Underground (New World Series Book 4)
Page 24
Ella’s hand instantly gripped my arm. “Olivia is back in town,” she said, explaining the obvious. “Isn’t that great?”
Uh, no. Reagan was definitely not thinking that was great. That should have been a given. Although I gave Ella points for trying. Reagan’s eyes moved over me, taking stock. I could tell by the firm set of her lips that she was not impressed. “Wow, Olivia. What hole did you crawl out of?”
A much cleaner and sanitary one than the one you did, I thought.
“Not cool, Reagan,” Rannon said, walking around the island to stand beside me. Her lip curled at me as she flipped her hair again.
“Whatever.” She turned to press her body against Colt’s, running her hand over his bare chest. I watched that hand, wanting so badly to rip it off him. Who was I kidding? She was the type of girl he hooked up with. The popular girl and popular guy. Their love story was made in the heavens and all that bull shit. I looked up to meet his gaze again that hadn’t seemed to waver from me. “Let’s go back in your bedroom and finish what we started,” she cooed, pressing closer.
I literally think I threw up a little in my mouth. The fact that he was still looking at me was making it harder to turn away when that’s all I wanted to do. I didn’t want to have to watch her paw at him.
“Colt,” she said again, stomping her foot. That’s right, she stomped her foot like a child. Finally he turned to look at her. “I said let’s go. You’ve wasted enough time on these people,” she said with disgust.
“We were going anyway,” I said, speaking for the first time. Colt’s eyes narrowed. “Thanks for the drink. Great party.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Ella said, putting her cup back on the island, barely touched. She reached out and grabbed my hand.
“Don’t leave yet!” Rannon called out as we started making our way through the crowd. As if we would stay, I thought. This was turning out just as badly as I’d expected. I froze up in front of Colt, and was ridiculed by Reagan. Yup, pretty much as I’d expected. We headed outside and sped walked back over to my house. Ella opened the front door and walked in, neither of us saying a word. Just as I was about to go inside I glanced back at his house and froze. Colt stood at the edge of his garage watching me, a strange look on his face. We stared at one another for a moment before I broke and looked away, walking inside.
Worst. Night. Ever.
Four
One must always draw, draw with the eyes, when one cannot draw with a pencil – Balthus
Colt
The sun filtered through the blinds casting streaks of light across the bed. I opened my eyes slowly, instantly regretting it. Head pounding, mouth dry and cottony, I rolled over and buried my face in my pillow trying to block out the world. Why the hell do I do this to myself? Hangovers were my nemesis.
Movement beside me had me lifting my head to see Reagan lying on the other side of my bed, her clothes askew, hair like a birds nest across the pillow, drool leaking out the corner of her mouth as she slept with it wide open. Ugh. Did I? I thought back and shook my head, which was not a good idea at this point. I groaned, burying my face again.
No, I definitely hadn’t slept with her. If I remembered correctly she had been passed out in here whenever I decided to finally come back inside. I had tried to move her, but for a small girl she was surprisingly heavy when passed out drunk. I ended up standing outside most of the night, a part of me wishing that the door next door would open again and Olivia would have changed her mind.
Olivia Banks had been at my house. And she’d spoken to me.
I still couldn’t believe it. In all the years I’d sort of known her, she had never said a single word to me. Her voice was musical, soft and gentle as it washed over me. I had been struck dumb just looking at her. All that creamy white skin had been on display in a shirt that nearly brought me to my knees. Her hair was even longer than it used to be, still thick and wavy like I remembered. Those green eyes looked up at me nervously, and all I wanted to do was reach out and stroke her face.
I groaned again into the plush feathers surrounding me. I was a goner. Who was I kidding when I thought I wasn’t still completely hung up on some girl I hardly knew? Rannon was right, and it killed me to admit it, even to myself. All night I had kept glancing at her window like there was some tether pulling my attention that way. Seeing her after two years had all my old feelings flaring to life, more intense than when we were younger. What the hell was I going to do?
Pushing off the bed, I stumbled my way through the hall to the bathroom, relieved to see that it wasn’t a complete disaster. When I walked out into the living room, Rannon was already there cleaning up. He was the only guy I knew who had to clean the second he got up after partying. He couldn’t stand a mess. That, or he just had enough respect for my mom not to leave it for her. I think he honestly didn’t want her knowing what we did most nights she was gone, and made sure there was nothing left as evidence.
