Silence

by Natasha Preston

  ***

  At seven-thirty in the evening, after a long day of unsuccessfully trying to avoid Lizzie as much as possible, Mum finally said those five beautiful words: it’s time to go home. I could have kissed her I felt that relieved.

  Me and Jasper were out of the door and in the car before Mum could blink.

  Waving goodbye to Ali and Lizzie, my body relaxed and I laid back against the headrest. Jasper let out a deep sigh and did the same. “Thank God that’s over,” he muttered, and I nodded in agreement.

  Fifteen minutes later, we pulled into our drive. Cole appeared out from his front door as if he’d been watching for us to get home.

  “Mind if I steal her?” He called across our neighbour’s garden when we got out of the car.

  “Back by eleven, Oakley,” Dad told me sternly.

  Cole grinned as he approached and the little dimple at the side of his mouth became more pronounced. So cute. “I’ll walk her home just before,” he told my dad as he grabbed my hand.

  My heart skipped a full beat at the feel of his hand in mine. Cole eagerly pulled me into his house and up the stairs to his room. He pointed to the bed, put a DVD on, and walked back out without a word. He was probably getting drinks and a snack.

  I glanced at the movie he chose, sat on the bed and groaned internally. The Hills Have Eyes. I hated gory films. The sight of blood made me feel sick. Was he trying to make me throw up in front of him?

  I got under his cover and pulled my knees up. If I was going to make it through the film, I’d need to be able to hide. I grabbed his pillow and wedged it between my chest and legs where I could tuck my head into it. He was absolutely doing this on purpose.

  Laughter burst from Cole as he came back into the room and saw my position. I don’t care. He sat beside me with the bowl of popcorn on his lap and bottle of Coke lying between us.

  “It’s not even started, you big baby,” he teased, shuffling closer so our shoulders were touching.

  “Was Lizzie her usual, charming self?” Oh yes. I nodded. Cole knew what she was like. I think deep down everyone did, but they never really said anything to her about her behaviour because she would probably flip out.

  “She’s just jealous of you.”

  My head snapped up to look at him in utter shock. I raised my eyebrows sceptically. What on earth was there for her to be jealous about?

  “I’m serious, Oakley. You’re smart, kind, considerate, thoughtful and unbelievably beautiful,” he whispered, looking into my eyes. “Don’t ever let anyone make you think otherwise.”

  I couldn’t breathe. My lungs had deflated. That was so sweet. No one had ever said anything like that to me before. Besides Mum and she was too bias for that to count.

  He closed the distance between us slowly. His eyes locked on my lips for a second and he tangled his fingers in my hair. My breath caught in my throat as his nose grazed mine and his lips parted. Cole was so close I could taste his minty breath and the shower gel he’d used.

  He finally angled forwards and brushed his lips against mine. Literally less than a second later, he pulled away and stared into my eyes. I felt weightless, like gravity had been turned off and I could just float away.

  His forehead creased as he frowned in concentration. What’s he trying to figure out? If this, us, would be worth it?

  Whatever it was, he must’ve found the answer because he leant forward again and kissed me. He led, taking control. He bit and sucked until I was so wound up I felt like I was about to implode. I couldn’t understand what was happening to me.

  Cole made my whole body feel hot, like my blood was boiling. I wanted to be closer to him, even though we were already pressed against each other. He was everything to me. I trusted him with my life, but I wasn’t sure if I could take things any further than this right now. Or ever.

  Surrendering to the new and confusing feelings, I dug my fingers into his back and held him tighter. Whatever was going to happen I’d deal with, right now I just wanted to feel.

  He ran his hands through my hair, holding my head against his, possessing and controlling in a way that I was shocked to find I enjoyed. But when his tongue grazed my bottom lip, I froze. He wanted in. It was an intrusion and no matter how good I felt it scared me to death.

  Cole pulled back, his eyes wide with worry. “What? Are you okay?”

