Free Brody by Victoria H. Smith Page A

gotten going, but I stopped as a guy in a set of well-worn jeans got my attention. He also wore his strong grin and had a matching set of glasses with foam on the top in his tight fists.
    The perfect image.
    Brody came into the pit. He found us a set of high top tables off to the side and we took up station there. He set the beers down. “If I’d have known that’s what you were working with, I would have said to hell with the beers and stayed with you.”
    For the first time, I felt bashful by what I’d done, pushing my hand into my hair as he slid a beer toward me. He took a sip himself, then watched me with a soft eye as I had a sip from mine.
    He shook his head. “Where’d you come from, Alexa?”
    I didn’t think he was actually asking me. It was more of a fleeting thought I imagined by what he saw me do. I knew because he never pressured me before.
    I played with some dried foam on the side of my mug. “New York,” I found myself saying to him. “But originally from California. That’s where my hometown is.”
    He swallowed what was left in his mouth of the gulp he’d just taken, blinking. I didn’t think he expected me to answer what I was pretty sure had been a rhetorical question. Still, he got it back though, wiping the shock from his face as he set his glass down on the table.
    “New York, huh?” he asked, tapping his large finger on his glass. He didn’t push this. I was absolutely positive he was scared to and I’d given him reason. I had been so withdrawn from him before.
    But I think I could trust him.
    His finger left the glass with a smile. “I haven’t been. I got a brother in Miami, but that’s the closest I got.”
    I giggled. “That’s not very close.”
    My amusement lifted his lips, his hand going to rub behind his neck. “I’m a small town guy, I guess. I don’t even live in El Paso. Just outside of it. I’ve only really gone where my truck will take me.”
    I had a feeling about that, him being more small town, but I liked it. I liked him.
    “Well, it’s wonderful,” I continued. “The shows. The dancing. That’s what I went for, to dance.”
    He didn’t look the least bit surprised, smiling. “It suits you. I can tell it makes you happy.”
    He had no idea. The lights, the action, and excitement of the city, I had no words for how great and magical it was. I’d went there with a dream, but came out with a harsh reality.
    I tried not to let that reality reflect upon my face, my failures. Instead, I lifted my head, agreeing with what he said. “Yeah, it does. There’s so much life there. It’s amazing. I just loved looking at it every day and being there in the city.”
    “I can see that,” he said, his eyes shining. He took a sip of his beer, wiping his mouth after. “It doesn’t sound like you ever wanted to leave. So what’s got you traveling? You just headed home for a while?”
    I was headed home for a while. But the thing was, I wouldn’t be going back to New York. My priorities were in California…and magical New York? Well, in the end, it had just been too big for me, but he didn’t want or need to hear all that.
    I shook my glass before sipping around the foam. “Mmhmm. I’m headed home for a while, but what about you? Small town guy? How did you find yourself in a job like driving for a living?”
    The question caused him to laugh, a light sound that warmed my ears. “I guess in the end, you gotta make money.”
     “Yeah, but you could have worked closer to home. It has to be more than that. You must like driving.”
    His gaze escaped to the moving crowd. He watched them, no words on his lips. He seemed to have something resting on his mind, but whatever it was, he didn’t share it. He simply tipped back his glass, taking down the remainder. He stood, holding his hand out to me. “Dance with me. The crowd already got their turn with you.”
    He didn’t know it, but he could dance with me any time he wanted. I finished my beer and let him