“Morning,” I croaked, walking over to the kitchen to start the coffee maker. It was the only cure for a hangover. The both of us also happened to be caffeine addicts. As soon as I heard it brewing, that aroma filling the air with it’s delicious, dark bean scent, I breathed in deeply and already felt marginally better.
“So?”
I looked over at Rannon standing by the sofa, one hand on his hip, the other holding a broom. I would have laughed if my head wasn’t pounding.
“So what?” I asked.
“So what?” he repeated, giving me a disbelieving look. “So, Olivia fucking Banks was over here last night looking like she just stepped out of my wet dreams, and you haven’t said a word about it.”
“Please don’t ever talk about your wet dreams to me again,” I said, turning to see how much coffee was brewed. I needed it, like now.
“Do you not care then? Is that it? Because if you don’t like that girl anymore, please tell me I can have her.”
I looked over my shoulder at him.
“I’m begging, dude. I’ll take good care of her, I promise.”
“You touch her and I’ll break your hands,” I said, more serious than I’d ever been.
A triumphant smile lit up his face. “I knew it! Dude, you have it so bad! You should have seen your face last night,” he said pointing and laughing at me. I rolled my eyes and grabbed an empty mug from the cupboard. “You couldn’t take your eyes off her,” he continued – much to my annoyance. “It was like you were struck dumb. Colt Morgan was rendered speechless by a girl.” Now he was howling like it was the funniest thing ever. I needed new friends.
What was sad was that I had been speechless at first. When I saw her standing there, even though all I could see was her back, I knew right away who it was and my whole body had felt like it was electrically charged. It had taken every ounce of willpower to keep some distance between our bodies when I’d stood behind her. All I’d wanted to do was press her against me and wrap my hands around her curvy hips.
“What are you two laughing so loudly about?” Reagan said as she walked into the living room, her makeup all smudged.
“Arrggghh!” Rannon cried out, biting his fist. “Where the hell did you just come from?”
She walked over to me, her hips moving in a way I knew she thought was sexy, but really just looked ridiculous. Wrapping her hands around my waist, she pressed closer as I lifted my arms away from her. Rannon gave me a disgusted look over her shoulder.
“I was in Colt’s bedroom,” she answered. Rannon’s mouth dropped as he looked at me. “So what were you two laughing about?” She stepped back and grabbed a mug, filling it with coffee. Rannon narrowed his eyes on her. I knew what he was thinking. We didn’t like having girls stay past their welcome. These mornings were supposed to be stress free, and nothing was ever stress free with a girl like Reagan around. We also didn’t like sharing our coffee.
“Nothing,” I answered giving Rannon a pointed look so he’d behave.
“Yeah, nothing,” Rannon grumbled. He leaned t
he broom against the wall and stormed into the kitchen, grabbing a mug and slamming it on the counter.
“Easy tiger,” I said, taking a slow slip. The delicious liquid slid down my throat like my own personal ambrosia.
“What’s his problem?” Reagan said as Rannon walked out through the garage, slamming the door behind him.
“He’s not a morning person.”
She leaned over to me, her hand grabbing me through my shorts. “What about you, Colt? Are you a morning person?” she whispered in my ear, her tongue snaking out to lick the tip of my earlobe. I leaned away from her.
“My mom’s upstairs.”
“So?” She smiled. “We can be quick.”
I gently pushed her back, giving myself some much needed space. “I don’t think so,” I said. “I don’t mess around when she’s home, and I got a lot to do today so you should probably be on your way.”
Her lip stuck out in a pout. “But Colt,” she whined. “We didn’t even get to spend time together.”
“Another time, Reagan. I’ve got too much to do.”
She smiled and said she’d call me later. I’d be sure not to answer that one. I walked her out and watched her until she was in her car and driving away. When I turned to go inside, I realized Rannon stood against the fence talking to someone on the other side. My heart sped up until I saw blonde hair. I looked around to see if Olivia was there too but I couldn’t see her.
Walking over, I stood beside Rannon smiling down at Ella. “Morning,” I said.
“Oh, hey, Colt,” she said, her mouth turned down. Her eyes glanced over my shoulder where Reagan had just driven off. “I hope you’re planning on getting tested after that.”