  My stomach started doing flips. I wasn’t sure if it was good or bad, so I just concentrated on him. The way his head was still tilted slightly to the side from kissing me and his deep blue eyes that were staring at me with so much intensity.

  This is Cole! I scolded myself. He would never hurt me or try to make me go further than I was comfortable. I smiled and gripped the back of his t-shirt, giving him permission to kiss me again. He didn’t need any more encouragement. His lips pressed against mine. I didn’t feel scared anymore.

  Cole’s tongue stayed firmly in his own mouth as he realised I needed to take things a little slower. I ran my hands up his back until I got to his hair. My fingers knotted in the light brown mess. Cole moaned in response, making my heart leap in both a good and bad way. He pulled away and smiled.

  “You okay?” He whispered, in a quiet, husky voice.

  Wow.

  His lips were a little red and slightly swollen, but mine probably looked the same. I didn’t care. I nodded in response to his question and tried not to show just how overly happy I was feeling; I would probably just look desperate. I probably do.

  “Um, do you want to watch something else? We can find one of those crappy chick flicks if you want?” He asked as he bit his lip and nodded towards the TV.

  We both knew he didn’t want to watch anything, but I think he was trying not to push me. I shook my head. Honestly, he was kissing me so TV could go to hell for all I cared.

  Someone knocked on the door, breaking our moment. I jumped up, pressing my back against the wall. Cole laughed at me and shouted for whoever it was to come in. Mia opened the door and walked in with a huge grin on her face. Do I look live I’ve just been snogged senseless?

  “Hi,” she chirped, smirking in amusement. “So…what are you guys up to?”

  Yes, she definitely knows.

  “Watching a film,” Cole replied, pressing play on stupid horror. He was such a bad liar though; no one would believe we were just watching TV from the smug look on his face.

  “Mmm hmm,” she sang. “Of course you were.”

  Her voice was playful, but my face still burst into flames. Mia made herself comfortable, sat on Cole’s bed, and started a conversation. I loved Mia like a sister, but I really wanted to be alone with Cole again.

  “Oh, I love this film and since you were only watching TV…” she trailed off, grinning.

  If looks could kill Cole would’ve just murdered his sister.

  Me and Cole sat back and watched the awful film in silence. Neither one of us glanced at Mia’s triumphant face the entire time. By the end of the movie, it was time for me to go home. Mia skipped out, giggling and blowing us a kiss.

  “I’d better walk you back, I guess,” Cole grumbled.

  I reluctantly stood up and smiled. We both walked back to my house at a snail’s pace. Cole wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “Home just in time, Miss Farrell,” he said in his mock posh accent and bowed his head. I nudged his shoulder.

  The atmosphere turned intense as we looked into each other’s eyes. Was he going to kiss me or not? He took the key, put it in the lock, kissed me on the forehead before he opened the door. I took the key back as he dangled it in front of me and smiled at him appreciatively.

  “You’re welcome, Oaks. See you tomorrow.” He winked at me, jumping back before I hit him for shortening my name again. Shaking my head, I closed the front door, giving him a wave out of the window next to it as he started walking back home.

  “Well, well, well. What time do you call this, young lady?” Jasper said dramatically, and frowned. I looked up at the clock an
d then back to Jasper, raising my eyebrows. I was actually five minutes early. “You and me are gonna have a little chat about you staying out all night with strange men!”

  He must have been dropped on his head as a baby.

  I walked past him.

  “Wait,” he called after me as I got to the bottom of the stairs. “Is everything okay?”

  I turned around and nodded, frowning, wondering where he was going with this conversation.

  “You did use protection, didn’t you?”

  Gasping, I spun away from him and stomped upstairs without acknowledging his stupid comment. Why would he even say it? He knew things with Cole weren’t like that. I could still hear him laughing as I shut my bedroom door. It really wasn’t funny at all.

  The second I got into bed my phone beeped with Cole’s usual nightly text. At least, with Cole’s texts, I ended every day on a high.

  13

  Oakley