by Rebel Hart
William dropped his head to press his cheek against the top of mine, and he used one hand against my cheek to make me feel even safer. I didn’t know if he was doing it on purpose, but it worked. His body was like a shield against everything happening outside of my body and inside. I held on tighter and he responded, matching my own desperation and need for closeness.
When he spoke, his voice was rough and it hitched in his throat. “I’m sorry, Kim.”
I shook my head against his chest. “You have nothing to be sorry about. Without you… without you this would be a very different night. Thank you. Thank—”
“Please,” he whispered. “Don’t.”
I was trembling when I pulled away to look up into his face. He kept his head down and didn’t look at me, but he couldn’t hide the tears that were there. Finally, he was breaking.
“Oh,” I breathed. Then I fell back against him and held him again.
I don’t know how long we stayed like that, standing in the middle of his room—Keith’s old room filled with rock band posters—hanging on to each other for dear life. It could have been minutes. It could have been an hour. Either way, it was healing.
When we pulled apart we both had dry eyes.
William offered me a tight-lipped smile.
I didn’t like the space between us even though it was only a couple feet. I licked my lips. “Can you do me a favor, William?”
“Anything.”
My cheeks burned. I ignored it. Now was not the time to worry about things that didn’t matter. I needed support. I needed him. “Can you sleep in my bed with me tonight? I know it’s a weird ask, but I really don’t want to be alone right now. I keep thinking about… about it. About the blood and the smell and the-”
“Yes,” William said simply.
I bit my bottom lip. “You’re sure? I get it if you think it’s weird.”
“It’s not weird. I understand.” William took my hand and led me out of his room. He flicked the light out as we left, as well as the one out in the hall, and then we went into my bedroom. I pulled the covers back on the bed and slid in. William came in after me and we both lay on our backs staring up my ceiling. The room was lit by the streetlight shining out on the street, bleeding through my half-cracked blinds.
“I’ve never felt so tired but so afraid to sleep,” I whispered.
William rolled onto his side to face me. “He’s going to be okay, Kim. We’ll go back and see him in the morning. I’ll drive you. And you’ll be able to talk to him. He’ll be back to his old self.”
I nodded. My father had been so out of it when he woke in the hospital bed. He’d known we were there, but I doubted he realized what had happened to him or why he was in the hospital.
William was right. Tomorrow would be better. Tomorrow would restore some normalcy and every day after that would get easier.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
William nodded and closed his eyes.
I stared at him for awhile. How had I not noticed all the little details about him until now? He had freckles. How had I not known he had freckles? They were dusted across the bridge of his nose and his forehead. He also had really thick, dark eyelashes. He had a sharp Cupid’s bow, too. I must never have noticed because of the facial hair that lined his jaw, chin, and upper lip.
God. He was handsome.
His eyes fluttered open and he caught me staring. “Can’t sleep?” he asked.
I was glad for the dark and that he couldn’t see my neon cheeks. I shook my head.
“Turn around,” he said.
I rolled over and put my back to him. Then he moved in close and wrapped an arm around me. It was intimate, but not romantic. I settled with my back against his chest and felt him inhale deeply against me. He exhaled. His breath was warm on my shoulder. I slid a hand under my pillow and closed my eyes.
“Better?” he asked softly.
Stifling a yawn, I nodded. “Much.”
William settled his chin into the groove of my shoulder. His stubble tickled my cheek and neck, but I didn’t mind. “I’ve got you,” he whispered.
18
William
I woke blinded by the sun.
It streamed through Kim’s bedroom blinds. They were half open. Being on the second floor of the house facing the backyard gave her privacy and she’d always been the kind of person who thrived in the spring and summer months; sunshine was her energy source and always had been.
I used to find it funny that her favorite sport was one played indoors and on ice, no less.
It took me a minute or two to get my bearings. I knew I was in her room, but I didn’t realize my arm was draped over her hip and her ass was pressed right into my groin.
Suddenly, I was very awake.
The impulse to lift my arm and create as much space between my dick and my best friend’s little sister’s very full, very round ass was strong. But so was my fear of waking her up. So I lay there like a paralyzed idiot acutely aware of the way she was breathing, of the way she shifted slightly when she nestled her cheek deeper into her pillow.
Last night nothing had felt wrong or awkward about sliding into bed with Kim after everything that had happened. However, with the rising of the sun and the breaking of a new day, things had changed. This was Kimwick. This was Keith’s sister. Roger’s daughter.
They would not want me in her bed so… close.
Gently and carefully, I lifted my arm from her hip. She let out a soft moan that had my sweatpants feeling a little tighter around the crotch. I willed her not to wake up and feel my erection pressing into her rear end. The humiliation would be insufferable. And knowing Kim, she’d never let me live it down.
Ever.
I froze with my hand hovering inches above her hip when she began rolling over onto her back. Her black hair fanned out across her pillow in a thick short mess, and some of it was caught in her eyelashes. I didn’t think before reaching up and pulling it free for her. My fingers trailed along her cheek and I pulled away.
