Page 38 of Dirty Like Brody
Then Maggie announced that she was about to go pass out—and Zane suddenly got the bright idea to go for a polar bear swim, which, big fucking surprise, turned into a naked polarbearswim.
Zane, Roni, Dylan and Ash headed for the nearest dock and into the water—not the little pools of hot springs among the rocks below; the frigid waters of the cove beyond. Which left me with Maggie and Jessa bythefire.
“BRO-d-d-deeeeee…!” Zane sang from the water. He was in first; pretty sure his teeth werechattering.
Roni was next in, with asqueal.
“I’m good,” I called out. “Be right here, making sure no one dies.” I couldn’t help snickering as Dylan and Ash jumped in the frigid water, hollering. “Idiots,” I mumbled into my beer. I could see them, like the slick heads of seals bobbing on the water in themoonlight.
Then my eyes met Jessa’s across the fire and my smilefaded.
Maggie, sitting right next to me, was saying something, but I didn’t hear a word as Jessa got to her feet. She wobbled a little, finished her beer, set it down, and turned to walk straight outthedock.
I really should’ve stopped her. She’d been drinking, and she didn’t look all that steady on her feet. But since I was dead to her… I just sat there like an asshole watching her strip down, shedding her furry jacket and the sweater beneath, then her T-shirt—a worn black shirt. My shirt? I could’ve sworn it was, and that shit was messing withmyhead.
She skimmed it up over her head and tossed it aside. Her back was to me, her hair tied up in a high knot, the firelight skimming off her naked curves… which meant the assholes in the water had a frontal view. But she didn’t take off her bra. She kicked off her boots, shimmied out of her jeans—flashing her perfect ass in a pair of nude-colored panties—and hopped in thewater.
Maggie applauded next to me, laughing as Jessa emerged from underwater and shouted, “Jesus! Fuck, that’s cold!” which just made Maggie laughharder.
“Maggie!” Zane threw his arms around Jessa, pulling her close, which I didn’t fucking love. At least I knew for sure it was too cold in that water to get a hard-on, even for Zane. “Get your ass in thewater!”
“Don’t let the old man cramp your style, Maggs,” Ashputin.
Maggie glanced over at the “old man”—me, apparently—and rolled her eyes. Then Dylan joined in the ribbing, and Zane shouted, “Maggie May! Get your ass in the water before my dickfallsoff!”
“Jesus Christ,” Maggie grumbled, getting up. “Doesn’t he evershutup?”
Obviously, it was a rhetorical question, because we both knew the answer. Maggie didn’t usually let Zane’s mouth get to her, but seconds later she’d stripped down to her underwear and was in the water,screaming.
Ash was then out, naked, running shivering up the boardwalk into the woods, followed closely by Roni, then Dylan. Jessa was out next, quaking, her shoulders drawn up around her ears… her nipples looking like they were about to slice through the pasted-on silk of her flesh-tone bra. She might as well have beennaked.
I tried not to stare, but shit. I’d never seen Jessa this naked. Didn’t love that I wasn’t the only one seeing it,either.
Fortunately, Zane was too cold to care. I met her on the dock with a wool blanket someone had left by the fire and wrapped her in it, just as Maggie streaked by. The both of them could’ve been buck naked and making out and Zane probably wouldn’t havestopped.
“Holy mother of fuck,” he gasped as he dashed by, hot on Maggie’s tail. “My balls are up behind my eyeballs.” Then he caught Maggie and swung her up over his shoulder, cavemanstyle.
Maggie smacked Zane’s bare ass, hard, as he hauled her off into the trees. “Do not drop me,” she ordered. “I’m freezing!” They disappeared into the dark, leaving Jessa and Ialone.
She was wrapped up tight in the blanket, wavering on her feet, shivering so hard her teeth werechattering.
“You should go back to your cabin,” I told her. “Get a firegoing.”
I didn’t wait for aresponse.
I headed back to the fire pit to put the fire out. She needed to get warm—somewhere else—and I needed to get the hell away from her and her see-through panties. She didn’t seem to get the memo on that, though, because shefollowedme.
When the fire was out I stood to leave, but she stood inmypath.
“Yeah… a fire’s a good idea,” she said, blinking up at me, her big brown eyes all bleary and needy and soft. “Guess I’ll just have to try and get it lit andwhatever.”
Seriously?
I was not fucking falling for this shit. What was I, a fucking lumberjack now? She want me to go out and haul down a tree for her, and those big brown eyes were supposed to get me todoit?
Fat fuckingchance.
“It’s a luxury resort,” I said flatly. “I’m sure they’ve made it real easy for you. Probably stocked your cabin with everything you need andthensome.”
