Rhiannon sat up and pulled her knees to her chest as she looked around and wondered what had happened to the various trinkets she’d collected as a child and kept in her room. She supposed that they must be long gone by this point and with a shrug got up from the bed and stretched as she prepared herself to face Kalen.
I’ll just act like I don’t remember anything, and hopefully he won’t bring it up, Rhiannon thought to herself feeling determined.
Rhiannon carefully opened her bedroom door and headed towards the stairway, tiptoeing the entire way. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she peeked around and saw Kalen still asleep on the couch. Rhiannon smiled as she looked at him, thinking of how different the situation is from the first time she’d seen him sleeping.
Continuing to tiptoe, she went over to where he was sleeping and knelt in front of him to get a closer look.
Must be nice to have such lush eyelashes naturally, she thought as she looked at his peaceful face.
My God he is handsome, she thought, feeling her cheeks warm up.
Her eyes took in his entire face before stopping on his lips. Slight stubble was growing in around them, causing them to stand out even more. As if possessed, Rhiannon felt drawn to them like they were magnetic.
I’ll just wake him up with a kiss, Rhiannon thought as she tried to rationalize her thinking process.
Centimeters away from going through with her daring plan, Kalen’s eyes fluttered opened and looked at her in surprise – and then happiness as a half-smile played across his lips.
“Glad to know it wasn’t just the alcohol talking last night,” he said.
Rhiannon almost fell backward in shock, but Kalen was quicker as he hooked his arm behind her and pulled her in the rest of the way and kissed her deeply.
Rhiannon instinctively was about to pull away, but as soon as her lips met his, she melted into him and let her eyes close. Her heart beat quickly, matching his as they both lost themselves in the stolen moment.
Rhiannon pulled herself onto the couch and into his arms, not once breaking the kiss. Neither of them seemed able to or wanting to stop as their hands moved eagerly on each other’s bodies. Rhiannon found her way up to his shirt and let out a low moan as she caressed his impressively defined abdominals.
Kalen’s breathing became rapid under the attention of her fingertips and what had started as a good morning kiss was quickly developing into more as his excitement grew.
His reactions to her touches only made Rhiannon grow bolder as she let her left hand explore a more southern region. She’d never done anything like it before but found herself reacting on pure instinct and desire.
They were both so caught up in the moment that neither of them heard the repeated knocks at the door.
“Rhiannon! HEY!” Lilyette yelled into the house.
Rhiannon jolted her head up and locked eyes with Lilyette, who said, “Oberon is on his way up also!”
“What?” Rhiannon exclaimed as she disentangled herself from Kalen and stood up to fix her disheveled appearance. Kalen followed suit and pulled down his shirt and pulled up his pants.
Chapter 11
Lilyette had Oberon pick her up at her house wanting to surprise Rhiannon with their visit to the new home. The pair left early, and stopped at the store to get some supplies for the home including groceries, cleaning supplies, and some breakfast to cook when they got there.
“She doesn’t think either of us can come today, so she’s going to be so happy!” Lilyette exclaimed happily as they drove closer to Rhiannon’s house.
“I doubt she’ll even be awake yet, so we might have to call her to get in,” Oberon answered also feeling excited.
“True, she does like to sleep in,” Lilyette answered.
“So, how are you feeling anyway? I was surprised when you called me,” Oberon asked carefully.
“I feel amazing! I wish I could remember everything that happened, so maybe we could find the driver that did this, but honestly I’m just glad to be healed,” Lilyette replied cheerfully.
“How are you healed? Last time I saw you at the hospital, you were still pretty banged up,” Oberon inquired.
“Will power maybe?” Lilyette said with a laugh, “But honestly maybe just modern medicine doing the damn thing. I went and got checked up, and they said that I’m cleared to go about my life, but they want me to come back in a couple weeks for a follow-up and make sure that all is well still.”
“That’s a miracle. I’m glad you’re better. And honestly, don’t worry too much about remembering what happened. It’s probably too traumatic, so your mind is protecting you. I’m sure the cops and campus security will be able to find out who did it,” Oberon replied.