I laughed. “Jealous, Ella Page?”
“Only of whatever drugs you’ll be getting to clear that up,” she replied with a smirk.
Rannon laughed, slapping me on the back. “Isn’t she great?”
Her eyes looked to him, a blush creeping across her cheeks.
“Ella here was just telling me how she and Olivia were planning on laying out in the sun for a while. I was offering my sun lotion services.”
“I bet you were,” I murmured. “Where’s Olivia?” Shit. Did that sound too eager?
“Getting her bikini on,” she replied, nodding toward the house.
Olivia. In a bikini. There was no way I was missing this. I told them I was going to take a shower and hurried inside to get ready. This day had just increased in potential.
As the water streamed over me, I closed my eyes, the picture of Olivia from last night vivid in my mind’s eye. How was it possible that one girl could be that beautiful? I opened to stare at the white tiles in front of me. A heavy weight settled in my stomach. Someone like Olivia Banks would never go for a guy like me. She was the kind of girl that found some clean-cut jock with straight A’s. Not some tattooed, pierced guy who could barely pass in school, and had a seriously hazy future. I dropped my forehead against the wall. I needed to find a way to impress her enough that she’d see past all that and realize that I’d worship her more than any other guy possibly could.
When I walked back into the living room, Rannon was sitting at the table with my mom. She looked beat. I walked over and gave her a quick kiss on the head.
“How was work?” I asked.
“Long,” she said with a sigh. “Can you boys do me a favour? The air conditioner is making that funny noise again. Can you two take a look and see if you can fix it?”
“Why don’t you just call a repairman?” I suggested.
“Because repairmen cost money, and I don’t have any to spare. Plus, I have two strapping young men at home, who I’m sure can handle a little AC unit.”
“Of course we can, Ms. M,” Rannon said. “We’ll go fix it now.”
I glared at him while my mom wasn’t looking. Now? But I wanted to go outside. Leave it to Rannon to ruin the morning with his eager beaver shit. I swear, if I didn’t know better I’d think he had a crush on my mom. Except I did know better, and I knew that he just felt bad that she had to raise a kid like me all on her own. Truthfully, I kind of felt bad for her too. I’d put her through a lot over the past few years, although I was trying to level myself out and actually pass my last year of school this year. It pissed me off that she worked so hard and couldn’t even afford to have someone come look at our air conditioner when it was acting up.
“I appreciate that,” she was saying. “Today’s going to be a hot one. It would suck if that thing crapped out on us again.”
We both muttered our agreements.
“I’m heading to bed. See you around sUpper time.”
“Night mom,” I said. “Or morning…you know what I mean.”
She laughed, heading toward the stairs.
“Sleep tight, Ms. M!”
“Thank you, Rannon!”
I waited until she was upstairs before turning on him. “You’re such a brownnoser! Why would you say we’re going to fix that thing now? What happened to our previous plan?”
“Bro, chill. We’ll get this thing done quick times, and then we’ll go join the ladies. I promise you they’ll still be there when we’re done.”
“They better be, or I’m going to kick your ass.”
“Yeah, yeah tough guy,” he said, waving me off. “Save your threats for someone who cares. I’ve known you too long to know that there’s no way you’d fight me over some girl.”
Then he didn’t know me as well as he thought. Or he just didn’t realize how different this particular girl was from all the others.
Janelle Stalder was born and raised in Brampton, Ontario. At an early age she developed a love for literature. Her debut novel, Eden, was the first book in a series of four, released in September of 2011. Since then she has released an Adult Dystopian Romance series, the New World Series, hitting the best sellers list on Amazon. She has also released a Mature YA/NA novel, Brush Strokes, that stayed on the best sellers list for contemporary romance for sixteen straight weeks. She is a strong supporter of other independent authors, and loves to interact with her readers. When she's not writing, Janelle is at home with her husband, three children, Aiden, Elora and Violet, and her two furry children, Alice and Lily. She now resides in a small town in Ontario in her old, possibly haunted, century home.
Janelle loves to hear from her readers! Contact her at jmstalder@gmail.com
And follow her on Twitter - @jmstalder
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Other Titles
Dedication
Quote
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Silence
Brush Strokes
About the Author
derground (New World Series Book 4)