Page 12 of How to Kiss a Hawthorne Brother
Perry nods in his usual stoic way, no trace of a smile. “Kate.”
I almost laugh at the predictability of his response. All these years, and Perry is the same curmudgeon he’s always been.
Kristyn clears her throat beside me, and I step back, motioning her forward. “This is Kristyn. My cousin from up in Chicago.”
Brody extends his hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Yeah. You, too. I’ve heard a lot about you,” Kristyn says.
Brody holds my gaze for another long moment, his hands propped on his hips. “You look good, Kate. The same, but... better.”
“Thanks.Youlook like you were dosed with the super serum that turned Steve Rogers into Captain America.” I playfully push against his chest. “What is all this? I had no idea any of this was going on.”
“What would you have had me do? Send you shirtless selfies?” His grin is teasing in a way that feels very Brody, just a little more confident.
My eyes involuntarily drop to his chest, and I imagine, for a split second, what a shirtless selfie from Brody might look like.
The idea is as foreign as it is enticing.
I take a giant step backward, nearly colliding with Kristyn. “Fair point,” I say as I awkwardly regain my balance, one arm on Kristyn’s shoulder. “Though honestly, most guys who have all...” I wave my hand awkwardly toward his body. “...this going on would definitely be sending shirtless selfies. Or at least posting them on Instagram.” My voice is higher and breathier than it should be, and I clear my throat.
What is going on? There are two very different reactions happening inside my body right now. If my brain is the middle-aged mom at a Harry Styles concert, wearing earplugs and holding her purse in her lap, my body is the college sophomore in the front row, screaming through happy tears as she throws her bra onto the stage.
But this isBrody. My body shouldn’t bereactingin any sense of the word. I should be joking about this. Ihaveto joke about this. Because the alternative?
Fantasizing about Brody shirtless or anything else-less is completely unacceptable.
“You okay?” Kristyn asks quietly.
“Mm-hmm,” I mumble under my breath. “Totally good. Fine. Good.”
She only chuckles. She ought to apologize. Had she not planted the seed in my head, I wouldn’t even be feeling any of this.
Brody stretches his arms over his head, and his shirt lifts, revealing a brief glimpse of an inch of smooth skin above the waistband of his shorts.
Fine.Probably I’d still be feeling something without Kristyn’s suggestion. But I still blame her for starting it.
“So what are your plans?” Brody says, looking from me to Kristyn and back again.
“We’re staying in Franklin,” I say. “We just hiked up for the day hoping we’d catch you.”
He shakes his head. “I still can’t believe you figured out we’d hit Siler today.”
“Your last text made that part easy. We were already in Franklin, hoping you were close. When you responded, it was only a matter of leaving early enough this morning to beat you here.”
“What would you have done if I hadn’t responded?”
“Hiked in and camped, probably. And just hope you’d eventually show up. But trust me, we were happy to give up the campout for another night in our comfortable hotel beds.”
“Says the woman who’s slept on more mountainsides than I have.”
I tilt my head. His awareness of my travels sends an unexpected burst of warmth right to my heart. “Yeah, well, Kristyn isn’t quite as adept at roughing it as I am.”
“I heard that,” Kristyn calls from where she’s kneeling over her daypack, digging through it like she’s looking for something. “I was perfectly willing to sleep on the ground, thank you very much.”
“Are you going into Franklin to resupply?” I say, not even trying to keep the hope out of my voice. “We could give you a ride, then maybe we could hang out for a night before you get back on the trail?”
“We’re definitely in need of a resupply,” Brody says. “And a shower.” He pinches his shirt and lifts it away from his body. “We haven’t left the trail in four days. In case you haven’t noticed, we stink.”
