Page 34 of Beautifully Used
He gave me a sideways glance and frowned. “Gabby. You know what I mean.”
I stopped, roll halfway to my lips and stared at him. He’d called me Gabby. He had never called me Gabby before. Not that I remembered, anyway. I bit my lower lip and nodded. “Yeah. Okay. Truth?”
“Truth.”
I inhaled a deep breath before exhaling slowly. “I don’t like being here alone. And I haven’t been sleeping much.”
“I had a feeling. I uh… thought I heard you the other night.”
“Sorry if I woke you. I had a bad dream.”
“About the uh…”
I nodded and sipped at the cool rice wine. It soothed my throat as well as my nerves while it made its way down my throat.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No. Besides, what’s there to talk about? We both already know what happened. But I swear, Brodie, I did not lead him on the way he and that girl said.”
“I know.”
“Do you?” I questioned. “Because, well, you and I haven’t exactly had the best experience in that area either, you know. And I know you thought I wanted …”
“You’re wrong,” he interrupted, and I swallowed a lump of air as if I’d been holding my breath. He shook his head and looked me in the eye. “You never led me on. I’d just assumed you were like all the other women I’d met. That’s usually all they ever want from me.”
“You don’t really believe that do you?”
He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter anyway. That’s all I’d wanted from them.”
Wanted. He’d said wanted, past tense as if he suddenly didn’t think that way anymore. I wondered if I should ask the question burning inside my mind. I decided it was time. Roommates needed to be upfront with each other, right?
Before I could put a zipper on my lips, I blurted out, “Why do you do it?”
He laughed, but it sounded more like a nervous chuckle.
“Seriously, why do you sleep around so much?”
He grimaced into his small cup of saké and then downed its contents. He smacked his lips and poured more of the cold clear liquid into his cup. Ignoring my question, he held up the bottle toward my cup and I nodded for him to fill it. It was good saké, and maybe if we drank some more I’d get him to talk to me.
“Like I said, it doesn’t matter. They were just there. That’s all you really need to know.”
“Wait, I thought we were being honest here. You know, roommates trusting each other and all that.”
He shook his head. “How about you tell me about this book you wrote and the one you’re writing now. What made you decide to write it?”
“You’re changing the subject,” I accused. It was obvious to me that Brodie Beaumont was not ready to give in and reveal what demons lurked inside him, or what drove him to engage in so many meaningless amorous affairs. At least not yet.
“Nope, just adjusting it.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’d wager there are some pretty deep, dark secrets hidden among all those words in that book you wrote, or possibly some pretty racy sex scenes. Otherwise, why would you even think about using a pseudonym instead of your real name? Maybe even more so in the one you’re writing now, so I figure, if you’re willing to reveal what those are, I’ll give in and tell you some of my deep dark secrets.”
Chapter 27
Brodie
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