smile.

“Which one next?”

“You choose.” She picks up the bottle in the middle andpours some of the bright green liquid into the glass. After she takes a sip,she holds the glass out to me, her expression blank. “Do you like it?”

“Just try it.” I take a sip and gag.

“You’re evil.” I mock glare at her when she laughs. “Whatthe fuck is this?” I smell the glass and almost gag again.

“It tastes like pickle juice.” She takes the glass back andsips more. “I kind of like it.”

“There’s something wrong with you.” I grab the glass andrinse it out. “Hopefully, that’s the flavor they said is only available for alimited time.”

“If it is, kids will love it, even if they only buy it todare each other to drink it.”

“True.” I laugh while I get more ice and a few extra piecesfor Jeb. After tossing them to him, I take the glass back to Ree. She opensanother bottle and dumps some crystal blue liquid into the clear cup. When shereaches for it, I shake my head.

“You don’t trust me?” She holds her hand over her heart.

“Not anymore.” I raise the glass to my nose and smell itwhile she laughs. I take a sip when I don’t smell anything odd. “Not bad.” Ihold the glass out to her, and she eyes me wearily. “What, you don’t trust me?”

“Should I?”

“I’m not the one who didn’t warn you about the picklejuice.”

“It says a lot about someone when they can’t let things go.”

“It happened two minutes ago.”

With a smile, she grips the glass and takes a drink. “Oh, Ilike this one.” She drinks more.

I shake my head. “And here you thought I was trying to playyou.” I open the last bottle. When I pour out the liquid, it’s bright yellow.After trying it, I pass the glass to her and watch her take a sip. Then, hereyes widen. Leaning over, she spits into the sink.

“What the heck is that?” She wipes her mouth with the backof her hand.

“My guess? Lemon.”

“It tastes like Mr. Clean.” She laughs, and I watch with myhands fisted at my sides so I don’t do something stupid like reach for her,tangle my fingers in her hair, and kiss her.

Her eyes meet mine, and her hilarity dies instantly, likeshe knows what I’m thinking. Swallowing, her gaze drops to my mouth, andelectricity seems to vibrate through the air between us. Without thinking, Itake a step toward her and then curse under my breath when her cell phonerings, breaking into the moment.

Fuck.

Hopping off the counter, she goes to her bag, takes out herphone to check the screen, and then taps the side, sending whoever it was tovoicemail. She looks up at me after shoving her cell back into her purse. “Ishould—”

“Do you want to watch a movie?” I cut her off before she cantell me that she should leave because I know that’s what’s coming.

“Um.” She rubs her lips together, her gaze dropping to mymouth so quickly that I would’ve missed it if I weren’t watching her soclosely. “Sure, okay. Yeah.”

I don’t give her a chance to change her mind. I walk intothe living room and take a seat on the couch. She doesn’t sit next to me; shesits as far from me as she can get. I hide my smile and turn on the TV. Aftersome bickering, we agree on the first Saw movie. As it begins, I feelher eyes on me more than once. I don’t ask her what she’s thinking. Instead, Idecide to just let her work things out in her head. It’s obvious there issomething between us, but after finding out tonight at dinner that her ex cheatedon her, I now understand why she has her guard up. The thing is, I’m not in arush. I have all the time in the world to see where things go.

Chapter 9

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