“Yes.”
He fell quiet for a few moments. “Why?”
“My grandpa died, but my parents don’t want to move back. And living on my own for a year might not be so bad, I guess, but I was torn between leaving things the way they are and actually letting myself start a new life because I was confused.” I traced my finger over his stomach gently to distract myself. “I’m not confused anymore.” My finger trailed over the fabric of his shirt, lightly going over the lines of his stomach. Apparently, I’d distracted him too because his hand stopped and his skin trembled a little under the shirt. Did I seriously have that effect on him?
He shivered lightly and I continued swirling my finger across his tummy.
Eventually, I settled my hand on his stomach and stopped moving, relaxing against him again.
Brady exhaled slowly. “Don’t do that again.”
“Why? Did I hurt you or something?”
“No. I’m just… male, if you’re catching what I mean.”
I waited for him to explain further.
“You’re so innocent,” he groaned.
I snorted. “I’m a walking innuendo, actually.”
“I’m male,” he repeated. “And you’re female. And I’m a teenager. And you’re a teenager. And we’re lying together, and you started touching me in a way that—”
“Enough!” I squeaked. “I understand!” My face flooded with heat as I realized what he was saying.
He snorted.
Brady started tracing circles on my back again. “So does this mean we’re actually dating?”
“Do you want to?”
“Look at me.”
I tilted my head back to look at him and he swiftly maneuvered his body so that he was on top of me and kissed me slowly. My lips worked against his and eventually, his lips forced mine open like they had earlier. Within moments, our tongues were battling for dominance and I suddenly understood what the appeal of French kissing was. He kissed me a little harder and I blushed. Once I realized exactly what we were doing, I pushed on his chest gently and ignored the confused expression he had. “I… um… super virgin.”
He started laughing and buried his face against my neck. “If I was trying to have sex with you, you would’ve known that by now, Anika.” His breath against my neck sent chills through my entire body and I shivered. Brady noticed. “Wow. You’re easy to affect.”
I glared at him a little, but when he brushed his lips lightly against my neck, my entire body went almost numb. “B-Brady…!” I stuttered in warning.
He laughed again and rolled off of me, pulling me against him by the waist. “I know, I know. Super virgin. I won’t forget.” Brady rubbed my side gently as we lay there. “You know, I really liked spending the night with you. I don’t think I’ve actually ever slept with a girl without… you know, sleeping with her. It was actually really nice.” His tone was thoughtful and reflective, and I was pretty sure he didn’t intend to make me as annoyed as he did when he said it.
I poked him in the ribs and he flinched.
“Hey!”
I snorted and snuggled against him.
“Jealous, are we?”
“Arrogant, are we?”
“You know it.” I could hear the grin in his voice and shook my head, rolling my eyes.
Boys were morons.
Something unsettling caught my attention, though. Technically, he hadn’t said yes to wanting to date me. He’d simply kissed me. That was no different from what he’d done with any other girl, and suddenly, I didn’t feel as secure with our placement.
Chapter 12
A hand nudged my shoulder lightly.
I grumbled in protest, snuggling closer to the warm body next to me in the bed, unwilling to move away from my comfortable position beside Brady.
“Anika,” a voice whispered.
I ignored it. If someone seriously wanted to wake me up right now, they were going to lose the damn hand they were touching me with, especially if they stayed within reach.
Brady grumbled sleepily.
His voice was coming from a different direction from the first voice. Chills shot up my spine and I sat bolt upright immediately and stared at Foster in disbelief. “How the actual hell do you know where I live, Foster?” I yelled. “And why the hell are you in my room? How’d you even get in? I lock the doors here!”
Brady was awake instantly and sat up as well.
Foster raised an eyebrow at Brady then turned his gaze back to me. “Your spare key is under the plant holder, third from the left. It’s not a great hiding place.” His eyes traveled over me for a moment, and he didn’t even glance at Brady. “I’ve only been standing here for a few minutes, anyway.”