“Yeah, you’re right. I just want to focus on the future for now – oh my gosh! Rhiannon’s house! I can remember us coming here for playdates when we were so little!” Lilyette said as she rolled down her window to get a better look at the house, they were pulling up to. The air hitting her face was welcomed, as she dropped her cheerful smile and calmed her breathing.
Oberon smiled eagerly as he parked the car, excited to surprise Rhiannon and start making up for what a jerk he’d been the previous day.
The pair got out of the car and Oberon went around to pop the trunk and start unloading groceries.
“You go knock,” Oberon began, “I know you say you’re all better but still – just to be safe, I’ll carry the heavy load.”
“Thanks, Obie!” Lilyette answered back as she skipped happily to the door.
Lilyette knocked a few times and when she didn’t get an answer assumed Rhiannon must be asleep.
“I think you’re right,” she called back to Oberon, “she must be sleeping in.”
Turning back to the door, she decided to try her luck and see if the door would be unlocked so she could just go in and wake Rhiannon up.
The door opened effortlessly, and Lilyette let herself in only to find an unusual sight in front of her.
Lilyette blushed at the compromising situation in front of her and was momentarily hypnotized and unable to look away. Hearing the car trunk slam shut behind her brought her back to reality, and she instantly leaped into action.
“Rhiannon! Hey!! I’m so happy to see you!” she exclaimed at an unnaturally loud volume.
Rhiannon pulled away from Kalen abruptly and disentangled herself clumsily as was made aware of Lilyette’s presence.
“Yes! OBERON is here too! He’s bringing some groceries NOW!” Lilyette yelled as she slightly closed the door to block Oberon’s view as he came closer.
Rhiannon felt all color drain from her face as she hurriedly fixed her disheveled clothing and turned to Kalen to urge him to do so as well.
“Get up!” Rhiannon whispered urgently at Kalen, who was watching her rush with an amused look on his face.
With a quick movement, Kalen pulled his pants back to their original position and stood up and let gravity readjust his shirt. Rhiannon hurried to the door and gave Lilyette a quick hug and whispered in her ear, “Thank you,” before opening the door to let Oberon in.
“Surprise!” Oberon said happily as he walked up to the final porch step, balancing multiple grocery bags on his arms.
“Wow! I am definitely surprised! What are you guys doing here? I thought you couldn’t come today?” Rhiannon said as she took some of the bags away from Oberon and led him inside the house.
“We didn’t want to leave you alone all day,” Oberon said with a smile.
“I don’t think that’s much of a problem,” Lilyette muttered under her breath as she stepped towards Kalen and gave him a sideways glance with a raised eyebrow.
Kalen slightly chuckled and gave her a playful nudge with his elbow which Lilyette happily returned – a bit harder.
Oberon walked in the rest of the way and stared down happily at Rhiannon and said,
“How was your first night in this big house all by yourself? I hope you weren’t too lonely.”
/> “About that Oberon…” Rhiannon started slowly, “There’s someone I’d like for you to finally meet…”
“Huh?” Oberon said as he looked away from her and around the living room.
The moment Oberon’s eyes landed on Kalen, his previous smile disappeared and was replaced by a scowl.
“Who. The. Hell. Is. That.” Oberon said through gritted teeth.
Kalen reacted immediately to Oberon’s aggressive tone and took several steps closer, stopping right in front of Rhiannon.
With a sly smile and a mischievous twinkle in his eye, Kalen stuck out his hand towards Oberon.
“I’m Kalen, Rhiannon and Lilyette’s friend, and you are?” he said as he waited for the handshake to be returned.
Oberon looked down at Kalen’s outstretched hand and scoffed.
“Oberon. Lilyette’s best friend and Rhiannon’s betrothed,” he responded curtly as he looked away from Kalen’s hand and pointedly ignored it.
Kalen’s eye’s narrowed at his comment, and his own smile also disappeared.
“You sure about that?” Kalen said bluntly.
