Stupid Girl(80)

“You okay?” Brax asked, and his eyes fixed onto mine until I answered.

“I’m fine now,” I said. I wanted to diffuse the anger I saw brewing in Brax’s expression. “Earlier, though, wow.” My lip quirked up and I lowered my voice. “I said dirty words. Out loud, even. Did you guys win?”

Well, that sort of did the trick. The darkness fell, and Brax’s mouth lifted in one corner, and he gathered me in a full body hug. “Did you now?” he said into the crook of my neck. “I’m sorry I missed that. Yeah, we won. Why didn’t you call me? Or Tessa?”

“Because. Tessa went home for the weekend and you were at your game.” I shrugged. “This is a pain, but I can do it myself. How’d you guys know?”

“Are you sure you wanna be an astronomer?” Cory asked. “Because you’ve become a local star.” He shook his cell phone at me. “Viral.”

My head dropped back and stared skyward. “Ugh, great. My brother’s going to see it and rat me out.”

Brax’s face appeared over mine, and he brushed his lips against my mouth. “I like your brothers, then.” He glanced over my head at the truck, then looked at me. “I can’t believe you can fuckin’ change your own tires.”

“Hmm,” I answered. “The skills I possess.” I shook my head. “Mind-blowing.”

He nestled his lips against my throat, and his teeth grazed my skin. I shivered. “What a sick chick I got, huh, Maxwell?”

“So right, Jenks. I’m pretty jealous, actually. You only got brothers, huh, Beaumont?”

I laughed at Cory, who’d slowly taken a shine to me after that first day in the batting cages. He only called me by my last name, which I found hilariously cute. “Sorry, buddy. Just brothers.”

“Mother?”

“Dude,” Brax teased. “Power down.”

Cory just laughed. “Okay, you two weirdly conjoined twins cut the cord and let’s get this hooptie back together.” He looked at Brax. “We’ve got some assholes to find.”

My gaze shifted from one ball player to the other. “What do you mean?”

Brax moved to the bed of the truck, gathered the last wheel and tire in one hand, and leapt down. “You don’t think we’re just gonna let this ride, do you?”

“No chance,” Cory chimed in.

“Seriously, there’s no need to make a big deal about it,” I urged. “It was a fall prank. Nothing more. Girls and guys, a whole group of them. Not just one person. No big deal. You don’t need to go punch someone’s face in because of it.”

Brax’s head appeared around the tailgate, his hair curling up from the back of his cap. “Doesn’t matter. You’ve already been pranked once.”

“Yeah, and it was a royally fucked up tasteless prank,” Cory said.

“Twice pranked? On my girl?” Brax returned to putting the wheel and tire on the back right side. “Sorry. Hell and fuck no, Sunshine.” The sincere protectiveness made his accent heavier than usual, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like him referring to me as his girl.

I left it at that, mainly because I knew there’d be no changing either of their minds. They were as hard-headed as my brothers. Within minutes, Brax had the tire on and Cory loaded the concrete blocks into the bed of the truck.

“Later,” Cory said, and his Camaro door squeaked as he opened it. “You good, dude?”

“Yeah,” Brax answered, and retrieved his duffle from the backseat. “Be there when I’m there, bro.”

Cory flashed me a grin as he slammed the door and stuck his head out the window. “See ya, geek girl.”

I returned it. “Not if I see you first.” He sped off, his tail lights fading into the night.

Brax pulled me against him, buried his chin into the hollow of my neck, his lips settling on the sensitive skin there. “You gonna let me shower at your place before you show me this Draco thing or what?”

The sensations he stirred within me as his warm breath brushed over my throat made my knees quiver a little. Along with the thought of Brax in my shower. My eyes drifted shut. “You’re not going to go kick some butts first?” My voice cracked, and I slipped my arms around his waist.

Brax’s deep chuckle shook me back to consciousness. “And miss the sky dragon and making out with my girl?” He nuzzled me once more. “That would be a hell and no.” He tugged me toward the truck, and my stomach flipped in anticipation of the night ahead. I was filled with amazement that Brax had been able to bring me to this place; a place where my high school trauma no longer stabbed me, or self-doubt lingered. It had blessedly vanished. And my heart had opened up wide enough to trust him with the secret I’d been holding onto. Right now, he believed me to still be a virgin. Tonight, I’d tell him the whole truth. He’d been honest with me. Now, it was my turn. It’d be his last chance to bail, and that thought alone made me so very nervous. But I had to do it. It was time.