AllFreeNovel
Share Us
More beautiful than my memory ever did justice, Elora Rhodes looked exhausted and uncharacteristically discouraged as she knelt to retrieve her discarded luggage. Her hair had grown out since I’d seen her last, and she’d dyed it darker, making those gray-blues impossibly brighter. More definition had built into her biceps, like she’d been honing her strength towards impossible perfection.
If she wasn’t Rhyett and Jameson’s little sister, I probably would have asked her out fresh out of high school. The moment she was legal, I would’ve done the whole roses and a boombox outside her window deal—or something equally pathetic in an effort to woo her. As it was, a teenage pact amongst the guys barred any of us from crossing that boundary. James got his heart stomped on by El and Hadlee’s friend, and when she became impossible for him to avoid–plaguing the house and after event parties until Rhyett caved and told the girls what she’d done to their brother–we’d all vowed to stay away from our best friend’s sisters or sisters’ best friends. In a town as small as Mistyvale, it only made sense, and we’d all honored it like law ever since. There was a section in there about moms and aunts too, but I didn’t think that had presented an issue for any of us. The worst part? I’d pushed him into that relationship in the first place, and the weight of his bruised heart had been my burden ever since.
Even now, a neon warning sign flashed in my mind screaming off limits. As I watched her nervously lick her lips, I’d never regretted that agreement more in my life. With a huff, El straightened, and when those blue eyes landed on me, her red lips popped open in surprise.
Well, shit.
FOUR
ELORA
“El?” Broderick’s evident shock gave way to one word: just my name as he blinked and staggered forward. I couldn’t say the same. Exhausted, flustered, and more than a little pissed off, it took all my faculties to remember how the hell to close my mouth. Fuck. Me. Nearly all six feet of warm umber skin and lean muscle were on display and glistening wet from an apparent dip in the pool. I followed the line of his gorgeous abs down to those navy-blue swim trunks before my brain caught up and yanked my gaze to those perplexed brown eyes. He was already closing the gap, broad hands gripping the towel haphazardly wrapped around his broad shoulders.
“H-hi,” I finally managed to stammer. What the hell was that pathetic broken syllable? I’d delivered keynote speeches to thousands of people, live streamed lessons to three times that, argued with CEOs of billion-dollar companies about the long-term impacts of their economic choices, but my hormone-induced high school heart throb reduced me to utter stupidity with his audacity to possess abs and say my name. Just like that, I was sixteen years old again, pouring my heart out at my junior prom, only for him to walk away, leaving me staring after him into the mist blanket over the parking lot.
An entire lifetime took place between then and now, so many fresh memories of his laugh, his quick wit, his ability to analyze a situation in a circle until everyone in the room was questioning their sensibilities. He’d been there for me—for us—through hell and high water, through losing Pops, and nobody had hesitated to volunteer him when we needed an extra hand. Rhyett and Jameson called him one of our ‘bonus brothers’ alongside Max. But he’d never been that for me. He’d always been…Broderick. Somehow, the fifteen years of new memories didn’t erase the ache in my chest as I watched him close the distance.
“You okay? You look stressed.”
“Oh,” I sighed, eyes sliding shut as I forced myself to swallow my pathetic unrequited feelings and gather my composure. Travel had been exhausting in the most literal sense, only to arrive at this clusterfuck. “Evidently, speaking at an event doesn’t guarantee your room these days. They double booked.”
Brows winging up, his gorgeous brown eyes rounded. “You’re… you’re speaking this week?”
“If I can find somewhere to crash in this damn city, yeah. Principles for Women in Leadership on Wednesday morning. But everything’s booked. We’re vying for space with an NFL game, and Taylor Swift, and apparently not even Vegas was prepared for all three of us at once.” Tears pricked at my eyes as the explanation poured through my lips. Kicking myself, my brain tried to muddle through if I was close to my cycle, just overstimulated from the long day, or if an unexpected Broderick sighting had triggered memories of home. Aaand, now I’m homesick, for the love of God. Annoyed with myself, I sucked down a steadying breath and huffed, “It’s fine, honestly, I’m just tired. I’ll figure it out. I’m sure there’s something on the outskirts of the suburbs or a town or two over.”
