Boom - Sabrina Stark Page 0,70

college."

Recalling my initial optimism, I explained, "You see, by this time, I've got only a couple of years left until college graduation, so it's not that awful long. But when I ask my mom for the favor, do you know what she tells me?"

"What?"

"She tells me that I should let it go." A bitter scoff escaped my lips. "As if the place means nothing. And besides, she tells me, she wants her money now, not in a couple of years. And then, when I push the issue, she claims she's doing me a favor by selling it."

"To Jason, you mean?"

If only.

I shook my head. "Actually, she and Jason were both going to sell it. They had a realtor lined up and everything."

"So what happened?" Brody asked.

"So by then, I already know that my mom won't listen. But Jason, he's a little more reasonable."

"He can't be too reasonable," Brody said, "if he sold the place out from under you."

Well, there was that.

Still, I kept on going. "So I beg Jason to buy out my mom's half. I explain to him that it won't even be that hard, because he already owns half of the house on his own. So he'd just need a mortgage for the other half, and not even a big one, payment wise, because he's got plenty of equity, and…" My words trailed off as I remembered where this was going.

My story didn't have a happy ending.

Brody's gaze locked on mine. "And…?"

Oh, screw it. "And besides, it won't be Jason making the payments."

Chapter 39

Brody

What the hell?

I knew what she was getting at. But the question had to be asked. "So who would be making the payments?"

She winced. "You can't guess?"

Shit. "You?"

She nodded. "Right. And it's not just the payments either. There was the money for taxes and repairs—"

"Repairs?" I said. "You're joking, right?"

"Well, yeah," she said. "I mean, no. I'm not joking. And yes, I do realize that Jason didn't actually make them." Under her breath, she added, "Now, anyway."

"And you never checked?"

"At the time?" With obvious reluctance, she replied, "No, actually."

I didn't get it. Arden was no slacker. And she sure as hell wasn't stupid. I asked, "Why not?"

"Because I was always so busy, and it's not like I had any family in the area – well, not anymore. I mean, yeah, there was Jason, but he's pretty anti-social. And whenever I talked about visiting, he got all funny."

I didn't like where this was going. Cousin or not, she should've known the guy was up to no good. Working hard to keep my cool, I said, "Oh yeah?"

She nodded. "Yeah. It was like he thought I was just trying to check on the house or something."

No shit. "Yeah, because you should've."

Her mouth tightened. "Thank you, Captain Obvious."

"Hey, I'm just saying."

"Well, don't." She sighed. "I mean…you don't need to, okay? I know I should've checked. In fact, that's why I was at the house when you caught me in the shower. I was checking on my so-called investment."

I gave her a look. "And how'd that go?"

"You know how it went," she said. "Terrible."

I wouldn't have called it terrible. But yeah, it hadn't gone terrific – unless I counted the sight of Arden with no clothes on. That hadn't been so terrible.

In my mind, I could still see her bare silhouette. She'd looked good. Too good. Through the shower's frosted glass, I hadn't seen much, but what I had seen had been more than enough to get me thinking.

I was still thinking.

But now, the thought of Arden naked was a distraction I didn't need. Already, my body was responding, which only served to piss me off. As I shifted my stance, I told her, "Hey, I was there. Remember?"

"I know you were there," she said. "But you just asked how it went. What, you didn't want an answer?"

"That's not what I'm saying."

"Then what are you saying?"

I was still putting the pieces together. "I'm saying, tell me something I don't know."

"Like what?" she asked.

"Like what happened before I got there."

"Nothing happened," she said. "Jason's supposed to be living there, right? But when I show up, the house is empty, and Jason's nowhere in sight, which makes no sense whatsoever, because I called him beforehand to let him know I was coming. He even promised to meet me." Her shoulders slumped. "But he never showed."

What an asshole.

On that same night, I hadn't shown up until well past midnight, which meant that Arden had been alone in a vacant house for longer