“That’s not why I had to move you,” I said. She groaned sliding her hands down her face just enough for her eyes to show. “What did I do?”
“I don’t think you want to know,” I teased her. She swallowed hard, terrified. “Yes, I do.”
“Okay,” I said, hesitantly, looking carefully at her. “You were snoring like a lumberjack,” I announced gleefully. She slapped my arm. “I thought you were going to say something terrible.”
“It was terrible. I couldn’t sleep with that god-awful noise.”
“That is so not funny,” she scolded. I moved closer to her. “It was sort of funny. You looked scared to death.” She scrunched her face and folded her arms. I put my arm over her waist and curved toward her. “Anyway, I figured that since I had a chance to kiss you that I should take it, and prove you right.” I winked.
“That kiss at the resort was even better. You have no idea how hard it was for me to stop that night,” she said.
I looked closely at her, eyes on fire. “You know, I think I could do even better than that.” She put her hand over my mouth. “I don’t know. That one was pretty special.” I moved her hand, my voice low, velvety. “So was what happened last night,” I breathed, before our mouths touched.
I slid my open hand down her side, finding her hand, interlocked our fingers, grasping tightly, kissing her until she pushed me away so she could breathe.
“Whattya think?” I whispered, biting at her shoulder. She groaned. “I think that’s how you got Eve to put out,” she said.
I laughed. “You think it’ll work on you?”
She grinned, hinting that it might.
I kissed her again. She broke away. “Okay, you win,” she complained, and pulled off her shirt.
43
Annie
Justin leaned back and silently urged me to move with him. We sat across from each other, my legs loosely wound around his waist. Gazing into Justin’s eyes, he reached out and moved his hand across my chest, over my heart, and then, with his index finger drew three lines; one vertical and two horizontal, forming the letter I.
He drew two more lines over what was now the incessant thumping of my heart, then his finger moved in a circle, going around twice, making my breath come faster. Two more lines, meeting at a point, and then three horizontal lines connected with one vertical line.
I gazed at Justin’s face, watching his eyes focused on my chest as he formed the letter U, before gently pressing his open hand against my rampant heart, and moving his eyes to look into mine.
I set my hand on his chest; his heart was beating as wildly as mine. The way he looked at me, took my breath. I reached out and touched his face, my fingers floating over his features. I never in a million years thought I would feel the way I did about Justin at that moment. I knew my feelings for him had shifted. I knew it before tonight. I had always loved him, which made falling in love with him effortless, like it happened while I wasn’t paying attention.
“I love you, too,” I mouthed, my uneven breath pushing out each word with an unintended, barely audible sound.
Justin leaned slowly forward and gently kissed me. When we broke the kiss, he said, “I used to think that I would be your first.” Then he kissed my neck. “I really wanted to be.”
I pulled his shirt over his head and held myself against him as our mouths met again. The heat from our bodies combined with the softness of the kiss was making me delirious. I lay back and watched as Justin finished undressing us. He pushed my hair away from my face and kissed me deeply, slowly melting me while he reached into the drawer of the nightstand for a condom.
“You don’t need that,” I whispered.
Justin froze. “Wh-what?” the word trembled from his lips. “You’re not asking me to get you…”
“No,” I sighed, wanting to laugh. I guess he was so petrified of it that he couldn’t say the word. “I’m asking you to be my first,” I muttered and gently kissed his mouth.
Obviously, since I’d lost my virginity to Ryan, Justin couldn’t claim that, but we could be together in a way that neither of us had experienced before.
“I won’t get pregnant.” I hadn’t told Ryan, but I’d gone on birth control after finding out about Jacob, who was conceived through a condom.
Justin shivered. “Are you sure?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“No,” I mean are you sure you want to?”
“Yes.” I kissed his face. “I told you, I want to give you everything.”
44
Annie
The smell of fresh coffee brewing woke me. I breathed it in and sighed. It smelled so good. I got up and dug through Justin’s dresser for a clean t-shirt to put on.
“What are you doing?” Justin asked. I looked at him, smiling at his messy hair and slightly puffy, still sleepy eyes. It warmed my soul, cementing my feelings for him.
“I’m stealing a shirt from you,” I grinned before pulling it over my head. “I guess you can have that one. I sort of feel like I owe you something after last night.” A mischievous smile crept across his face. I gasped, but my appalled mouth quickly formed a guilty smile for him. It had been hard for me to leave him alone last night, which really turned him on, making the whole situation worse, but in a really good way.
“Are you okay?” he asked. I giggled. I don’t know why I thought that was funny. Was I supposed to have been traumatized? “Perfect,” I said. “You have to get out of here before Pam realizes you’re not on the couch,” I said, shimming into my jeans.
Justin saluted me and then I left the room.
“Sleep okay?” Larry asked me.
“Yes,” I answered, looking down at the floor. He’d obviously notice Justin wasn’t on the couch. I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat at the table.
“What about you, Son?” he called to Justin, who was coming toward us yawning and stretching. “How’d you sleep?”
“The little bit I got was great.”
My mouth fell open.
“Hmmm,” Larry frowned, silently deciphering what that meant.
