With this beautiful, sweet girl who knows all my secrets.
All my faults.
Who’s not afraid to tell me when I’m being a jerk.
Who says I have a dirty laugh.
Who makes fun of the way I dance.
Who appreciates all my jokes.
Who genuinely cares for me and is always there when I need her.
Who didn’t make fun of my Bachelor references.
Who kisses me like she never wants us to stop.
Who’s whispering my name right now and running her hands up and down my back, making me shiver.
I’m with the girl who loves me.
Who’s in love with me.
I’m with Eden.
And there’s nowhere else.
I’d rather.
Be.
…
Eden
“Are you okay?”
I nod, hardly able to catch my breath, my heart is racing so fast. I’m shivering even though I’m not cold, and my entire body feels electrified, like I stuck my finger in a light socket and was electrocuted.
“Good.” Josh kisses my sweaty forehead and tucks me in close, our legs intertwined as we lay side by side. I rest my head on his chest, and I can feel his heartbeat beneath my ear. It’s going as fast as mine, and I close my eyes, savoring the feel of him lying next to me.
We just did it. And while it wasn’t perfect and it was sort of awkward and it hurt a little bit, too, and he definitely finished while I definitely did not, that’s okay. It was perfect because it happened with someone I love and trust. It happened with Josh.
“Are you okay?” I ask, amusement lacing my tone because I know he is beyond okay. He has to be.
“I’m fucking great,” he says just before he starts to laugh. I join in, the both of us laughing like a couple of freaks, and when we finally get ourselves under control, Josh rolls over, pinning me beneath him, his hands resting on either side of my head, his knees on either side of my hips. “You’re beautiful.”
He kisses me before I can say anything, and when he finally pulls away, I whisper, “You’re beautiful, too.”
Josh is smiling. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look like this before. His entire face lights up, and he’s looking at me like I’m the most precious thing in the world to him. And maybe I am, I don’t know. It’s still hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that he’s in love with me.
Josh Evans.
In love.
With.
Eden Sumner.
Who knew it could happen?
“Want to do it again?” he asks, sounding hopeful.
I laugh. Press my lips together. Nod once. Then again.
He lowers himself so his hips are pressed against mine, and I can feel that he’s ready. “I’ll make sure it’s better for you this time.”
“Promise?”
Josh nods, his expression solemn. “Always. I love you, Edes.”
My humor fades, replaced by the same sincerity I’m receiving from him. “I love you, too, Joshua.”
He kisses me gently, his lips capturing my lower lip and giving it a tug. “Maybe we should practice a lot tonight. Make sure we’re doing it right.”
“That sounds”—I kiss him—“fun.”
“I know, right?” He frowns. “Though, wait a minute. Where do your parents think you are? You have a curfew, right? Shit, they’re going to kill me.”
“Stop. Don’t worry.” I touch his face with my hands, rubbing his jaw with my thumb. He has the sexiest jawline. I want to kiss it. “I texted them earlier and said I was spending the night with Molly. She’ll cover for me.”
He’s still frowning. “They’ll hate me if they knew I violated their daughter.”
“Joshua!” I lightly slap his shoulder. “Don’t say it like that.”
“It’s true, though. I have to make it right with them. Tell them how I feel about you.”
“You’re going to tell my parents how you feel about me?” My heart is soaring, I swear. It feels like it’s going to leap right out of my chest and float into the stars.
He nods. “I’m going to tell them I’m in love with their daughter, and I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure she’s happy.”
“Really?” I’m breathless again, this time because of his words, the sincerity in his gaze and his voice.
“Definitely.” He kisses me again, his tongue doing this delicious swirly thing that makes my entire body tighten with need. “Whatever it takes to make you happy, Edes, I’m going to do it.”
“This makes me happy,” I say as he kisses my neck, my collarbone. “Being with you.”
“Same,” he whispers, and we both crack up because it’s just weird to think that we like each other so much, yet we’re in love, too.
But I guess that’s what happens when you fall in love with your best friend. You get the best of both worlds. Josh and I, we’re the lucky ones.
So yeah.
I’m with Josh.
And right now, in this very moment.
There’s nowhere else.
I’d rather.
Be.
Epilogue
Eden
“I can’t believe you convinced me to do this,” Josh grumbles good-naturedly as we pull up to the front of Molly’s house.
“Stop.” I punch him lightly in the arm, which kind of hurts considering he’s ripped. The boy has arms that don’t quit. “It’ll be fun.”
The front door opens, and Molly appears, Abraham right behind her. He shuts the door and wraps his arm around her shoulders as they head toward Josh’s truck.
That’s right, Abraham and Molly are semi-officially a thing. They had so much fun together at the winter formal, they’ve been hanging out ever since. They’re not boyfriend and girlfriend yet, but it’s going to happen. I guarantee by Christmas, which is exactly three days away.
Josh and I open our doors and hop out of the truck, pushing back the seats so Molly and I can sit in the back bench seat. The guys are too tall, their legs too long, and all Abraham would do is whine and complain if he had to sit in the backseat. It’s easier to do it like this.
Though we probably should’ve brought my car, but whatever.