I groaned angrily. There was no dealing with this guy. I lay back down and yanked the covers over my head. Maybe if I just stayed like this long enough, he’d disappear.
“Come on, get out of bed.”
I’m pretty sure Brady was in shock because he hadn’t started yelling yet.
“What the hell Foster?”
Oh. There it was.
Foster snorted. Slowly, I pulled the blanket off of my head as I realized what he was here for. “Oh. Yeah. That.” He smirked at me lopsidedly and I groaned in disapproval of his being there. “I just want to sleep in!” I groaned, rolling over and pulling a pillow over my head.
“No, Anika,” he said patiently, “you promised.
“I hate your memory,” I growled into the mattress.
“Promised what?” Brady asked finally. The tone of his voice was enough to almost make me flinch.
“Anika said that if I left her alone until today, she’d let me spend the day with her. I imagine you don’t know it’s her birthday today, given the way you’re acting.” Foster’s tone was not nearly as patient or kind toward Brady, though it wasn’t really angry either. Not giving him a chance to reply, Foster’s hand went to my lower back and rubbed in small circles. “Come on, I have a really fun day planned.”
There was the sound of a slap and Foster’s hand was gone.
Oh, God.
“Don’t touch her,” Brady growled.
“I don’t listen to you.”
“You’re going to when I wipe that smirk off your face.”
“Try me.”
I kicked Foster, then rolled back over so I was almost in Brady’s lap; I hadn’t realized that he was facing Foster now. His face was stony, and his jaw was set when I looked up at him. I forced myself to sit up despite my desperation to just sleep in for once. “Look, I get to choose how I spend my birthday, alright? So you,” I said, pointing to Foster, “go downstairs. I’ll deal with you in a moment.”
He smiled at me easily and slipped through the doorway, shutting it behind him.
I forced a heavy sigh out of my chest. “This is my life now,” I muttered as if to force myself into believing this was my reality as I moved myself out of bed. As soon as I was on my feet, though, Brady pulled me gently down and onto his lap. My face burned with heat as I looked at him, searching for a reason as to what he was doing.
“You didn’t tell me it was your birthday today,” he murmured.
“Yeah… that’s because I don’t like celebrating it that much. All I did was not die.”
“You’re eighteen now, right?”
“Yeah.”
He nodded a little bit and I felt him smile as he lightly pressed his lips to my neck.
I shivered and stood up a little too quickly, looking at him. “I’d tell you to go downstairs if I trusted you not to start something with Foster, but I don’t, so you’re going to stay right there until I’m done getting ready. Then I’m going to spend a few hours with him.” Brady’s face twisted into a scowl and I held up a finger to keep him from talking. “Ah, no. You have no place telling me what to do, alright? I’ll text you when Foster’s finished whatever he has planned, then we can spend the rest of the day together, and I’ll be
with you tonight if you want.”
His face lit up immediately. “Okay.” His smile changed slightly, though, and I realized the wording of what I’d said. I dismissed the way his smile had changed.
I stretched and walked over to my dresser, pulling out a tank top, an overshirt, and some jeans. “I’m gonna go shower,” I announced before kissing Brady lightly on the cheek. Since my parents were in Washington, the master bedroom was mine, and that meant I had a bathroom in my bedroom. As I walked into the bathroom, I clicked the lock. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Brady not to peek… but I didn’t.
“Oh come on, you’re locking it?” he whined from the other side of the door as if to confirm my suspicions.
I snorted and ignored his protest, slipping off my clothes and getting into the shower. A few moments later I could hear talking, and it was getting louder. So, after washing the last of the shampoo out of my hair, I walked to the door.
“So what if I was in the shower with her?”
“I’d have to beat you senseless.”
“I’d like to see you try.”
“If I come out of this bathroom and you two are fighting or injured in any way, I’m making both of you leave,” I called through the door. Immediately the two boys fell silent and I wrapped a towel around myself to peek out of the bathroom.