“Guys! I’m going to stop you both right there. Kalen this is Oberon, my lifelong friend,” Rhiannon interjected, “And Oberon this is Kalen, my newer friend. Now, seeing as you are both friends with Lilyette and I, why don’t you try and drop your toxic masculinity acts and try and be civil?”
Both Oberon and Kalen were about to protest but stopped themselves when they looked at Rhiannon and saw the daggers she was shooting out of her eyes at both of them.
Lilyette stood back watching the whole scene unfold and held back her laughter as two towering, and muscular guys got mutually scolded by Rhiannon and ended up looking like apologetic puppies.
“Fair enough, anything for you,” Oberon responded as he smiled down at Rhiannon, flashing his pearly whites.
“Okay, cool. Now let’s get this stuff in the kitchen and put it away. What’d you guys get anyways?” Rhiannon replied as she turned away and headed towards the kitchen.
Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, she thought as she inwardly panicked at the sudden situation.
“We got you some food, cleaning supplies, and drinks,” Lilyette replied as she walked in step with Rhiannon and gave her a look to communicate her real thoughts.
The best friends had an entire eye conversation on their brief walk to the kitchen that the boys never noticed.
Girl! You and Kalen! Lilyette said with her sparkling eyes.
AHHHHH! I know! And now Oberon is here? Rhiannon answered with frantic eyes.
I got your back, Lilyette replied with a reassuring nod.
The foursome began unloading the groceries quietly until Kalen finally broke the silence.
“I actually did some…working out…this morning, so I’m starving. With these ingredients, I could whip up some French toast and a fruit salad if everyone else is cool with that?” he said with a silent laugh.
“That sounds delicious!” Lilyette replied cheerfully, holding in her own laughter.
“Great, I’ll leave you to it,” Rhiannon replied with a slight smile, “Oberon? You want to come to help me start with the cleaning?”
“Definitely,” Oberon said, feeling happy that he’d get some time to step away and talk to Rhiannon.
Lilyette shot Rhiannon a look, but Rhiannon was already turned away.
She let out a small cough to get her attention. When Rhiannon turned to look at her, Lilyette squinted her eyes as if issuing a warning. Rhiannon shrugged with confusion and Lilyette sighed.
“Don’t close the door or anything, so I can hear if you need me to help or anything, with the cleaning…I’ll help Kalen,” Lilyette said as she took out the various fruits and started to wash them.
“Okay, mom,” Rhiannon laughed.
Kalen looked at Rhiannon regretfully as she turned to walk out with Oberon. Rhiannon looked back once, sharing his sentiments, and gave him a bright smile and quick wave.
Chapter 12
“So…this is awkward,” Oberon said as he followed Rhiannon upstairs, toting along with a bag of cleaning supplies.
“I guess…” Rhiannon answered sheepishly.
When they reached the top of the stairs, Oberon set down the bag and turned to Rhiannon.
“Can we talk? Please?” he said with an urgent pain in his voice.
“Yeah…” Rhiannon answered, filled with dread.
Should I just tell him everything? She thought.
Rhiannon took Oberon’s hand and led him into her bedroom where they both sat down side by side on the bed.
“I’m not trying to accuse you of anything, but what is he doing here Rhiannon? I just don’t understand why he’d be at your house this early in the morning,” Oberon pleaded.
Rhiannon fiddled with her fingers nervously as she searched for what to say.
“Is there something going on between you two?” Oberon finally asked when she didn’t say anything, feeling a lump growing in his throat the longer she waited to answer.
“I…well…this is so hard, I don’t want to hurt you, Oberon,” Rhiannon started.
“So, don’t…” Oberon replied, already feeling hurt.
“I want to be honest with you, I am developing feelings for Kalen…it’s not something I expected when all of this happened…but, it is happening…” Rhiannon said.
Oberon clenched his fists to keep them from shaking and turned to look at her in the eyes – already on the brink of tears.
“Did he sleep here last night?” Oberon asked as images of the two of them spending the night together plagued his mind.
“Yes…but, he slept on the couch! I slept up here,” Rhiannon replied.
