Chapter 21: Chapter 21

Karen's POV

The icy water shook my system as I plunged beneath the surface of the water. My heart raced and my chest tightened as the water brushed against my lips and invaded my nose.

I let out a deep breath to blow the water out, my chest was on fire and I needed to breathe. I began to sink lower in the pool, with water rushing into my nose and mouth, the water snugged in around me again as I sank.

I couldn't just breathe, my chest still felt like it was in fire. I forced my arms and legs to move and I popped my head up above the water. I took a deep breath as the water closed in around me, the water embracing me and pulling me deeper as I watched a few bubbles of air escape my mouth.

Suddenly, someone caught hold of me and carried me out of the pool, he placed me on the floor and looked at me. "Karen, are you okay?" He asked, touching my face with his cold hands.

I recognized his voice and opened my eyes. "I'm fine." I answered and sat up.

"What happened?" He asked.

Looking towards the other side of the pool, I noticed the girls were no longer there. I lifted up my head and smiled at him, a genuine smile that momentarily eased the tired lines of my face. "I'm alright, you don't have to be concerned about what happened." I told him, a faint glimmer of humor in her eyes.

He gave my hand a gentle squeeze. "I need to know what happened, it's alright, you're alright. Squeeze my hands, it's alright." He said in a continuous litany.

"Fine, your ex girlfriend pushed me into the pool and warned me to stay away from you."

His brow furrowed and he massaged my legs gently with a grin on his face. "She's just a sad bitch, you don't have to worry about her. She doesn't know about the contract." He assured me with a smile.

"The dance..."

He interrupted. "Yes, it was awful." The words came out with a ragged sigh and my smile faded.

"It wasn't, that was my first time dancing and there was no mistake until you held me tightly."

"I saved you from falling." He reminded me with a frown.

"Well, you did but you shouldn't have held me. I lost focus because of your ...." I paused and looked at him.

"Go on, was it because of my charming look or appearance?" He asked and smiled at me.

He zoomed in close, inches away from my face. The intensity of his eyes made me shiver for a second. Silence hung in the air as I stared into his eyes.

I slightly pushed him and looked at the sky as he sat down near me. "Believe me, you weren't charming." I lied. Yes, it was a god-damned stupid lie. Brody looked cute in his blue suit and maybe that was what made me fall.

"You're lying to yourself." He murmured.

"Your mother." I muttered and he let out a chuckle.

"Yeah, she's going to be mad at you for almost ruining her party." He said.

I laughed and took a deep breath. "At least, I'll die remembering that your mother hated me." I replied, a faint glimmer of humor in my eyes.

"Why does it feel like this party wasn't necessary?" He asked, a faintly sad look coming over his face.

I suppressed a huge laughter and smiled at him. "It was probably a waste of time." I answered in a low-piqued voice.

He frowned, his expression troubled. "We shouldn't be talking with each other."

"I didn't see that as a term in the contract." I reminded him.

He nodded vigorously in response and tilted his head to look at me. My heartbeat picked up and I kept my gaze on the ground. "It's really nice out here."

"I'm sorry for not telling you that my family would be around." He apologized.

My lips curved into an ambivalent smile until I remembered that Diego knew about the contract. "What about Diego? Are you sure he won't tell his mom about the contract?" I asked.

"He might tell them if he's prodded."

"No one knows apart from him, we'll be more careful next time."

Brody massaged the muscles in the back of his neck and looked at me. He released a contented smile. "I'm sure he won't." He replied.

I was hoping that he wasn't bored. "How about your dad?" I asked.

"He's doing alright." He replied in a bored tone.

I nodded.

"Why don't you prepare something for me to eat tomorrow?"

My eyes widened and I looked at him in shock. Was he joking? Cook?

"I'm not much of a good cook."

He raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Your mom cooks, you should be able to cook."

"Well, I'm different. My parents don't care about me." I said and a tear dropped from my eye.

He wrapped his hands around my shoulder and quickly removed it. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...."

I interrupted genuinely. "It's okay," he smiled. "We should probably head back to the party." I suggested and I nodded.

We stood up and he held my hands. "At least, we should pretend that we're dating. Someone was spying on us and I had to cooperate, we won't be having this conversation if I didn't notice someone taking pictures of us." He said and my heart broke.

It felt someone ripped my body open and brought out my heart. "I don't understand." I murmured. Was he trying to tell me that he only pretended to be friendly because someone took pictures of us?

"Just cooperate, let's get out of here." He replied and Sarah walked towards us.

"The latest couple." She mocked and looked at us.

"We're not a couple." Brody replied.

"Yeah, you're ashamed to call her your girlfriend in public."

I looked at Brody, he seemed to shrug like what she said was true. I was already heartbroken and I didn't need more problems. As I turned to leave, Brody dragged me towards his side and kissed me.

'No kissing, No sex'

The terms haunted me as I slowly released myself from his grip.

"Is that enough evidence that I love her?" He asked and I looked at her.

I looked up and saw a smirk. "That's not enough evidence to prove that you're in love with her. When we dated and had sex under the duvet, I screamed your name." She said and turned to look at me.

I avoided her gaze, slightly embarrassed. She wasn't ashamed to describe her sex scene. I chuckled and looked at Brody.

"What's funny?" She asked, folding her arms.

"Karen is nothing like you. She's not a whore and she's not a cheat either and if you need proof, here's it...." He said and took a microphone from the DJ at the party. He cleared his throat and brought the mic to his lips. After stealing a glance at me, he continued. "Listen ladies and gentlemen, Karen Miller is my girlfriend and anyone who says or does anything bad to her will surely face the consequence." He threatened and looked at me.

"He sounds like a true son of the Taylor's family." Sarah whispered and I ignored her.

"Karen Miller is my girlfriend and I'm in love with her." He added and I looked at him, shocked by his announcement.