Boom - Sabrina Stark Page 0,12

if you know what I mean."

From start to finish, the whole thing had been beyond mortifying. Still, I'd gotten what I'd needed, so it was worth it, right?

Cami muttered, "He's still a lunk-blaster."

I didn’t even know what that meant. Looking to move on, I said, "But you haven't heard the rest of it."

Sounding decidedly disgruntled, she asked, "Does it get better or worse?"

"Better." I hesitated. "Mostly."

As Cami listened, I went on to tell her that Brody had agreed not only to spare the house, but to fix it up, too.

Sure, he hadn't looked too happy about it, but he had agreed.

I finished by telling her, "And when you think about it, fixing it up is almost as important as not tearing it down."

"How so?" she asked.

"Well, let's say he only agreed to not demolish it. Yeah, that's good for now. But what happens if he sells it? If it's not even livable, the next person might demolish it anyway."

"But I don't get it," Cami said. "If the house needs so much work, why would anyone want to buy it in the first place?"

"For the land," I said. "It's right there on the beach and really valuable, by local standards anyway."

Property values were relative, after all. If my grandparent's house had been located almost anywhere else, like in California for example, the land alone would've cost millions.

But here in Michigan, it wasn't like that. Between the smaller economy and harsh winters, beachfront properties weren't completely out of reach for an average person – providing they had a great job or lots of savings, preferably both.

Unfortunately, I had neither.

On the phone Cami was saying, "But the way you always talked, I thought your grandparents didn't have a lot of money."

"They didn't," I said. "But the house has been in our family for a long time, over a hundred years now."

It almost hurt to say it. Thanks to my own personal failure, the line of custody had ended with Jason rather than continuing on with me.

Still, I had to focus on the positive. "But now I don't need to worry, because it's going to be fixed up. See?"

"Oh sure," Cami said. "By your arch enemy. I mean, come on. You seriously believe he'll do it?'

Yes. I did. In spite of his many other flaws, Brody was the kind of guy who never went back on his word.

I recalled that from high school, too.

I replied, "Yeah. I do believe him, actually."

She gave a snort of derision. "Like you believed Jason?"

Her words found their mark, and my stomach twisted with new worry. Or maybe it was just hunger. For all kinds of reasons, I hadn't eaten a single thing yesterday.

And now I was starving. In fact, I was so hungry, I was beginning to smell things – bacony things.

I loved bacon. I swear, even now, I could smell it wafting through the walls. I poked my head out from under the covers and took a tentative sniff. Maybe that was bacon.

On the phone, Cami said, "Well?"

By now, I was so distracted, I could hardly think. "Well what?"

"You were about to tell me what happened next."

"Oh, right. So anyway, once he gave me back my phone—"

"Wait, what? He took your phone?"

"Uh, yeah. Didn't I tell you?"

"No."

"Oh. I guess that slipped through the cracks. Anyway, when I was in the shower, he swiped my cell phone."

Her voice rose. "And you let him?"

"I didn't know he swiped it until it turned up missing," I said. "And even if I had seen him take him take it, what was I supposed to do? Tackle him naked?"

At the thought, something fluttered in my stomach. It wasn't hunger. Or at least, it wasn't hunger for food.

The truth was, even though Brody was the last person I'd ever sleep with, I wasn't blind to his appeal. And, when it came to sex, let's just say it had been a while.

For me.

Not him.

Obviously.

On the phone, Cami said, "You could've yelled at him or something."

"Right," I muttered. "As if that would stop him. But forget the phone. I haven't told you the rest. After he agrees to fix up the house, he tells me that he also owns the place across the street."

"You mean across from your grandparent's place?"

"Right," I said. "And he invites me – no orders me, actually – to stay the night over there, I mean, over here, in the guest bedroom, so we can work out the details in the morning, meaning today."

Sounding more horrified than ever, she said, "And