“Aren’t we too old for this crap?” Abraham says once we’re back on the road.
“No freaking way,” I protest, making Molly laugh. She’s been extra cheerful lately, now that she and Abraham are spending so much time together. “Trust me, you’re going to love it.”
I direct Josh where to go, since he’s never been to this particular neighborhood before, and the closer we get, the thicker the traffic is. I eventually encourage him to park about a mile out, and we all tumble out of the truck, me going to Josh’s side and curling my arm around his. “You ready?” I ask, smiling up at him.
He leans down and kisses the tip of my cold nose, then my lips. “Lead the way, Edes.”
The glow of the lights is obvious, and my stomach starts to do happy flips. We’re going to Candy Cane Lane, the most decorated neighborhood in our small town. Josh and Molly haven’t been here since they were little kids, and unbelievably, Abraham has never been before.
Mom and Dad take Travis and me here every single year. It’s tradition.
“I’m glad you had us park,” Josh says as he takes my hand and laces our fingers together. The streets are clogged with barely moving traffic. “Walking is much better.”
“I know.”
We ooh and ahh over the holiday decorations, stopping to buy hot chocolate from a family who’s selling it out in front of their house. There’s a guy dressed up as the most realistic Santa I’ve ever seen, and when he asks Josh if there’s anything special he wants for Christmas, he looks over at me and grins.
“I already got everything I want.”
He says a few words to me, looks at me a certain way, and I’m melting. Always.
Molly’s giggling and bouncing up and down, losing it over every overly decorated
house we pass. Abraham is getting totally into it thanks to Molly, and by the time we’ve walked the entire lit up neighborhood, Abraham is actually disappointed.
“That’s it?” he asks when we stop at our starting point.
“We’ve been walking for over an hour,” Josh tells him.
“Maybe we should walk it again,” Molly suggests.
So we do. Josh starts complaining, and I kiss him every few houses to make him stop. I kiss him so much, a little kid walking behind us complains to his mom.
“That girl won’t stop kissing him and giving him cooties!”
Josh and I start laughing so hard I think we freaked the parents out.
After our second lap, we load back up into the truck, and Josh drives back to Molly’s house. Then we go to his house, which is empty thanks to his mom spending the night at her boyfriend’s place.
“You know you wanna come in,” Josh says with that sexy smirk that I find both irritating and intriguing.
“No funny business tonight,” I warn him because I have to get back home. I didn’t tell Mom I was spending the night at Molly’s, so I have to be home before my midnight curfew.
Though Mom and Dad know Josh and I are together, and they happily approve, especially Mom. When Josh told her that we’re official, she literally pumped her fist into the air and yelled, “Called it!”
So embarrassing, but Josh only laughed and agreed with her that she made the right prediction.
“Come on, at least a little bit of funny business,” he pleads just before he hauls me into his arms and kisses me until I can’t think straight. His lips are so soft and persuasive. His hands wander, and the kisses escalate, until the truck’s cab is steamed up and we’re both panting for breath like we just ran a marathon.
“You should probably take me home,” I tell him after I check the time on my phone. He shoots me a disappointed look before he starts the engine, and next thing I know, we’re at my house. The tree is still lit, the curtains pulled back to reveal it in all of its Christmas glory. I smile when Josh pulls me in close to him, and we both stare at the front of my house.
“I had fun tonight,” he whispers near my ear.
I snuggle closer. “I told you.”
“Abraham loved it. Probably more than he’ll actually admit.”
“I’m so glad we took him.”
“It was a good idea.”
“And you thought it was going to be lame.”
“I was wrong.” He pauses. “At least I can admit it.”
If that’s a jab at me for not liking to admit when I’m wrong, I’m choosing to ignore it.
“I love you,” I tell him instead, glancing up at him with my best adoring look. He chuckles under his breath and leans down, brushing my lips with his. My skin tingles, and I close my eyes when he deepens the kiss.
“I love you, too,” he whispers against my mouth minutes later. “I should go. You’re turning orange.”
He’s teasing, always saying I’m going to turn into a pumpkin like Cinderella’s carriage when the clock strikes twelve, just like the movie. He knows that Cinderella is my favorite Disney princess, too.
“I am not.” I shove away from him but he just tightens his grip. “You’re coming over for Christmas, right?”
His family does it big on Christmas Eve, while mine throws a family party on Christmas day. Mom wants him to come—she is absolutely thrilled we’re together—and I really want him there, too.
“Yeah, I’ll be there on Christmas.” He smiles. “Can I spend the night on Christmas Eve so we can open our stockings together?”
“I don’t think so. Mom probably won’t approve,” I tell him with a laugh, shaking my head.
Though we’ll probably end up moving in together when we start college next fall. We’ve applied to the same universities, and odds are we’ll end up together. Maybe forever.
I know I can’t imagine my life without him.
See that’s the thing when you fall in love with your best friend. They know all your faults and your strengths, they know how to tease you, how to make you laugh, how to console you when you’re inconsolable, how to get under your skin. They know your secrets and your fears and what brings you happiness.