Brady was glaring at Foster, who was seated at my computer desk with his hands behind his head. Foster’s eyes flickered over to the door when I opened it a little and he chuckled before turning his eyes back to Brady. By the time I’d looked back at Brady, he was already looking at me and we made eye contact.
“Just checking,” I muttered before closing the door.
Once I’d put on the tank top and jeans, I walked out of the bathroom.
Brady’s eyes widened a little bit. “Um. Are you seriously going out like that?”
I looked down at myself. Since I never dried my hair, my tank top was basically drenched, but I couldn’t see his problem with it. “No, I’m gonna put on an overshirt when my hair dries, why?”
His eyes darted away. “Too hot,” he muttered.
Heat flooded my cheeks again. “Excuse me?”
“You look too hot for me to trust Foster around you,” he explained, without looking at me. I noticed his cheeks were a little tinted. Holy Hell. Was Brady blushing?
Foster had his eyes set on me, I could feel it. I could always feel it when he looked at me.
I looked at him and was pleasantly surprised to see that he wasn’t looking at me with anything other than mild interest. His eyes slipped away from me again and I snorted. It was a tank top, not me walking out of the bathroom naked. Not like Brady seemed to know the difference between the two. “You’re making me self-conscious,” I informed Brady eventually.
“What?”
I sighed quietly. “Never mind.”
Slowly, Brady’s eyes came to settle back on me.
Heat touched my cheeks again, but I ignored it. I laughed and sat on the bed next to him. Foster was looking at me again, but I just laid my head on Brady’s shoulder. It clearly annoyed Foster a little bit, but the guilt I felt was quickly pushed aside when Brady spoke.
“Babe,” he groaned, “you’re getting my shirt wet.”
I removed my head, pouting.
Foster smirked; I could hear it in his voice. “You could always come sit with me, Anika.”
Brady made a point of wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me more tightly against him. His arm was tense and defensive, and his eyes were guarded.
I sighed. “You’re both morons.”
Foster’s smirk didn’t falter as I looked at him. “How so?”
“The things you two think baffle me.”
Brady turned his head and kissed my forehead. I saw a flash of anger in Foster’s eyes and his hands twitched in his lap. “Go dry your hair and get this over with so you can come spend your birthday with me, okay?” he murmured to me quietly.
I nodded and stood up, returning to my bathroom but not daring to close the door again.
When I’d finished, I could feel Foster watching me. Jesus. Did he have to do that all the time? I snuck a glance at them. Brady was lying on my bed on his back, staring at his phone, but Foster’s eyes were set on me. Interest lined his face as he watched me and I returned my gaze to the mirror, picking up my makeup bag and pulling out some eyeliner and mascara to touch up my eyes.
Once I’d finally finished my makeup and hair, I returned to the room. “Done,” I announced.
Brady sat up and stared at me, his eyes traveling very slowly over my entire body, up and down. He didn’t seem to notice the blush in my cheeks, or rather, he didn’t care because he continued to just stare at me.
Foster stood up and grabbed my hand gently in his, flashing a look at Brady. “Come on, you ready?”
“Yeah, let’s go,” I said, slipping my hand out of his as subtly as possible. “Go downstairs. I want to pick a shirt to wear over this tank top.” Foster nodded to me and walked out of the room like he had done earlier. Brady had gotten to his feet at some point, but I hadn’t noticed until I looked over at him. I walked over to him and tilted my head. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t trust him,” he growled.
“He’s going to get bored eventually, Brady,” I assured him. “Besides, it’s just me hanging out with a friend.” His eyes flashed at the word “friend” but I ignored it. “It doesn’t matter if you can’t trust him; you trust me, don’t you?”
Brady seemed to battle himself internally for an answer. “I guess.”
“Good.” I kissed him on the cheek and smiled.
“Wear my hoodie, would you? So he doesn’t forget that you’re with me.”