Oberon punched his knee and took a deep breath, trying to remain calm.
You need to stay calm, if she sees you lose it again, you’ll never win her over, he thought to himself.
“Okay…so I told you I couldn’t come, so you call him up?” Oberon asked swallowing hard.
“No, he offered to come to help me, so I said yes. Honestly, I was nervous about being alone here. Once I got to the house, it’s like I was swarmed with wonderful memories, and it hurt more than I expected,” Rhiannon said.
“I should’ve been here for you…” Oberon said.
Rhiannon looked away from Oberon and wiped her eyes on her sleeves feeling guilty at the thought that crossed her mind,
I’m glad it was Kalen…
“You’re here now,” she said instead.
“You can’t pick him, Rhiannon. You must give me a chance. I can’t…I can’t live without you,” Oberon pleaded.
Rhiannon looked at him sadly, not knowing what to say.
Oberon stood up and suddenly lifted his shirt. Rhiannon was about to yell at him for being impulsive when she was shocked into silence by what she saw.
His muscles came into view and were covered in bruises of varying shades – black, purple, red, and some fading away into a sickly green showing how frequently he was receiving them.
Rhiannon covered her mouth at the painful sight and looked up into Oberon’s eyes to see raw pain and emotion looking back at her.
“This is my life…my dad says he does this because he loves me and that I need to learn my lesson…all I’ve known of love is that it causes pain…until I started to fall in love with you. You showed me that love could be happiness and comfort and belonging…but if you go with him…if you choose him over me…” Oberon said, dropping his shirt then falling to his knees in front of Rhiannon and taking her hands into his own.
“That’s a pain I can’t endure…when I say, I won’t be able to live without you…I mean it,” he finished as he looked into her eyes intensely – trying his best to get his meaning across.
Rhiannon let her tears fall freely as she looked back at him, feeling shaken to the core at the vulnerable way he’d displayed himself. She hadn’t known about the abuse he’d been enduring, and felt a fiery need to protect him growing within her
as she thought of the other immoral deeds his father had been capable of.
Oberon felt his own emotions spill over as he began to cry as well.
Seeing his tears, Rhiannon felt spurred to action as she came down from the bed and knelt with him and took his face into her hands and wiped away his tears.
“I don’t want to make any empty promises, because you deserve so much more than that. But I can assure you that just as much as my feelings are growing for Kalen, they are growing for you. I don’t know if that’s helpful, but it’s how I feel right now. And I can promise you that no matter what happens, you’ll always be my family and I will do what I can to protect your heart,” Rhiannon said as she lowered one hand to his chest and felt his heart beating rapidly.
“Rhiannon?” Oberon said quietly.
“Yes?”
“Can I please kiss you?”
“…okay,” she whispered, feeling conflicted.
Oberon moved closer and paused right before he reached her lips and looked into her eyes as if asking if she were sure.
If I’m going to give him a fair chance, I need to know if his kiss can stir me the way Kalen’s does, Rhiannon decided as she moved in the rest of the way and let her lips meet his.
Chapter 13
“BREAKFAST IS READY!” Lilyette bellowed up the stairs.
Rhiannon pulled away from Oberon and instinctively touched her lips, taken aback by the tingly sensation that remained.
Oberon smiled, wickedly at her, and said, “Thank you.”
Rhiannon laughed and shoved his shoulder before standing up and heading for the door.
“It is something to be thankful for, being blessed with my kiss, so, you’re welcome,” she said sarcastically as she walked out the door, hoping her face wasn’t overly flushed.
I haven’t even had breakfast yet, and I’ve already kissed two different guys! Rhiannon thought, feeling slightly giddy.
Rhiannon practically skipped as she went down the stairs to join the others for breakfast as she reveled in the feeling of having choices. She’d spent so much of her life doing everything that was expected of her, that she found it thrilling and deviously addicting to let loose a little and do what felt right for her now. As Kalen came into view in front of her and she felt Oberon joining them behind her, however, that thrill was quickly replaced by worry.
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