Then I watched her sleep.
I couldn’t remember a time I ever thought she was so beautiful. Her lips were slightly parted and her breath rushed softly between them. Her chest rose and fell with every inhale and exhale and I dared myself not to stare at her breasts. I’d never been so close when she wasn’t wearing a bra; never seen so much of the girl I’d always thought was cute but never dared think was sexy.
But damn. Was she ever.
What was this feeling in my chest? I couldn’t place it. Couldn’t put a finger on it. I couldn’t even recall a time I’d ever felt it before. It reminded me a bit of the tense anxiety I felt before stepping onto the ice for a game. Excited. Unsure.
Curious.
Kim shifted again. She was waking up. I created a bit more space between us before her eyes fluttered open and she blinked at her ceiling. Then she turned her head and smiled sleepily at me. She rubbed at her eyes with the heels of her hands. “Morning.”
“Morning,” I said. Why did I want to kiss her so bad? Why did her full, pink lips look so damn smooth and tempting? I tried to squash the urge as she rolled onto her side to face me and cupped a palm under her face. Her now exposed cheek was pressed with lines from her pillow.
“How did you sleep?” she asked, blinking slowly. She was still tired.
I shrugged one shoulder. “Pretty good, considering. You?”
“Same.” She stretched and yawned. Her back arched and her breasts pulled at her pajama top. “Thank you for staying with me. I wouldn’t have been able to sleep a wink if I was by myself.”
“Of course.”
Kim sighed and settled back into the mattress. “Can I make you breakfast to thank you?”
“What sort of man would I be to say no to an offer like that?”
She grinned and then pushed at my chest. “Good answer. Now move out of the way, you giant brute.”
Chuckling, I rolled out of bed and stood. Kim shimmied across the mattress,
unable to get out on her side, which was pressed against the bedroom wall beneath the window. She stood and stretched one more time. As her arms went over her head once more her shirt lifted, exposing a lean stomach that I couldn’t stop myself from staring at. She didn’t seem to notice and slipped past me to move out into the hall, and then down the stairs.
I followed and stopped behind her when she reached the landing.
I peered past her at the destroyed living room and put a hand on her shoulder. “The insurance company will have it fixed up in no time. It will be like it never happened.”
“Yeah,” she said softly. “Yeah. I hope so.”
She tore her gaze from the scene and ducked into the kitchen with me hot on her heels. She demanded I sit at the island while she set to making coffee and, to my surprise, waffles.
“I didn’t know you were any good in the kitchen,” I said.
Kim scowled at me over her shoulder as she cracked two eggs into a bowl. “Of course I am. I’m good at everything.”
I laughed and held up both hands. “Of course. That was an oversight on my part.”
Kim proceeded to whip up the waffle mixture. She worked quietly and I was content to watch. I wondered if she was thinking about the same things as me: her father pinned under the car, the blood on the floor, on her skin, in her hair. The way her mother had sobbed and sank to the ground when she came down the stairs. The drive to the hospital and the wait and the way she’d scrubbed my hands clean in that wheelchair bathroom.
“William?”
I looked up. Kim was staring expectantly at me. “Sorry?” I sat up straighter. She’d clearly asked me something but I was caught up in the memories of the past day.
“One or two waffles?”
“One is fine.”
“You’re sure? There’s plenty here.”
“I’m sure.” I wasn’t sure what sort of appetite I was going to have. I’d barely eaten anything yesterday.
She nodded and turned back to the waffle maker on the counter. She poured the batter then turned back to me, bracing herself against the counter at her back. “Where were you?”
“Hm?” I arched an eyebrow, confused.
“Just now. What were you thinking about?”
“Nothing.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “You were thinking about yesterday. About my dad. Weren’t you?”
I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck. What was the point in lying to her now? Roger was going to be okay. I didn’t have to pretend otherwise and believe it to be true. It already was. “Yes.”
She looked down at her feet. “I can’t stop thinking about it either. It was… it was terrible.”
“It was,” I agreed.
“Especially for you.”
“Why for me?”
She looked up and tucked her hair behind her ears. “Well. You were there when it happened. You pulled him out. You saved him. My mom and I… we weren’t hands on. William. Look at me.”
I forced myself to meet her eye.
Her expression softened. “I am really grateful that you were here. Seriously. I don’t know what would have happened without you. You saved him.”
I didn’t want the gratitude. “Kim. Please. Stop thanking me. I didn’t even think. I just acted. There was nothing else I could have done.”
“I know.” She nodded and wrapped her arms around herself. “There’s something else.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry it had to be you.”
I blinked.
Kim chewed her lip. “I mean it. I wish you didn’t have to do what you did. I wish you didn’t have to remember it. I’m sorry.”
I tried to think of something to say. No words came. Kim turned her back to me when the waffle maker beeped and she carried on with her cooking. As she worked she turned on the kitchen radio, an old alarm clark Roger had brought down when he and Liz replaced the old one in their room. It played poor quality audio Elton John while Kim poured another waffle. The coffee finished at the same time as the waffles and we sat down at the kitchen table with our meals steaming on our plates until we smothered them in syrup.
