Page 58 of I Blame the Alcohol

I blink, “What?”

“I lied.” Cody swallows, the action dragging my attention to the scruff on his throat. “I didn’t carry you out of that club because I was worried about your safety. I did it because I was jealous.”

The fingers pressing against my spine tighten. “I was jealous Hunter was the one who got to kiss you. Hell, I’m jealous of every guy you look at, every guy you talk to.”

I smirk, ignoring the way my heart is hammering against my ribcage, “Hayden must have done a number on you.”

Cody winces, “About that… I may have purposefully riled you up that morning.” I freeze as he hurries to continue, “Watching you go on a date with another guy was agony. I had to make sure it wouldn’t happen again.”

I try to jerk away but his hold has me trapped, “You tricked me?”

“Let me finish.”

“I cannot believe you had the audacity…”

“Stel.” Cody takes the risk of removing one hand from my back to cup my cheek.

“Please, just let me finish.”

I glare but don’t make another move to swim away. Despite my rising frustration, this position is quite comfortable.

“Thank you.” He sighs, gently brushing my wet hair back from my face.

“I lied when I said it didn’t bother me you were going on a date. When you said yes to Hayden, I wanted to break something. I wanted to fall to my knees and beg for you not to go.”

“I lied when you asked why I pretended to be your boyfriend. The reason I couldn’t give you a straight answer is because I wasn’t pretending. I am crazy about you and that terrifies me.” Cody pauses, his gaze flicking to my mouth in memory.

“And lied when I said we could never be together. You're the only person I’d want to pursue something with and that will never change.”

I feel tears start to well up, but I blink them away.

“What about my brother?”

Cody sighs, “I’ll talk to him. You were right, I was taking the easy way out. I’m willing to fight for you, Stel, I’m willing to fight forus. Even if it means burning bridges along the way.”

My excessive blinking fails and tears spill over.

“I lied too.”

Cody goes still against me, his sudden silence accentuating the thundering beat of my heart.

“I was always going to wait for you.”

Chapter 18

Cody

Somehow, we make it back to Stella’s bedroom.

Stella was more than willing to get down and dirty on the pool’s spotless tiles, but that wasn’t how I wanted our first time to go.

“Hurry up, Cody.” Greedy hands pull at my wet t-shirt before I can even close her bedroom door. Stella’s gaze is flushed and a little unfocused as she all but drags me to her bed.

“Take a breath, Stel. We’ve got all night.”

She scowls and I laugh, purposefully taking my time stripping off my damp shirt and jeans before crawling across the mattress to join her.

Stella eyes my briefs and the erection tenting the damp material. She’s still wearing that white t-shirt, which is completely see-through thanks to our dip in the pool. My dick throbs as I take in the pointed peaks of her nipples, and the lacy black thong that has to go ASAP.

---