Boom - Sabrina Stark Page 0,81

I laughed. "But that was my serious answer, honest. I really am having a wonderful time."

With a smile in his voice, he said, "So you like ripping down drywall, huh?"

I had, actually. One of the new pipes had sprung a leak in the kitchen, and part of the wall had gotten seriously damaged. The soggy drywall had to be ripped out so new drywall could take its place.

At the time, I'd just seen Waverly throw herself at Brody for what felt like the millionth time, and I'd been eager to burn off some steam. So when Brody had mentioned in passing that he was going to get someone to take a crowbar to the wall, I figured the activity would be just the ticket for releasing some of my endless frustration with Waverly's antics.

In my mind, the wall had been Waverly's face, and the crowbar had been, well, a crowbar actually. I never would've committed such violence in real life, but the whole thing had been surprisingly fun, just like last week when I'd taken the same crowbar to an upstairs closet.

To Brody, I said, "The funny thing is, I like all of it."

"All of it?" he said. "Even Roy's camera?"

I knew what he meant. For whatever reason, Roy seemed to take a particular interest in whatever I was doing, especially if I was doing it near Brody. I knew it was part of the job, but there were times when it was a little unsettling.

With a laugh, I admitted, "Well, maybe I could use a little less camera time."

"You want me to talk to him?"

The offer caught me off guard. "What would you say?"

"I'd tell him to knock it off, find someone else to focus on."

I felt my brow wrinkle in confusion. "But even you said he's just doing his job."

"It doesn't matter," Brody said. "Say the word, and I'll make it stop."

Judging from his tone, I almost believed him. "You wouldn't, really?"

"I would," he said.

He sounded absolutely sincere, and I was embarrassingly touched by the offer. Still, it seemed wrong to take Brody up on it. After all, I'd signed a contract, and I wasn't the type to not live up to my end of the bargain.

"Nah," I said. "But thanks. Seriously."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure." I perked up. "And besides, it will be fun to see the finished product."

"You mean the house?"

"The house and the show." Still, at the thought of things actually ending, I felt an all-too familiar pang in my heart. As we walked along, I added, "If you want the truth, I'll be a little sorry to see it done. I mean, I'll be glad to see the house restored and all, but it'll be strange when it's over. You know?"

His voice grew quiet. "I do."

We were silent for another long moment, and I couldn’t help but wonder if Brody was thinking the same thing I was thinking.

What would happen when the house was done?

Would we go our separate ways?

I hated the thought more than I cared to admit. And judging from Brody's lingering silence, maybe he wasn't too thrilled with the idea either.

Or maybe that was just wishful thinking on my part. I hadn't been lying. The last couple of months had been some of the happiest of my whole life.

I adored what I was doing – and who I was doing it with.

Brody.

He was nothing like I'd expected.

And now, I couldn’t help but recall how much I'd hated him back in high school. As we continued along the moonlit beach, I said, "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Remember that English assignment? The fiction-writing thing?" With an embarrassed laugh, I said, "You know, the one with the candy store?"

"I remember."

"Why did you hate it so much? I mean, I could see where you wouldn't love it. But it seemed like it almost made you mad or something."

He was quiet for several long moments. "You want the truth?" he finally said. "I wasn't mad. I was jealous."

I stopped walking. "Jealous? Why?"

"Maybe it was all the candy." His tone grew teasing. "And wasn't there ice cream, too?"

There had been ice cream, not at the candy store itself. But in my fictional world, the parents had been stupidly fond of taking the family out for ice cream.

In hindsight, I guess it was pretty ridiculous. Still, I teased, "What do you have against ice cream?"

"Nothing," he said. "Maybe I was hungry. And you had it all."

"Oh stop it," I laughed. "You know it wasn't real, don't you? I mean,