I took his hoodie obediently and slipped my phone into the pocket, smiling at him as reassuringly as I could. “Okay, I’ll take your hoodie.”
“The only thing that could make you look sexier in my hoodie is if you weren’t wearing pants right now.”
I blushed and smacked him in the chest. “That wasn’t the question.”
“You were distracting me.”
I laughed. “I wasn’t doing anything.”
“You don’t have to.” Brady leaned in and gave me a lingering kiss, his hand on my lower back pressing me against him lightly. “You should probably leave now or I’ll be tempted to try to make you stay here with me instead.” I nodded and turned, smiling at him one more time.
“I’ll be back soon.”
Brady didn’t reply. Instead, he sat down on my bed again and turned back to his phone.
I jogged down the stairs and looked up at Foster, sighing internally. “Let’s see what you have planned.”
Chapter 13
Foster
I was almost shaking with excitement. It didn’t matter that I’d seen Anika asleep with Brady, it didn’t matter that she was so reluctant to come, and it didn’t even matter that she was wearing his hoodie, because she was here now, and we were alone. She hadn’t really said anything since we’d gotten in my car, but it was a comfortable silence. It always felt comfortable when I was with her.
Anika had one leg pulled up against her chest and her arms were wrapped around it as she looked out of the window. Even glimpsing her like that was enough to make me smile.
I returned my eyes to the road.
“Why are you smiling?”
“You’re with me. Do I really need another reason?”
Anika chuckled.
It was such a beautiful sound when she laughed. Like warmth and happiness mixed with a childish innocence. I wished she would do it more often. Maybe I just didn’t amuse her that much. The thought of not being able to make her smile made me feel a little unhappy, but luckily she broke into my thoughts by speaking.
“Where are we going, anyway?”
“First, we’re going to see a horror movie. Then I’m taking you to lunch, and after that, back to my house.
”
She sighed lightly. “For how long?”
“You promised you’d spend the entire day with me,” I reminded her, “which means I’m allowed to take as long as I like to spoil you today.” The thought of spoiling Anika made my lips curve up again. If she’d just give me a chance, I’d give her anything she wanted. I wanted to shower her with gifts and make her happy however I could, all in the hope that she would someday look at me as more than… What did she even see me as at the moment? A friend? Whatever we were, I was ready when she was to make it something more. “You like horror movies, don’t you?”
“Yeah. How’d you know that, though?”
If I told her about the camera on her television I’d managed to hack, it would ruin the moment. “Wild guess. You strike me as someone who would enjoy them.” It always burned my tongue when I lied to her, but I couldn’t quite be completely honest, either. She found it ‘creepy’ that I wanted to keep her safe, but that’s all it was.
“Good guess.”
“Thank you.”
We sat in silence for a little longer. “Why are you being so… normal?”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re being… normal,” she repeated. “Like, you’re not threatening to kill anyone, or looking at anyone like you want them to die, or saying anything creepy. Are you sick or something?”
“I’m just at ease when I have you to myself, that’s all.”
Anika didn’t reply, and I peeked out of the corner of my eye to try to guess what she was thinking. Her brows were pushed together a little bit, but they smoothed out quickly enough and her lips twitched upwards.
Today was my chance.
***
After gently insisting that I pay for both her movie ticket and the snacks, ignoring her vast complaints about me doing so, we’d found our way to a pair of seats in the middle of the theater. Now we were roughly halfway through the movie, and none of my attention was on it; instead, I was watching Anika. During the jump scares, her eyes would widen slightly and her lips would part just enough to gasp. When the son had been killed, her eyes had teared up a little. She was so much more fascinating than a movie could have been. I’d never really enjoyed horror, personally, since I knew the basic formula of making a decent horror, but watching her watch it made it worthwhile. The different emotions flickering across her face in response to whatever was happening was just too intriguing to ignore or not take notice of. I was holding the popcorn bucket, but I hadn’t really eaten much; popcorn didn’t interest me. It was more of a reason for her to be closer to me than anything else.
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