“Brody, listen… you made your decision and I completely respect that.”

“I was pissed off.”

“You had reason to be,” he argued back.

“You’re damn right I did. Even so, this is not what I want.” I set the ripped-up document on the table and stood up. “Take that. Shred it, burn it, do whatever the hell you want with it, but do it after dinner. Let’s go to The Bumper. I need a burger and a beer with my best friend.”

A smile spread across Andy’s face as he stood and grabbed his suit jacket out of the closet. “You’re on.”

He opened his office door and let me go first. I clapped his shoulder as I walked past him. “To celebrate, I’m going to let you buy me dinner.”

A few hours later, I took Diesel for a quick walk and crawled into bed, exhausted from staying out too late with Andy.

My phone chirped.

K: ARE YOU STILL COMING?

FUCK! I got so caught up that I forgot I was going to go to Kacie’s tonight.

BABY, I’M SO SORRY. I HAD AN UNEXPECTED DINNER WITH ANDY AND JUST GOT HOME. I TOTALLY FORGOT.

K: OH, THAT’S OKAY. I GET IT. :(

No. No. No. Not a SAD face!

I FEEL BAD, KACIE. I’M SO SORRY. LET ME MAKE IT UP TO YOU TOMORROW?

K: NO PROBLEM. I UNDERSTAND. I’M TIRED. I’M GONNA HEAD TO BED. I’LL TALK TO YOU IN THE MORNING, OKAY?

YOU’RE MAD.

K: NO, NOT AT ALL. I’M A LITTLE SAD, BUT THINGS HAPPEN. JUST DON’T FORGET ABOUT ME, ALL RIGHT?

Forget about her? Holy shit.

KACIE, I COULD NEVER FORGET ABOUT YOU.

Except for tonight. Ugh. Way to go, Murphy. You idiot.

K: IT’S FINE. I’M GONNA HEAD TO BED. I’LL CALL YOU IN THE MORNING, OKAY?

OKAY. I LOVE YOU.

K: LOVE YOU TOO! :)

I felt like a total dick and that fake smiley face kicked me right in the gut. Call me in the morning? I was going to redeem myself and do her one better.

Sleep had just about taken over when I felt myself jerk awake. I grabbed my phone off the nightstand to check the time and realized I had three missed calls and five texts. All from Brody.

B: SURPRISE. COME TO YOUR FRONT DOOR.

B: YOU GONNA COME LET ME IN OR WHAT?

B: KACIE??? DID YOU FALL ASLEEP?

B: WAKE UP! ME AND DIESEL ARE SITTING ON YOUR PORCH AND ONE OF US HAS TO PEE… BAD.

B: NEVER MIND, WE BOTH PISSED IN THE WOODS. WAKE UP! I WANT TO SEE MY GIRLFRIEND TONIGHT!

Every nerve in my body tingled with pure excitement as I jumped out of bed and flew through the house. The last text came in almost an hour ago, and by now it was completely dark outside. Slowly, I pulled the wooden door open, squinting as my eyes adjusted to the porch light. I prayed that he hadn’t decided to head back home. When I spotted him, I covered my mouth with my hand and tried to stifle my laugh.

Brody was sound asleep on the porch swing, Diesel curled into his side. He was sitting up with his hands clasped together, resting on his stomach. His head was resting on the back of the wooden swing, his mouth slightly open as he snored quietly. A bouquet of pink and purple gladiolus sat on the swing next to him. As I walked over, Diesel lifted his eyebrows and peeked up at me.

“Hey, buddy.” I reached down and scratched the soft black fur on top of his head. His tail wagged in excitement.

The thumping of his tail against the wooden swing caused Brody to shift, but not open his eyes. I walked around to the backside of the swing and stared down at him. He hadn’t shaved in a couple days and his stubble accentuated his strong jawline, framing his face perfectly. I cupped his face in my hands and brushed his cheeks with my thumbs. His stunning green eyes fluttered open, blinking in confusion.

“Why are you upside down?” he asked.

“Why are you sleeping on my porch?” I planted a gentle kiss on his lips before I walked around to the front of the swing and sat on his lap.

He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me in close. “Because you wouldn’t open the door.”

I turned in his lap and swung my leg over his so that I was straddling him. “I’m sorry. I fell asleep. What are you doing here?”

“You said, ‘Don’t forget about me.’” He shrugged. “That was like a direct challenge to prove to you that wasn’t possible, so Diesel and I jumped in my truck and here we are.”

“Don’t you have hockey in the morning?” I mumbled as I gently kissed the side of his neck, slowly inhaling the sporty smell of his cologne and tasting his skin against my tongue. A low groan climbed from deep within him, vibrating against my lips as it escaped his mouth.

“I do. I have to leave before the sun comes up, but what you just did right there makes it all worth it.”

“Just that neck kiss?” I giggled as I pulled back, looking at him. “Wow, you’re easy.”

“You have no idea.” He crashed against my mouth, holding the back of my head with his hands. It was a feral kiss. I don’t know if he still felt he needed to prove that he wouldn’t forget about me or if he was just caught in the moment, but he claimed my mouth like an animal and I wasn’t about to fight it. I kept up with him the best I could but he was relentless, aggressively exploring my entire mouth with his warm tongue.

“Wait. We can’t do this here, not on the porch.” I pulled back. My chest was heaving, my lips tingling. His erection pressed against the inside of my thigh and I knew we both wanted the same thing, but my mom’s porch swing wasn’t the place.

“Come on.” He gently eased me off of him. My face flushed when he stood and reached into his pants, adjusting himself.

He took my hand and led me off the porch, letting go at the bottom of the stairs as he walked to his truck. Diesel followed us down the steps and sat next to me as we watched Brody dig around in his backseat for something. A few seconds later, with a blanket tucked under his arm, he grabbed my hand as he hurried past me.

“Where are we going?”

He turned his head to the side slightly, not saying a word as a sly grin tugged at the corner of his lips.

I didn’t ask again. I had a pretty good idea where he was leading me.

It was dark outside, which made the walk through the backyard difficult, especially with bare feet. I was cautious, worried that I would step in a hole or on a stick and completely kill the mood between us.

“What’s wrong?” he whispered loudly.

“Nothing. I’m trying not to step on anything,” I whispered back, not looking up at him. “I never put shoes on.”

With that he turned and scooped me up, tossing me over his shoulder.

“Put me down! What are you doing?” I giggled.

“You’re going too slow and the faster we get down there, the faster I can have you.” He growled as he slapped my butt.

We got to the beach and I waited for Brody to set me down, but he continued marching right over the sand and onto the creaky wooden pier.

“We’re going on the pier?”

He set me down gently and cocked his eyebrow at me. “Correction. Our pier.”

I tilted my head to the side and frowned at him, confused. “Our pier?”

“Yeah, it’s where we had our first dinner. Remember? As friends?” He rolled his eyes and grinned. “It was on this pier that I learned there was something incredibly special about you. It was also on this pier that I realized I am meant to have more in my life than just hockey.”