I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, my fight with Jamie giving me less tolerance for those girls. Morgan's words rang in my head and I couldn't help but wonder which of them he'd hooked up with.
Those thoughts were pushed aside as Mr. Chase began Matthews story. His main character was named Andy.
“Andy was never the most popular kid,” Mr. Chase read. “School was a nightmare for him and there were people there who only tried to make it worse. Sally was one of them.”
Morgan shifted in her seat uncomfortably as Mr. Chase continued.
“She didn't bully him like others did. No, she wasn't that type of person. What she did was worse. She didn't know he existed. Every day in the halls at school, he'd hope she just looked at him. Hell, he hoped anyone would look at him. That was the only thing he was good at, going through life unseen.” Mr. Chase hesitated, not sure he should continue. We hadn't been told ahead of time that these would be read out loud.
He made a decision and stuck with it.
“Then Andy was thrust into Sally's view. She didn't want it and he didn't blame her. He wouldn't want to be seen with him either. Her disgust showed on her face even if she didn't voice it. But Andy had been through worse that very week so he did what he always did, he got through it.”
By the end of the story, all energy was drained from the room. No one said a word. Morgan and Matthew had gone to the beach as she'd said, but her friends came along. They barely spoke to him. He'd watched them with longing, just wanting to be noticed. There was none of the anger I'd expect in his story, only desperation.
No one was snickering now or talking about Matthew with disdain. What none of them knew was that at that very moment, Matthew was in the hospital. They'd put him there. We'd all put him there.
Without a word, Morgan stood up and left, her classmate's eyes burning into her back. I should have gone after her, but couldn't. I was glued to my seat.
Mr. Chase put the stack of stories in his desk drawer, deciding that was enough for today.
“Let's start today's writing prompt.” He cleared his throat. “Poetry.”
* * *
I pulled my brother's car into the parking lot in front of the apartments across from the University of South Florida's campus. He'd let me borrow it only after making me beg. Sadist.
As soon as I woke up on Saturday, the urge to see my best friend was strong. I needed him to talk some sense into me, to tell me what I already knew. I was an idiot. Getting involved with Jamie. Being friends with Morgan's crowd. None of it was me.
Did I want the old me back? Maybe that was why I was here.
But I couldn't stop thinking of Jamie. His blond hair, clear eyes, and solid arms. I liked what he did to me. When it was just us, who we used to be didn't matter so much. Then the rest of the world would close in, suffocating us and cutting us off before we could even get started.
I cut the engine and pulled out my phone to send Jay a text.
Me: You home?
Jay: ???
Me: I'm sitting outside your apartment.
At least I hoped it was his place. I thought the address was right.
A few short moments passed before the front door of the building was flung open, Jay rushing out of it. He stopped when he saw me. Flipping dark hair out of his eyes, he unleashed his most Jay-like grin, making me suddenly feel like everything was going to be okay. He had that effect on people.
He was at my door before I'd even stepped out, practically pulling me from the car.
“What are you doing here, Callie girl?” he asked, pulling me into a strong hug.
I rested my head on his shoulder. “Can't a girl just miss her best friend?”
A deep chuckle rumbled in his chest as he released me. “Do you have a bag?”
“I'm not staying the night. Kat wants me back today so I can go to church in the morning.”
He threw an arm over my shoulders, squeezing me to his side, and leading me inside. “I'm glad you're here.”
“I'm not ruining any plans with your girlfriend or anything, am I?”
“Nah, she went home for the weekend. I'm all yours.”
I smiled at the thought of that. Any romantic feelings I'd had for Jay were washed away when I thought of Jamie. I'd never been this confused about where things stood with Jay, always knowing that we were good for the moment, but there was a time limit on our relationship. It felt safe that way.
Jamie was anything but safe. If I wasn't careful, I'd lose more than just a few kisses to him. We'd end up hurting each other. We were made to be at odds.
