Silence

by Natasha Preston

I lay perfectly still, so I wouldn’t wake her and watched her sleeping in my arms. She was so beautiful, and so out of my league I couldn’t believe she agreed to be with me. I was the luckiest bastard alive.

  She sighed in her sleep and rolled onto her back. A mass of blonde hair lay messily underneath her. Last night was the best night of my life. The way she felt and tasted was etched into my mind. Sex was not at all underrated.

  A weight had lifted off my shoulders when I finally admitted I was in love with her. I’d been holding it in for so damn long, scared that it would put her off.

  It was good to finally say it out loud.

  Oakley didn’t think that much of herself, and I had no idea why. To me, she was perfect. It didn’t matter that she wouldn’t talk or our relationship wouldn’t be ‘normal’ because of it. I was in love with her.

  When she first stopped talking, everyone thought it was a fish bone that she’d choked on. We waited patiently for a few days, and then it became obvious that something else was going on. I still wasn’t sure, and it drove me crazy sometimes.

  Oakley had to come to us. There have been so many times where I’ve wanted to beg her, make her tell me, but I knew that would push her away. My goal was to be someone she knew she could count on whenever she decided to talk.

  I wanted to hear her say my name again so badly. I wanted to hear her voice, hear how it’d changed and see if I recognised it. At one point, Jasper thought she was doing it for attention, but that wasn’t like her at all.

  I sighed in happiness and kissed the top of her head, hoping that one day she would let me in. I’d been patient all these years, I loved her, so I wasn’t giving up.

  It was almost six in the morning, and I needed to sneak back to my room soon, but I was too comfortable, even with her sprawled out on my chest. I doubted anyone would be up at this time, but I couldn’t risk getting caught and not being able to sleep in her bed again.

  Waking up next to her made me feel like a king, and I only had a few more days to do it.

  After another ten minutes of staring at her, I gently rolled her over and got out of bed. She took a deep breath as I moved her and settled back into the pillow.

  Stop being a fucking creep and leave!

  Throwing on my clothes, I took one last look at her and left the room.

  A few people were about as I walked along the corridor, but thankfully not Oakley’s parents. I got in and headed straight for the shower. There was no way I could fall back to sleep now, so I might as well get up.

  As I looked at my reflection in the mirror, I froze, realising I’d left Oakley alone the morning after we’d had sex. She would wake up alone. Each morning I’d get up and go whether she was awake or not, but it was different now.

  I’m such a twat!

  Glancing at the ceramic clock on the wall, I saw that it was now six-forty-five. Too late to sneak back. If you hurry up, she might still be asleep when you go back. I can’t let her wake up alone.

  She set her alarm for seven-thirty, so I had to be quick. Rushing around, I had a shower and clumsily got dressed. I was in such a hurry I stumbled around like a bloody puppy learning to walk. I shoved my leg through the wrong hole in my shorts and growled. Calm down! I was so bloody jacked up I couldn’t even dress myself.

  When I was finally ready, I only had minutes to spare. No one but Oakley had ever made me feel nervous. Other girls didn’t affect me. She was it, and I was terrified of messing things up.

  Taking a deep breath, I grabbed my phone and wallet and headed to her room. The problem I had now was that her door was locked, and I didn’t have a key. Whatever happened, she would wake up the morning after losing her virginity and be alone.

  Nice one, Cole.

  Shaking my head at myself, I knocked on the wooden door and waited. As the seconds crept by, I thought a thousand different things that made my head spin. What if she’d woken up and thought I skipped out on her? What if she already left because she was angry and upset?

  I should’ve left a note.

  The door swung open, and she smiled shyly. Her beauty hit me like a wrecking ball.

  “Hi,” I said, giving her an apologetic grin. I was a mess of nerves and something so powerful it almost winded me. I’d been in love with her for a long time, but now I knew her feelings were reciprocated it felt more.

  What now? She moved aside for me to come in, and I followed her inside where she sat on the bed. I loved that bed. I needed to say something, but when I opened my mouth nothing came out. Shit, this was awkward. It shouldn’t be awkward.

