Page 8 of Someone Like You

I whipped my head up to find her still watching me. “Can we please stop talking? Please?”

“Just thought you should know. He’s really, really sorry. And he doesn’t ever care that much about other people. I wonder what it is aboutyouthat he likes.”

I leaned back and stared at the ceiling, fixing my focus on a large brown stain above me. “I don’t even know Brody, and he sure as fuck doesn’t know me. Can we end this now?”

“Sure thing, toots.”

I thought she mumbledBut he definitely wants to know youunder her breath, but I couldn’t be sure and I wasn’t about to ask her.

Finally there was nothing but blessed silence interspersed with loud pops every now and then. I closed my eyes, laced my hands together, and let myself drift off.

“Isaac.”

My eyes flew open, and I blinked rapidly, trying to remember where I was. What was going on. It wasn’t a hard task to accomplish, because Brody’s face hovered above mine.

“Fuck,” I said, jolting from the chair and practically flying to the one across from me. His eyes were lit with amusement, and he sank his big body into the chair I had just vacated.

“So it looks like you’re gonna need a new catalytic converter,” he told me, and any trace of amusement had vanished.

“What? What even is that? How much is it?”

“Generally, they’re pretty expensive, usually sixteen hundred?—”

“Oh you’ve gotta be fuckingkiddingme,” I groaned, dropping my head into my hands.

“—but I can cut that in half for you.”

I lifted my head a fraction so I could glare at him. “Oh, can you? And what’ll that cost me? Which piece of my soul would you like?”

His lips parted, and he glanced away for a brief moment. Fuck, I knew it. He was gonna try to swindle something out of me. This fucking bastard. I’d just have to wait until Miguel’s brother got back, but by the looks of it, that might be a year from now. Country-hopping jerk.

“What do youwant, Brody?”

His gaze fastened itself to mine. “A date.”

I stood up. “Go fuck yourself,” I said.

He stood up too, and even though there were probably five feet between us, I still had to tilt my head back to meet his eyes. I resented him for that.

“If you just give me a chance to—” he rushed out, but I cut him off. I didn’t want to give him a chance to do anything.

“What is this, a rom-com? Do you think that after countless hours of forced proximity I’ll come to realize that my anger wasreally just covering up my burgeoning desire for you? Will we ride off into the sunset at the end, hand in hand?”

Brody just stood there, staring down at me, his jaw clenched so tightly I could see a muscle ticking in his cheek.

“Do you know what I want, Brody? The only thing I want?” I didn’t wait for a response. “I just want my goddamn car to be fixed!” I might have yelled that last part. But I was so tired, so done being played with by this guy, and finding out my car needed almost two thousand dollars in repairs had blown the cap off my control. I was being so atrociously mean to him, and I knew I’d be feeling the shame of that for days to come, but it was like someone else was at the helm. The loosest fucking cannon.

Fuck. I’d taken things too far. I needed to apologize.

His eyes searched mine, and then a quiet laugh broke from his lips. “Fuck, you’re brutal.” There was admiration in his tone, and I resented that too.

“Look, I’m?—”

“I’ll fix your car,” he said.

“Withouta discount for sexual favors,” I added. “And I’m?—”

“I didn’t want that, I just wanted?—”

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