“Annie’s insatiable,” Justin said quietly, a wide smile stretched across his face. “She kept me up half the night.”
Larry laughed noisily.
“What the hell, Justin?” I felt like my whole body was blushing. I was so embarrassed that I truly wished I were back at the Heavenly Hideaway so I could offer myself in sacrifice to the man-eating carpet.
If Justin’s confession wasn’t enough, Pam came down the hall asking, “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing. Damn coffee pot,” Larry told her, and winked at me. Pam shook her head, just as she had the last time Larry had covered for us, without breaking her stride to the coffee maker. She fixed her coffee and sat down across from Justin and me.
“So, you two gonna fess up?” she asked. My face reddened. “I told you she knew,” I murmured to Justin.
“You’re the one that gave it away,” he chided.
“Me—how?”
“I knew the instant I saw you yesterday,” Pam said. “You can’t hide anything from me. You were more nervous than a minnow in a piranha tank when you got here, and you were being too careful around Justin. It didn’t take me long to figure out why.”
“Also,” Larry added. “Finley called and told her that Justin had dumped her for you.”
“This is completely embarrassing,” I moaned.
“No, honey, it’s not. “This,” she looked at us both, “was inevitable.”
“You don’t think I’m a home wrecker? Or that we’re making a mistake?” I asked.
“Oh please.” She waved a hand in the air. “The two of you are meant to be. I can’t figure out what took y’all so long to realize it. Now, get out of here. Go enjoy yourselves.”
45
Justin
When we got to our apartment, there was a note on the door from Grey.
Momma Pam shared the fab news! Congrats on your coupledom!
“Yo
u’re right. She can’t keep anything to herself.”
“We just left, like, thirty minutes ago,” Annie said as Lindsay burst through the door.
“Knocking works, too,” I told her. She glanced between Annie and me. “So, you two did the deed, huh?”
“How did you know that?” Annie gasped.
“Grey called me.”
“He’s worse than a damn girl when it comes to gossip,” I griped.
“Speaking of girls, we need a minute,” Lindsay said and pulled Annie to her bedroom and closed the door. I stepped closer to listen.
“Does it feel like you’re banging your brother?” Lindsay asked Annie.
“Ew. No. It does not.”
“Then what does it feel like?”
“Oh my god, Lindsay!” Annie gasped. It was hard not to laugh.
“That good, huh?” Lindsay said.
“Stop it,” Annie scolded.
“Oh come on. It had to be hot—all that built up desire—and Justin’s yummy muscles.”
“It’s amazing, okay,” Annie finally said. I imagined she was blushing.
“Better than Ryan?” Lindsay asked, making my heart stop.
“You can’t ask me that. I’ve told you before that I’m not comparing them,” Annie said.
“Fine. Whatever. Are you happy?” Lindsay asked.
“Incredibly,” Annie answered, making me smile. I stepped away from the door and waited for them to come back into the living room.
“Congratulations, J.B.,” Lindsay said, having picked up on Grey’s nickname for me. “I hear you’re super hot in the sack.” Annie’s mouth dropped open.
Lindsay felt up my arms before walking past me toward the door. “Carry on,” she said, and then let herself out.
I looked at Annie, a huge smile on my face. “You think I’m hot in bed, huh?”
“So embarrassing,” she muttered.
“What? Being caught telling people that you think I’m hot in bed. How’s that embarrassing?”
“Stop saying that! It wasn’t people. It was Lindsay and you know how she is. She’s relentless.”
“Still counts,” I grinned, beaming with pride. “For the record,” I whispered. “I think you’re hot in bed, too.”
Annie’s cheeks turned bright red and then she covered her face. “So embarrassing,” she muttered again.
46
Annie
Hearing Justin getting dressed woke me. “Sorry, I tried to wait for you, but I’m starving,” he said. “I’m gonna run and get us some breakfast, then I want to spend the entire day with you.”
“Okay.” I smiled. I was dreading school starting back. My schedule was grueling and would dramatically decrease our time together.
“I’ll be back as fast as I can. Don’t get dressed.”
I laughed. “I’m not eating eggs naked. That’s gross.”
“You can wear a sheet.” He winked.
After Justin left, I went to get a shower, but was stopped by a knock. “What’d you forget?” I laughed, opening the front door.
“Hello, Annie.”
“Uh—hi, I fumbled over the words, simple as they were—a syllable each and one technically wasn’t even a word. “Sorry, I…” I tugged at the sheet wrapped around me, to make sure I was well covered.
John smiled at me, the corners of his green eyes crinkled as his smile widened. “I apologize for dropping by like this, but I would like to speak with you, if you have a minute.”
“Of course, come in.” I stepped back widening the opening, allowing John entrance. “I’ll be right back. Please sit down.” I hurried to my bedroom, threw on some clothes, and awkwardly walked through the kitchen, behind where John was sitting at the table. I hoped he hadn’t come to talk to me about Ryan’s visit yesterday since all I wanted was to forget it ever happened. I hadn’t told Justin and wanted to keep him from finding out.
“Would you like something to drink?” I asked.
“No thank you. I debated about whether or not to come to the door. When I saw Justin leave, I… could you sit, please?” John asked. I nervously pulled a chair from the table and sat down across from him.