“You okay?” Jay unlocked the door to his place and showed me in.
“I've been hooking up with Jamie.” The words were out before I could stop them. He stood in the doorway in stunned silence as I walked past him, trying to turn my mind to anything else.
The apartment was not what I'd expect from a college student. Expensive black furniture adorned the immaculate space. Silver and blue abstract artwork hung perfectly placed. The kitchen was small, but clean.
I stopped near the dark wood dining room table and gripped the back of a chair to steady myself.
Jay still hadn't reacted, a bomb that had yet to go off. His footsteps sounded on the hardwood floor as he walked into the kitchen briskly, grabbing a glass from a cabinet and filling it at the faucet. Tipping it against his lips, he still didn't look back at me.
I know that wasn't how I should tell him, but I was all tied up in knots and needed to get it out.
“Is that why you made me tell you about his mom?” Jay still wouldn't face me as he spoke.
“No,” I said softly, trying to strengthen my voice. I let go of the chair and took tentative steps towards him. “Nothing had happened at that point. I didn't feel …” I couldn't finish that sentence.
Jay finally spun around, a fiery look dancing in his eyes. “Didn't feel what?” He stepped towards me. “You said you were hooking up with my brother. Now you say you feel something?”
“No,” I yelled. “God, I shouldn't have told you.”
His eyes softened then and he slumped back against the counter. “You've never kept anything from me before. Don't start now.”
My smile started out small. This was my Jay. This was why I came.
He set his glass down and gestured to the living room.
I followed him and sank back into his plush couch.
“Oh my God, this is the best thing ever.” I sighed.
He laughed. “Thank my father for that and pretty much everything else in this place.”
“Not likely.” I scowled.
“Cal, he's not so bad.”
“To you maybe.” I turned to look him in the eye. “Did you know Jamie is living with us?”
“So, that's how this happened? Makes sense. Jamie hasn't met a pretty girl he didn't want in his bed so living with one probably makes that even worse.”
“Hell, you are more like him than you'd admit. For your information, he thinks I slept with you. In case anyone else is listening, I'm not screwing the Daniels brothers.”
“Good.” The relief on his face only made me angrier.
“You know, Colby told Jamie that I was off limits. I don't need another over-protective asshole. I can take care of myself.”
“Colby said that? Good for him.”
I punched him in the arm as hard as I could. “I'm out of here.”
He grabbed my hand as I stood and pulled me back to the couch. “Look, I'm sorry. Stay. Talk to me. You obviously drove all the way here for a reason.”
“I just needed to get out of Gulf city.”
“Bullshit. You came to see if I'd tell you what you're doing is a bad idea.”
“Maybe a little.”
“It is.”
I looked at him sharply. “What?”
“Jamie is not someone you need in your life. He has issues that he'll never get over and if you let him in, he's only going to burn you from the inside out.”
J
ay's eyes bore into me, unrelenting and stern.
I shrank away from his stare.
“What if he's already in?” I asked quietly.
He shut his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, all hardness was gone. He reached for me and I curled up against his side. He didn't have an answer for my question. When I looked up at him, he seemed lost in thought.
“Are things really that bad between him and my dad?” he asked suddenly.
“Worse.”
Jay sighed. “I may not like that he's in your life, but I'm glad you're in his.”
Nothing else needed to be said as we settled in and he flipped on the TV. The news blinked on.
“You hear about this?” Jay asked. “Hurricane Anna is churning up the gulf.”
“Is it going to hit?” Hurricanes and tropical storm warnings weren't anything new to us.
“Does it ever really hit us?” he laughed. “We'll probably just get the rain.”
“Hmmm.” I leaned in towards the TV. It'd been a slow hurricane season and they were rare in November even though the season didn't officially end until the last day of the month.
I glanced sideways at my best friend, remembering all the times we'd watched potential storms and then headed out to the beach - me to surf, him to watch the waves pick up.