It’s been so easy, what Josh and I share. I thought it would be weird, to go from being best friends to actually being in a relationship. But it never felt out and out wrong—and now it feels so right, so freaking perfect, I don’t know why I never realized just how great we could be together until now.
Guess it took him asking me to help him lose his virginity to figure it out.
Can’t get enough Monica Murphy? Don’t miss her contemporary thriller, Pretty Dead Girls, available online and in stores everywhere on January 2, 2018!
Beautiful. Perfect. Dead.
They’re arranged in a particular way. Their faces turned at the most flattering angles, their designer clothes immaculate, as immaculate as their carefully made-up faces. Only the slash of blood across their necks mars the perfect surface. Only the vacant stare in their eyes indicates they’re dead.
The most popular girls in school are going down, and Penelope Malone is terrified she’s next. All the victims so far have been linked to Penelope—and to the mysterious loner boy from her physics class. The one with the lopsided smirk and intense stare that’s almost…cute? Even though she’s not sure she can trust him, she reluctantly agrees to work with him to figure out what’s happening. All while trying to stay one step ahead of the brutal serial killer on the loose.
But this killer won’t be satisfied until every beautiful, popular girl in the senior class is dead—especially Penelope. And the killer is closer than she thinks…
Read on for a sneak peak!
Chapter One
I finally get her where I want her, folks, and wouldn’t you know, she starts giving me attitude within seconds.
“And why am I here again?” Gretchen snags the lit joint from my fingers and brings it to her mouth, taking a long drag. She holds the smoke in, her bright green eyes narrowed, her expression almost pained, before she blows it all out.
Straight into my face.
God, she’s such a bitch sometimes. Though I envy her fearlessness. She’s rude and mean, and she just doesn’t give a damn.
I realize she’s waiting for me to speak, and I clear my throat.
“Look, I know you’re never going to believe me, since we haven’t talked much in the past. But we’ve gone to school together for a long time and I just wanted us to…g-get to know each other better.” I stumble over the words, and I am thoroughly pissed at myself.
I practiced this little speech over and over again the last few days, preparing for this moment. In the mirror, reciting the words back to my reflection. Late at night, while I lay in bed and stared up at the ceiling, mesmerized by the slow spinning ceiling fan above my head.
Yet I mess it up, falter because I’m actually in front of her, just the two of us. Gretchen Nelson, one of the most beautiful, most popular girls in school. She has everything.
I have nothing.
All I want is a little taste. Just a tiny sample of what she is. What she has. What I could possibly be.
“So what? You tricked me to go out with you?”
“It’s nothing like that,” I reassure her.
“What do you mean by getting to know me better, then? What exactly are you talking about?” She takes another drag off the joint, this one short and fast, and she coughs out the smoke, hacking a little. The glamorous, perfect Gretchen Nelson mask falls for the briefest moment, and it’s like I’ve just been treated to a sneak peek of the real Gretchen. She’s just a girl who likes to get high, who’s aggressive, and who treats other people like shit. I mean, I already knew she was like this but… “Please don’t tell me this is your idea of a date.”
The contempt in her voice is obvious.
“No, not at all!” I sound too defensive, and I clamp my lips shut. “That wasn’t my intention
. Can’t we just be…friends?”
She shoots me a sardonic look, her lips curled, her delicate eyebrows raised. She’s still wearing her shorts and T-shirt from volleyball practice, and she has to be cold, since both car windows are rolled down, and once the sun disappears, the temperature drops rapidly.
My gaze falls to her legs. They’re sturdy, her thighs are thick, and I can’t help but stare at them. They’re thicker than the other cheerleaders’, which made her a great base. Gretchen was known for tossing the flyers into the air higher than anyone else. I remember watching her. Watching all of them…
Not that Gretchen’s a cheerleader any longer. She quit at the end of her sophomore year, wanting to focus on volleyball instead. She’s a strong player. Fearless. Downright mean on the court. Yet she’s also beautiful and poised and smart.
“You really want to be friends with me?” She makes it sound like an impossible feat.
I nod.
“We have nothing in common.”
“We have a lot of things in common.”
“Name ten.”
I frown. “You really want me to name ten?”
She nods slowly, places the joint between her lips. It dangles from her mouth, giving her this tough, rebellious air, and I can’t help but admire her all over again. At school, she’s absolute perfection. Right now, in the passenger seat of my car with a joint hanging from her lips, her dark-red hair a wild tangle about her head, eyeliner smudged, and her cheeks still ruddy from the chilly nighttime air, she’s not quite as perfect.
But she’s a lot more real.
“That’s stupid,” I tell her, and she sits up straight, yanking the joint out of her mouth so she can gape at me.
“Did you just call me stupid?”
The venom in her voice makes me recoil away from her. “N-no. I mean, I just took a hit off that joint. My head is spinning. How do you expect me to come up with ten things we have in common, just like that?” I snap my fingers for emphasis.
“God. You’re just like everyone else. Always thinking you can buy me off with sex or booze or weed.” She tosses the joint at my head, and I dodge left, so it sails out the driver’s side window and lands on the ground outside. “Bringing me to a church parking lot, too. Real classy.”
Saving It Page 21
