This is what happens when...
Characters: Brady and Susanna Setting: Pool, very late night
After going on a small tour of the place with Pippa, who was fascinating in a way Brady was surprised to admit even just to himself, he’d gone on back to his room. That made him edgy though, because even though he’d made the decision to take the alcohol back to the bar and leave it there, he still really wanted a drink. But even though he wasn’t sure whether he was more of a danger drinking or not, and even though he knew the alcohol would help to dull all the overwhelming things clouding his mind, he was trying hard not to give in to that temptation again. He whiled away more of the afternoon in his room, though, watching shit on the computer that he hadn’t seen in years, doing situps and pushups, and essentially just trying to keep from going out. So he’d had a couple good interactions today? That didn’t discount what had happened with the other girl. He was dangerous, and he didn’t want to push his luck and end up hurting someone else.
He did go down for dinner though, enjoying the pizza, the joking thought flitting through his mind to kiss the cook for the delicious meal, though he’d heard there’d been several people helping with the pizzas tonight, and while the thought did amuse him a bit, it really wasn’t something he would actually do. After dinner, he’d helped with cleaning up the kitchen, then watched a movie just to kill time. It was late, long past dark, and he knew he should be tired with as early a start as he’d got today, but he wasn’t. He was feeling edgy and restless, and even though he didn’t really enjoy the thought of being back in the room where he’d hurt that girl, Brady found himself wanting that swim he’d missed out on earlier.
It was late enough that he expected the pool to be empty, and he was relieved when he went next door and found it that way. He didn’t want to socialize. He dropped his towel on one of the lounge chairs and moved to the diving board right away. It had been a long fucking time since he’d dived, but he thought he remembered how it went. His form wasn’t perfect, but there seemed to be enough muscle memory for it that it was successful enough. The water was refreshing as he pushed through it. Cold, but refreshing.
Susanna’s day had been relatively uneventful after taunting the boys during their little football thing. That had been a bit too much fun, though she wasn’t sure now that it was the best way to feel things out with Reece. She wasn’t entirely sure she had any kind of clear idea of what he wanted, which was a little annoying. Certainly, she knew that she’d been a bit careless by sleeping with anyone unprotected, but she would rectify that tomorrow. She had a Plan, though she would have to work out just how she would approach Cal about it.
In any case, that was tomorrows problem. For now, she found herself wanting another swim. It didn’t matter that she’d spent plenty of time in the pool already today. She hadn’t been lying when she’d told Caroline that she preferred to swim at night. It would be quieter that way, lessen the odds of needing to socialize. It always took so much effort to socialize. Except with Ryan, though she oddly felt like he was a bit of a kindred soul, something she’d never really expected to encounter.
She wore the little bikini this time around, not concerned with the bruises this late at night even though she did wrap her towel around her as she walked across the courtyard to the pool. She wasn’t entirely surprised that someone else was already there and doing laps, though it did take her a couple of minutes to recognize him as the man who’d been here earlier, the one who’d pinned Autumn to the wall. She still wasn’t particularly fond of the fact that he’d done that, which still baffled her a bit because she didn’t think she really cared what happened to anyone else here but apparently Autumn had managed to be likable to her. Even though there was a tiny bit of her that disliked what he’d done, there was an even bigger part of her that was drawn to the violence he’d displayed.
Tossing her towel aside, not really caring where it landed, Susanna sat on the edge of the pool and slowly slid in. She waited until he got to her end of the pool before falling into stroke with him, pushing through the water almost in time with him.
Brady didn’t notice her come in, he didn’t even notice when she got into the water with him, and he was already halfway across the pool again when it finally processed in his mind that he wasn’t alone. He faltered mid-stroke, looking around quickly to try to get a feel for the situation. It was a woman, and she was a few strokes behind him, and she hadn’t acknowledged him at all, so he decided to just leave it be for the time being. Yes, he’d wanted a quiet swim on his own, but she wasn’t talking his ear off or touching him, so he could deal. It wasn’t like he had any claim on the space. So, he just went back to swimming, pushing through the water, forcing himself to push himself harder and faster, seeking the burn in his muscles from the exertion.