“I’d like for you to look at some photos for me, please.”
“Okay,” I warily agreed.
John opened his briefcase and removed a manila envelope, from which he pulled a large stack of photos, taking one from the top and placing it in front of me. It was a little intimidating. He looked so serious.
“Do you know this girl?”
“Yeah, her name’s Alden something. She and Justin went out a few times.”
John’s jaw stiffened.
“What is it?” I asked, fearing something was wrong.
“Her name isn’t Alden, it’s Lisa Miller. She’s an actress.”
“An actress?” I was confused. She’d told Justin she was a junior at Harmon. “What’s going on?”
John held his hand up. “I’ll get to all of that, please just bear with me,” he said as he slid the stack of photos around, pulling out another and setting it in front of me.
“Oh my god! How did you get this?” I demanded. John didn’t answer. Instead, he quickly showed me a dozen more photos, one after another. Then I began to realize something.
“That’s not me,” I said slowly. I was sure at first glance that it was, especially in the first shot. I felt as if I’d been kicked in the stomach as the pieces slowly clicked together.
“Ryan thought this was me, didn’t he?” I mumbled, my voice hoarse. I stood up, holding my guts, my breath coming in heavy bursts. I could tell by the look on John’s face that I was right. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
“This is why he married Katie in such a rush—why he sent Valerie to deliver the news.”
“Seeing these photos sent him over the edge, Annie. I think he would have realized what you just did if it hadn’t been for this.” He pointed out an enlargement of the ring on her finger.
“That’s my ring!” I gasped. “How did she get my ring on her finger?” I paced the floor trying to remember when she would have had access to it. “The Inn,” I sputtered. “Once, when she was admiring my ring, she made a comment about how she would never take it off. I told her the only time I didn’t wear it, was in the shower.”
I felt like such a sucker as I realized exactly when she had taken it. That was the reason she’d shown up. To use Justin to stage pictures to make it appear that he and I were sleeping together.
“How did you get these? Where did they come from?” I asked of the photos.
“As you know, Valerie was hell-bent on making sure you and Ryan didn’t see one another during the separation period, so she hired a private investigator to follow both of you. I didn’t find out until our bank contacted me yesterday to look through the contents of our safety deposit boxes to make sure nothing was missing. An employee had been caught with a customer’s open box in the safe when the customer wasn’t present. I also found your ring and a purchase order for an Audi—” “Eve’s Audi,” I interrupted him.
“You know who has this car?” I imagined he thought Valerie had given it to Lisa as a reward for her successful portrayal of me in the photos she’d used to convince Ryan that I’d cheated on him.
“Eve Elmore.” Her name rolled off my tongue shrouded in hatred. “She’s Justin’s ex-girlfriend. She’d filled Ryan’s head with all sorts of garbage while I was visiting Justin at Martin one weekend last October. He and I had a huge fight about it when I got back. I should have known Valerie was behind it.”
“I’m very sorry this happened, Annie. If I’d had any idea, I never would have allowed her to do this. I know there’s not much I can do now, but Ryan deserves to know the truth. I thought you did as well.”
“Ryan doesn’t know yet?”
“No,” he said, his eyes falling away from mine. “I wanted to make sure I was right before I spoke to him. It’s going to be hard for him to hear. He loved you so much.” He paused for a sec
ond. “Ending your relationship was devastating for him. I imagine learning the truth will be equally as painful.”
“What happened with us was devastating for me, too. He blamed me and I didn’t know why.” Just when I’d decided that I didn’t care anymore, the reason had fallen into my lap.
“I wasn’t aware these photos existed until yesterday. As I said before, I encouraged Ryan to speak to you before the wedding. He told me why he broke things off, but didn’t share where he’d gotten the information.”
The first photos showed Justin clearly. He and Alden/Lisa were both shirtless. There was a sheet wrapped around her waist giving the illusion that they were both naked. The photos only showed her from behind. The other shots showed her from the side where her face wasn’t visible enough to distinguish that it wasn’t me. So having my ring on her finger made all the difference.
John slid another photo across the table to me. “This one shows more of her face.” I took it from him and glared at the girl who had done such a horrible thing to me and to Justin.
“I realized what Valerie had done after seeing these.” He handed me a few shots of Justin and me after Lindsay had straightened my hair.
“There’s something you should know before you talk to Ryan,” I said, then heard Justin’s key in the door. My heart stopped.
“You and Justin are together now, I know,” John said.
As soon as I saw Justin’s face, I wanted to cry, just because I knew this would also be hard on him.
“Hey,” he said hesitantly, eyes wide. “Mr. Mullins. How are you, sir?” John stood up and he and Justin shook hands. “I’m doing well, and you?”
“Great.” Justin looked to me for an explanation. “Is everything okay?”
“Sit down,” I told him.
Justin sat beside me and I showed him the first photo
of him and Alden together. His eyes bugged out and he grabbed it from my hands. “Where did you get this?”
“Do you know who that is?” I asked him.
“Um, yeah, it’s me and Alden. Why do you have this? I ignored his question.
Breathe (Sway Part 2) Page 24