  Seriously, say something!

  Gulping, I searched for the right words, not knowing what they even were. “Are you okay? You’re not… err, sore or anything?”

  Biting her lip, she shook her head. Her cheeks turned the most adorable shade of pink, almost matching her full lips. “Are you sure? I mean, your first time is meant to hurt, and if you’re sore we can get you something,” I rambled like an idiot. What the hell would you even get for that? Sitting down, I winced in horror at how pathetically tragic I was.

  Oakley shook her head again and stood up, busying herself by getting her bag ready.

  “Okay. Good.” I frowned. She rarely admitted when she was ill or in pain so it came as no surprise that When she had finished shoving her camera in her bag, I got up and wrapped my arms around her. She melted into my chest.

  “I love you,” I whispered, running my hands through her soft hair. She stroked my cheek and my heart almost imploded.

  Reaching up, she pressed her lips against mine. I kissed her back, pulling her tight against my body. I hated that we had to meet our parents for breakfast; I just wanted to take her back to bed for the rest of the day. Pulling away to catch my breath, I touched my nose to hers.

  “You ready?” I asked. Her breath caught in her throat, and it made me feel a thousand feet tall. She nodded slowly, not taking her eyes off mine for a second. I kissed her quickly, and we left for the breakfast restaurant.

  We got into the lift, and she smiled apologetically, pulling her hand out of mine just before we got to the ground floor. Right, so no one would see us together. I didn’t like that rule anymore, but if we kept it up a little longer we could enjoy the rest of the holiday in peace.

  “It’s okay,” I assured her. “I want to be able to spend time alone with you, too. We can tell everyone we’re together when we get back, right?”

  She nodded eagerly, and practically skipped out of the lift as the door opened. Laughing, I shook my head and followed.

  Mum, Dad, Sarah, Max, Jasper, and Mia were already sitting at the table waiting for us. Thankfully, her parents had relaxed completely and let her go off with me all the time. I loved that they trusted me with her, but they wouldn’t let us have that freedom when they found out we were together.

  “Morning,” I said as everyone greeted us, trying to keep the I’ve-just-had-sex smug grin off my face. Jasper eyes me suspiciously but that could just be his normal twattish face. There had been so many times he’d thought Oakley and me were more than friends so he wouldn’t know.

  “Water park, fuckers!” Jasper said, earning a glare from Max and Sarah.

  “Let’s go and eat,” Max said tightly.

  We went up to get our food from the buffet table and sat down to eat. The buffet was my favourite part of the hotel. Well, second to Oakley’s bed. Jasper and I literally stuffed ourselves until we felt sick. It had kind of become a contest now, one I lost daily. I could live with losing to see him hold his stomach and groan every morning.

  As I watched in shock and awe at the piles of toast, sausages, bacon, beans, and mushrooms on his plate, I sighed. Today would be no different. The guy was a machine.

  I moved my leg, so it was brushing against Oakley’s. A smile crept on my face as I saw her blush.

  “Mind if I come to the water park today?” Mia asked.

  “Sure,” I replied. Jasper was coming along, too, so it wasn
’t like I’d get to spend time alone with her anyway.

  She’d been hanging out with some girl all week but she’d gone home yesterday so Mia was at a loose end.

  “Right,” Max said as everyone stood up. “You four have a lovely day. Oakley, you stay with Cole. Us old four have a boat to catch, but we’ll see you for dinner. Take care of her,” he told me and kissed Oakley’s forehead.

  “I will.”

  He nodded and held his hand out for Sarah. He never told Jasper to look out for Oakley. Probably because he couldn’t keep a goldfish alive.

  “Meet in the lobby in an hour,” Jasper said.

  “Good, that’ll give my stomach time to deflate,” Mia said, patting her belly. “I’m not wearing a bikini when I’m bloated.”

  I rolled my eyes and walked to the lift with Oakley close to my side. We looked innocent. We so were not.

  20

  Cole