On the Rocks (Mixology #2)(25)
Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy

I slunk down on the couch without bothering to get dressed. What the hell had just happened? I’d just fucked up everything. I should have put the brakes on way earlier, and I knew exactly why I hadn’t. I wanted her. I wanted to see, feel, and touch every damn thing she had to offer. Yet somehow that had ended in my making her cry. Fucking fantastic. I downed the rest of my Long Island without tasting it.

I was still sitting in the same spot when the front door opened at some point later. I was too out of it to even notice the time change.

“What the hell did you do?” Brody dropped his backpack as soon as he closed the door.

“What makes you think I did anything?”

“Let’s see. You’re sitting on the couch in your underwear holding a Surfside Grille t-shirt. Either you’ve got some t-shirt fetish I don’t want to hear about, or you slept with Carly. At the moment I’m hoping it’s the fetish.”

I looked down at the t-shirt still in my hands. “It’s neither.”

He sat down on the love seat. “Meaning…”

“What are you doing home anyway? Aren’t you supposed to be in Augusta still?”

“It was all crazy stressed out planning for my brother’s wedding. I left early, but don’t change the subject.”

“I didn’t sleep with her. I got close, and damn it I wanted to, but we’d been drinking. It seemed like a bad idea.”

Brody grinned. “Well I’ll be damned.”

“What?” I prepared myself for whatever smart aleck comment he had coming.

“You actually made a smart decision, and you did it for the sake of someone else. I’d have thought I’d see pigs fly first.”

“Shut up. I just hope she’ll talk to me tomorrow. She started crying and ran into her room.”

“Did you try to talk to her?”

I shook my head.

“Good. Give her some time and let her save face.”

“Save face?”

“I’m sure the whole situation was embarrassing for her.”

I groaned. “You’re not allowed to go away again.”

“What, you don’t trust yourself alone with her?”

“No. Obviously I shouldn’t.” I pulled myself off the couch. “I need a shower.”

“A cold one?”

“What other kind would I take?”

“You did the right thing, Macon.”

I turned back. “Then why do I feel so awful right now?”

“I said you did the right thing, not the easy or fun thing.”

“Maybe she’ll forget this ever happened.”

“Now that’s just called being delusional.”

I didn’t bother to answer. I headed down the hall to the bathroom. Even before I stepped into the shower, I knew the cold water was going to do nothing to cool my feelings for Carly. I had it bad.

Chapter Fifteen

Carly

Mortification. Mortification like I’d never imagined possible hit me like a freight train when I lay in bed the morning after my failed attempt at bartending. I guess I could add seducing Macon to my list of things I failed at too. I mean who couldn’t get Macon to sleep with her? I was an idiot to even try, but after a few shots I couldn’t help it. I was tired of pretending I didn’t have feelings for him. He’d seemed so into it, so ready to take things there, and then he’d stopped. His excuse was we’d had a lot to drink? Maybe I was a little buzzed, but I was sober enough to know what I was doing. Besides, I got this gnawing feeling that there was more. Something else was holding him back, and I was sure it had something to do with me.

As soon as the clock hit six o’clock I was up and out of bed. It was early enough that I could avoid seeing Macon, but late enough that I knew Colin would be awake. I didn’t bother with a shower, I’d just do that at Colin’s house. Thankfully, I’d kept his spare key. I’d also left some clothes there. Theoretically I could move back in with him, but what would that look like? Carly the screw up. I couldn’t even live with guys without making a fool of myself. I was going to slip out before Macon woke up to give myself one reprieve from facing him, but that was it. By that evening I needed to get over it and act like I didn’t even care.

I didn’t hear anything out in the main area, so I carefully opened my door. I took a few steps toward the kitchen. “Good morning, Carly.”

My heart sped up before returning to normal when I realized it was Brody. Wasn’t he supposed to be away?

“Hey. I thought you went back to your parents’ house.”

“I’m back early.” He walked over to the coffee maker. “Want a cup?”

“Oh, that’s okay. I’m going to head out.”

“Let’s go for a walk.” He didn’t say anything. He refilled his mug before filling another.

“I actually need to go by my brother’s house.”

“Just take a short walk with me.” He handed me the tall mug full of black coffee. A few months earlier I’d been all about the milk and sweetner, but I’d grown to prefer it black. It was so much simpler and potent that way. Maybe it was symbolic of my life. It had gone from sweet to bitter almost overnight.

“Why? Why do you want to go for a walk?” I asked suspiciously.

“Because I do.” He walked over to the door and slipped on his flip flops. “We can drink our coffee as we go.”

I weighed my options. Things were already insanely awkward with Macon, why make them weird with Brody? I assumed he’d talked to Macon. He wouldn’t have any other reason to try to get me talk to him. I grabbed my purse so I wouldn’t have to go back up.

“You want to drop that off in the trunk of your car?” Brody gestured to my small clutch as we took the stairs. My flip flops made their usual clatter on the way down.

“Oh, yeah. Probably.”

I stopped by my car and dropped off my bag. I went to pocket my keys, belatedly realizing I didn’t have a pocket in the skirt I was wearing.

“I can hold these for you.” Brody took them and slipped them into his pocket.

I stifled a groan. He was making sure I didn’t just storm off.

We walked down the empty beach in silence at first. I let out a few deep breaths and enjoyed the quiet I knew would disappear in just a few hours when everyone else woke up. I watched the waves move in and out. There was something so comforting about the rhythmic nature of it. Some waves crashed further up on the beach than others, but they still kept coming. Nothing stopped the cycle.