Closing my eyes to still the panic in my chest at the thought of being out in the water, I opened them to find Jay watching me knowingly.
Bastard.
He knew me too damn well.
Chapter Twenty
Jamie:
It was late when I snuck down the hall and knocked on Callie's door.
“Cal?” I whispered. “You awake?”
“Well, if I hadn't been, I would be now.”
“Sorry.” I turned to go, not wanting to bother her.
“Wait,” she hissed. “Get your ass in here.”
“Oh, you like my ass, do you?” I laughed, pushing open the door.
I found her sitting at her desk, staring at a stack of college brochures.
“Finally going to fill out your applications?” I asked.
“I'm not really sure,” she said, glancing up. “I was just thinking about mom and what she'd want.”
I walked over to her and bent down to wrap my arms around her.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“We're done fighting.” I kissed the top of her head before lifting her to her feet.
“Just like that?”
“Yeah.” I smiled shyly when she faced me. “Just like that.”
Leading her towards the bed, I pulled back the covers and slid in, scooting over to make room for her. When she took the invitation, I released a sigh and pulled her against me.
She didn't resist and it felt good to have her in my arms. It felt right. My arms circled her waist and I nudged her hair to the side to press kisses against her soft skin. A shiver ran up her spine and I grinned against her shoulder.
My hand dipped under her tank, rubbing small circles along the flat planes of her stomach as my lips continued their trail along her neck.
A groan escaped her lips and I clutched her tighter.
“That was the sexiest thing I've ever heard.”
“You shouldn't be in here,” she whispered. “What if Colby wakes up? Or Kat? And you aren't asleep on the couch.”
In one swift movement, I flipped her around so she was facing me. She let out a yelp of surprise.
“Shhh,” I whispered, brushing my lips against hers. “Let's just make sure they don't wake up.”
I cut off any further words with a crushing kiss that I felt in every bone in my body. Wrapping her arms around my back, she molded herself to me, throwing one leg over mine.
“Mmmm,” I moaned. “You taste sweet.”
My wandering hands pushed her tank up higher until half her stomach was bare. I bent down to drop tiny kisses on the exposed skin, leaving fire in my wake.
She ran her hands through my hair, tugging on the ends. I looked up at her with heated eyes.
As I moved back up towards her, she surprised me by pushing my shirt up. I yanked it off over my head. She sucked in a breath and sat up, pushing me down in the same movement. Starting at the dip of my throat, she kissed her way down, using her tongue to draw circles on my skin.
She'd just started tracing the ridges of my abs when a door opened into the hall. She stilled, her face hovering over my chest, listening intently. My muscles tensed, waiting. We heard the bathroom door open and shut. A minute later, it opened again. We didn't move until we heard a bedroom door close.
She collapsed onto me with a sigh, burying her face in my neck. My arms held her to me.
“This sucks,” she mumbled.
“I don't know,” I chuckled. “All this sneaking around is kinda hot.”
She pinched my side and I flipped her over, still laughing. “You want it rough now, do you?” I asked, not giving her a chance to respond before my fingers dug into her sides.
“No,” she whined. “I hate being tickled.” she squirmed beneath me, but I pinned her between my legs, continuing the onslaught. Despite what I'd said, I wasn't rough about it, my hands working themselves up her sides as she twisted and laughed.
Suddenly I wasn't tickling her anymore. Instead, I was sliding her tank up and over her sexy white bra. I took it off over her head and didn't waste any time moving towards her shorts. Her breath quickened as my touch grazed the skin under the band of her shorts.
“Jamie.” Her voice came out a strangled cry and I stilled, kicking myself for pushing her too far. She shrank into herself, rolling over and pulling her legs up towards her chest.
“I'm sorry,” she said into my pillow.
A thought struck me, but, no it couldn't be true. She'd been with Jay. But there was something about the way she looked at me now.
I sat back on my heels. “You're a virgin.”
“Ugh.” She buried her face again. “Don't say that word.”