His brow furrowed, and I studied the familiar amber flecks in his eyes as they darted past me, his hand vaguely damp where it settled on my shoulder. “Hi, ma’am, there must be a mistake. Ms. Rhodes and I are associates, and I can assure you, she leaves nothing to chance. Surely, you and I can both agree that if she’s speaking at the event, she needs a room on site, and it would be insane for the resort to not prioritize making this right.”
In that one blink, he swapped from my Broderick to Dr. Broderick Allen, and my damn knees went weak. Pathetic. Honestly, Elora, we are above this, I hissed to myself internally. Brain Elora and body Elora needed to get on the same damn page.
“As I told your friend, Mr?—”
“Allen,” he supplied with a smile that could make any female buckle. I watched the front desk girl’s skin go muddy as she attempted to keep her composure with the deity now leaning on her marble counter.
“Dr. Allen,” I chirped dumbly, as if that elevation in title would somehow help our case.
“Yes,” the little blonde smiled sympathetically, a trace of pink coloring her pretty cheeks when she met Broderick’s gaze. Same babes, same. “Well, Dr. Allen, as I told your friend, unfortunately, we had a huge system error. We are deeply sorry for the inconvenience, but there is nothing I can do. The computer booked nearly twice as many guests as rooms, and we didn’t catch the error until the convention began checking in. We’re offering an incentive to attendees to allow speakers to stay in exchange for credit, but so far, there’ve been no takers.”
“Well, surely you have rooms in a sister hotel?”
“I’m sorry, sir, but we’re completely booked.”
“I understand you’re just doing your job, and this isn’t your fault,” he cocked his head to catch her name plate, his voice patient and level as ever. God, why was that hot? I ground my teeth. Everything about Broderick had been hot from the summer when he showed up with puberty-induced veins in his forearms. “Hallie, but I’m sure you agree this is unacceptable. Who can we speak with to resolve this for Ms. Rhodes?”
“Broderick, it’s fine,” I interjected. “She’s exhausted her resources; I’ll just go call around?—”
“Worst case, you crash with me,” he supplied matter-of-factly, as if nothing about that would be in the least bit uncomfortable. The sudden catapult of my heart begged to differ.
I blinked, tucking my now-haggard curls behind an ear. My gaze traced over that immaculate, lean frame, a lone water droplet making a race down the length of his torso. Absolutely not. In no universe could I survive a week in five-hundred square feet with that, without humiliating myself like I did all those years ago. Broderick’s loyalty had always been, and would always be, to my brothers. There wasn’t even a discussion to be had, of that he had been abundantly clear. “Don’t be silly. I could never impose.”
“Like I didn’t practically live on your couch growing up.” He squeezed my shoulder. “I know Hallie can help us out. If you grab yourself a cup of tea, I’ll meet you by the fireplace when we have some solutions. In the meantime, call around as much as you’d like. We’ll all figure this out.”
My eyes narrowed, ego bristling. “Like I just said, we’ve already exhausted her resources.”
“So, I’ll exhaust someone else’s,” he countered cheerfully with a little smile that spelled a hellish mental loop for whoever they doomed to respond to the escalation call. I almost felt bad. Almost. If it weren’t for the ache in my fingers, still clinging to my luggage, I might have sincerely dragged him away before he latched onto his next target. The manager appeared at that moment, and with a sigh, I turned to find out what I could.
As luck would have it, nobody within a ninety-minute radius seemed to have vacancies. Well, unless I was brave enough to march down to the seedy-looking hotel available by the hour, but I needed to shower just from talking to the front desk guy on the phone. The Summit’s social media forum was full of attendees, all reporting back as we found new information, and they’d begun a roommate file. Beds were filled as quickly as people posted them, and I’d just hocked my phone into my bag to massage my throbbing temples when Broderick sidled up beside me on the front curb of the resort, with a prime view of the illuminated valet booth. He tossed a gold foiled envelope in my lap and sat shoulder-to-shoulder with a sigh before placing a keycard in my palm.
“They had something?” I chirped, hopes instantly dashed when I saw the stiff smile as he feigned nonchalance. I knew him too well to believe it.
