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“No,” she says with a shrug. “But I could’ve said the same thing about Riley.”
Nathan squeals when he spots the carousel up ahead. Brody jogs over to us with Nathan bobbing on his shoulders.
“Mommy, Aunt ‘Wainey! I’m gonna go on the horsies!”
Brody gives me a goofy grin. “Yeah, Aunt Rainey, I’m gonna go on the horsies, too!”
Nathan reaches for Devyn so Brody offloads him, handing him over.
“Aren’t you a little big for the horsies?” I smirk.
“I’ll show you big, baby,” he jokes, right before he palms the back of my neck and pulls me into a kiss.
In front of everyone.
I freeze. Brody must sense the tension in my body because he pulls back quickly and immediately looks behind him to see if Drew and Riley witnessed his slip up. Of course they did. I don’t think their jaws would be unhinged otherwise. His eyes return to mine, apologetic, but a little too late. I instantly go into damage control.
“Whoa, there, buddy,” I say, holding my hands up to push him off. “Ever heard of something called personal space?”
Do you see that look on his face? That miniscule, but awful twist of his lips? The crinkle between his eyebrows? The hard set of his jaw? That’s one-hundred-percent, unfiltered hurt. It’s only there for a second or two, but it’s unmistakable.
And it makes me feel like an absolute piece of shit for causing it.
Brody clears his throat and laughs. “Sorry, babe. You can’t blame a guy for trying.”
I smack his arm with the back of my hand. “Keep your lips to yourself next time.” I move closer to Nate and ruffle his hair. “C’mon, big guy, let’s go find you the best-looking horse on the carousel.”
Poor Devyn looks like she wants to run away. That girl has never been good with confrontation.
She clears her throat. “Brody, you coming?”
He rubs his neck and glances at his really confused-looking friends before returning his gaze to mine. “Uh...I need to hit the head first. I’ll meet you there in a few.” Before any of us can say another word, he ducks around us and disappears inside the nearby men’s room.
Needless to say, the rest of our zoo excursion is tense.
Chapter Forty-Three
BRODY
“Talk to me, Brody,” Charlee begs.
I take a sip from my coffee mug. “I don’t want to talk about it, Charlotte.”
“C’mon, dude. This is obviously about a woman. Maybe I can help.”
I didn’t show up for dinner at Pistorio’s as planned, so Charlee knew something was up. Big sis decided to pop by my condo to check on me.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I repeat. “Why is that so hard for you to understand?”
“It’s not hard to understand,” she replies. “But you’re moping, Brody. You don’t mope, especially not over a woman.”
I set my mug down and cross my arms over my chest. “I’m not moping. I just didn’t feel like having Italian for dinner last night.”
She throws her hands up in frustration. “Well, now I know something is wrong!”
I glare at her. “Because I didn’t want you to cook for me?”
“Yes!” she shouts. “You never turn down a free meal, especially if Mom or I are cooking! Not to mention