After the first bite it was clear my appetite had returned in full force.
Kim made two more waffles. We demolished them.
Then we sat back to indulge in a second cup of coffee.
“Would you like to come to the hospital with me this morning?” Kim asked.
“I was going to drive you,” I said.
“And stay? Right? My dad will want to see you.”
“I can stay,” I said.
“I want you to.”
“Then consider it settled.”
Kim stood up and collected our dishes. She rinsed them and loaded them into the dishwasher and then came back to the table to collect her half full coffee mug. She took a sip. “I’m going to get changed and do something with my hair and then we can go, okay?”
I nodded. “Sounds good.”
She smiled and came to me to put her hand on my shoulder. “I know you’re sick of hearing this. But you’d better get used to it because I think you’re going to get an earful from Mom and Dad and Keith today. Thank you for saving him. I don’t know what would have happened if you weren’t there.”
Neither did I. And I didn’t want to think about it. I didn't want to think about Kim and Liz coming downstairs and finding Roger dead beneath the SUV. I didn’t want to think about how they would have screamed and cried for him.
I put my hand on hers. “Thanks.”
She leaned over. My brain didn’t compute what was happening as the space between us grew smaller and smaller until all I could see was Kim. Her eyes closed and she pressed her lips to mine. I breathed in the smell of her, fresh linen and lemon and lavender. Her hand left my shoulder and her fingers fluttered across my jaw and into my hair as the kiss deepened.
When she pulled away her cheeks were rosy and her eyes were wide. She blinked, let out a giggle that suggested she was as startled by the kiss as I was, and then mumbled something about getting changed before hightailing it out of the kitchen, leaving me to press my fingers to my still tingling lips.
19
Kimberly
William was waiting for me outside on the front step after I finished getting changed and brushing my teeth. I’d thrown my hair up into a high messy ponytail; there was no other option. My hair was too short for it to look sleek. I’d dressed in a pair of gray athletic leggings and a black loose pullover and white sneakers. William was wearing jeans and a Henley, as usual, and he turned when I opened the door and stepped outside.
I didn’t look him in the eyes.
I didn’t dare. I was horrified.
Why did you kiss him, you idiot?
I locked the door behind me. When I turned back around I kept my head down and brushed past him. He followed me out to the drive and I tossed him the keys to my mom’s car. We were going to have to give her a ride home later so taking his Porsche wasn’t an option. He got in the driver’s side and turned the radio on as soon as he started the engine.
I rolled down my window and willed him not to ask what the kiss was about. Partly because I couldn’t stomach the humiliation, and partly because there was no explanation I could offer him.
Had I kissed him out of relief? Out of gratitude?
I tried to convince myself as we pulled out of the driveway that was what had happened. I was overcome with gratitude so I’d been compelled to kiss him. It added up. Sort of.
But I knew it was a bold-faced lie.
I’d kissed him because I wanted to. Because I’d been thinking about it for days already. Because my heart was weak and bruised after everything that had happened and he was there looking at me with those perfect hazel eyes.
We turned right and then left and then he opened up on the highway. The wind rushed through the windows and blew against my cheeks and filled my lungs with fresh air. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply and tried to think about other things
, like how grateful I was to be going to visit my dad.
The wind died down as we came to a stop at a red light.
I glanced over at William. He was looking at me.
Both of us turned back to the road.
I knew one thing in the confusion of the kiss. I wanted to spend more time with him. I wanted to try to make sense of what this thing was that seemed to be growing between us. There was no possible way I was the only one feeling it. Surely he was feeling it too.
I cleared my throat. “Are you free for brunch or lunch or something tomorrow?”
The light turned green. We pulled away from the line. “I can’t. I have some apartment viewings tomorrow.”
“Oh. Right. Sure.”
“Do you want to come?”
Was that a pity invite? Was he only asking because he felt like he should, not because he actually wanted me there?
“Maybe,” I said.
Neither of us said much for the rest of the drive. It was quiet but comfortable. When we pulled into the parking lot, William tried to find a spot that was as close as possible to the north tower entrance. We bickered over who would pay for parking.
William won.
I stood behind his shoulder and waited for him to pay the meter, then we walked back and put the ticket on the dash before moving back up to the hospital. We rounded the corner of the building and stopped in our tracks when we spotted what appeared to be a mob near the entrance.
“What the heck is going on?” I wondered aloud.
William groaned beside me.
I looked up at him. “What’s wrong? Are they protestors or something?”
He shook his head. “No. They’re here for me.”
“For you?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yep. Cameras. Microphones.” He pointed across the lot to a bunch of vans and I spotted the news channels plastered to the sides of the vehicles.
“Oh,” I breathed.
He sighed. “Yeah.”
“Does this happen often?”
He shrugged. “Hit or miss. But when they know to expect me at a certain place I almost always get caught. I should’ve realized they’d show up here.”