Susanna noticed when he slowed and looked around, but she didn’t acknowledge him yet, just kept pushing through the water. She was interested in him, but she hadn’t decided how to engage him just yet. So she would get the swim she’d come here to get, and then see how things went from there.
And so they swam laps in a companionable silence.
It was a long time before either of them slowed, and when they did, it was Susanna who pushed out of the water first, pulling herself up to sit on the edge before laying back, breathing hard, feet still in the water. She looked over at him as he pushed himself out of the pool as well, enjoying watching the droplets of water sliding over toned and scarred abs. When he picked up his towel and wrapped it around himself and headed toward the exit, though, she pushed up on her elbows. “What, you’re not even going to give a lady a thanks after such a workout?” she called out to him, tone flirtatious.
Brady turned to look at her with a quirked brow. Really? She was gonna fucking ruin what had actually been a good time for him by opening her mouth? “Not like we fucked. Swimming laps at the same time? Didn’t realize you needed a thanks for that,” he said sarcastically. Not that he had any intention of fucking anyone here. No, he didn’t, and he blamed the comment on the way she was looking at him and that stupid tone of voice. If she was smart, she’d look elsewhere with those eyes.
Susanna tilted her head and laughed at that, lifting a hand to push a wet clump of hair from her cheek back behind her ear. “Mmm, good point,” she agreed. She pushed herself up to stand and walked toward him, hips swaying just a bit. “You know, I saw you in here earlier. You seemed awfully... tense,” she murmured when she’d reached him, looking up at him through her lashes.
Although he’d have liked nothing more than to just ignore the woman and continue on his way, Brady found himself rooted to the spot, looking at her with an almost morbid curiosity. What kind of game was she playing? “Yeah? If you really fucking saw me in here earlier, you wouldn’t be eye-fucking me right now. I’m not interested,” he said bluntly
Well, wasn’t that a surprise? Susanna hadn’t expected an outright rejection right off the bat. Not one to be so easily pushed aside, her lips curved in an attractive pout, and she reached out to trail her fingertips over his chest. “That kind of tension isn’t good for you. Come now, you can’t deny that it would be good to release that pent up energy and tension.” She knew, somewhere in the back of her mind, that she was playing with fire here, that Brady was unpredictable with an uncontrolled violence, but she couldn’t help herself.
Brady grabbed her hand, twisting it enough to strain it a bit but not enough to actually hurt her, eyes flashing. “Don’t fucking touch me,” he growled in a low, carefully controlled voice.
Eyes narrowing, Susanna tried to decide her next move. He was touching her, and that was something of a slight win, but she couldn’t completely ignore his words. He wasn’t interested, that much was clear, but she couldn’t help but poke at him more, see just how far she could push him. “Now, now,” she said softly, lifting her other hand to press her palm against his chest, moving more into his personal space. “Even you have to admit it would be a good thing to get out of your head.”
Jesus fucking Christ, what was wrong with this fucking woman? He grabbed her other wrist, squeezing them with a little more force as he pushed her away from him forcefully. “I said, don’t fucking touch me,” he repeated.
Susanna let out a gasping sound that was far more sexual than surprise when he handled her in quite that way, though she was not pleased when he pushed her away.
His eyes narrowed at the sound, and he made a little noise of disgust. “Jesus, fuck, what kind of fucked up are you? You get off on violence? Is that why you’re throwing yourself at me? Have a little fucking self respect or at least take your skanky ass somewhere else. I’m sure there’s some other twisted fuck in here that has no problem roughing a woman up intentionally.” His tone was clearly disgusted, and he just shook his head briefly at her before turning and walking out of the room, not sparing her another look.
Susanna felt an anger and frustration bubbling up in her at Brady’s clear dismissal of her. Where did he get off rejecting her? She’d been trying to help him. Mostly. Enough, anyway. She breathed in deeply as she watched him walk away, filled with anger and a sexual tension she had no way of truly relieving now. She found herself walking, heading up the stairs, bypassing Reece’s door without a thought and heading directly toward Ryan’s room. She could count on Ryan to give her what she needed, to help her expel the anger in that mutually satisfying battle for control they’d experienced last night. Only when she knocked, there was no answer. She let out a soft sound of annoyance, giving it another minute before giving up and heading back to her own room.