“Why not?” I leaned down towards her, forcing her to look at me.
“It sounds so … technical.” She pushed me back and got out of bed. “I'm so not talking about this with you.”
“You told me you slept with my brother.”
“No. You assumed.” She stomped towards the door and flipped the light on, shielding her eyes from the sudden brightness. “You were an ass about it actually.”
Still stunned, I walked over to her, turning the light back off.
“Hey.” She tried to move me, but I wouldn't budge.
“Someone is getting cranky.” I grabbed her hips and turned her towards me. “You need to sleep.” My head bent to capture her lips in an agonizingly slow kiss that was broken way too quickly.
I left her to her darkness, her taste still on my tongue and her confession still on my mind.
Chapter Twenty-One
Callie:
Sweet dreams always end too abruptly, ripping the dreamer from a world that was infinitely better than their own. I'd been surfing, something I hadn't even tried since my accident.
The waves were curling around me, a perfection that's only possible in the dream world. Suddenly, I was being jolted awake, two hard bodies landing on my bed.
“Wake up,” Colby said, shaking my shoulders.
I groaned, opening one eye to find my brother and Jamie both inches from my face. Liberating one arm from the covers, I swatted at them.
“We have to go soon.” Colby sounded irritated, but I knew he found it funny to see the many ways he could wake me up.
“Fine,” I grumbled, kicking my feet free. The movement sent an unsuspecting Jamie sprawling to the floor.
I couldn't hold in my laugh. Colby held his sides as he doubled over.
As I scrambled over Jamie, he caught my leg.
“Jamie.” I landed on him. Hard.
The air rushed out of him.
“Serves you right,” I laughed.
Colby watched us curiously as I took to
o long to extricate myself from Jamie's arms. I scrambled to my knees, earning myself a smack on the ass.
Colby tensed, but his shoulders relaxed as I left the room.
I didn't realize I'd been followed until I was standing in the bathroom in front of the sink. Jamie appeared next to me, reaching for his toothbrush as I grabbed mine.
He winked at me in the mirror, putting the toothbrush into that perfect mouth.
I brushed my teeth slowly, trying hard to ignore him. He nudged my shoulder, his arm coming around me for a fraction of a second before it dropped. The door was open and my brother was around. I nudged him back before bending forward to spit into the sink. He followed suit and wiped his mouth before pressing a light kiss to my cheek. A blush rose up my face, but he was gone and it was time for me to get ready to go.
Jamie shifted in the backseat of Kat's car, unable to sit still.
“What is wrong with you?” I whispered.
He hesitated a moment, looking out the window, before turning to pin me with darkened eyes. “I haven't been to church since the last time I saw my dad.”
Understanding dawned and I longed to reach out to him. My eyes flicked to Kat and Colby in the front seats and I thought better of it.
“Are you scared to see him?” I asked stupidly.
“A little,” he admitted. “I don't know if I'm more nervous that he'll talk to me or that he won't.”
That was all I got from him, but it was enough for my heart to break just a bit. My mom was gone forever, but if she was here, there'd be no question that she wanted me - that she loved me. My dad was another story. Had he walked away?
Jamie wanted the same thing I'd always dreamed of from my own father. To know he loved him.
We parked and got out of the car. Mr. Chase met us outside the building in sport coat and slacks. He bent to give Kat a kiss then turned to us.
“If it isn't some of my most promising writers.” He looked between me and Jamie as if he meant both of us. I hadn't gotten to read Jamie's story, but suddenly couldn't wait.
“Hi Mr. Chase,” I said. When he gave me a stern look, I amended that. “Sorry … Noah.” Wow, that felt weird.
Aunt Kat and Mr. Chase … er … Noah walked in first, followed by the three of us. The service was nothing out of the ordinary, spotlighting a sermon of doing good works with simple acts of kindness. I felt Jamie tense up beside me towards the end when his father stepped up to the lectern to say the prayer.
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