by Amanda Heath
He replies, “Then you’re mine, baby.” My stomach clenches in a good way, before his lips are back on mine.
Chapter 22
I WAKE UP the next morning to a nice warm arm slung over my waist. His nose is at the back of neck and I feel his warm breath against my skin. It feels natural, like we were meant to sleep like this. My eyes pop open wider. That was a strange though to have.
The night before we fooled around for a little while. He didn’t push me for sex and he seemed to understand I wasn’t ready for that. Though he had plenty of fun doing other stuff. He seemed playful in a way. He’d tease me for a little while and then give me what I needed. Though I paid him back in kind.
We fell asleep after midnight when the movie we were watching went off. I didn’t expect him to stay and I was definitely not asking him to leave. I’m deciding I need a bigger bed. There is not enough room for him, Maggie, and me who is lying across my feet.
I wiggle out from under him and run into the bathroom. I seriously have to pee. This is when I realize I’m only wearing my panties. A heavy blush reaches my cheeks. I guess I didn’t put my shirt back on after the fooling around.
I know I need a shower, so when I finish I head back into my room. Channing is lying there with his eyes open looking at me in the bathroom doorway. “You are trying to kill me,” he says, slowly getting up. I take in all the golden muscles that make up his torso. His hair is sticking up in all directions and it looks like he has a faint bruise on his cheek. I get my first look at his lightly haired legs and his black boxer briefs. I didn’t remember him getting that undressed.
I blush again and move to grab my shirt off the TV. “What happened to your face?” I mumble out after putting on my shirt. I head over to my closet before he answers.
“You did,” he laughs getting out of the bed. I watch him saunter into the bathroom and shut the door. His butt in those boxer briefs…let me tell you, I could flip quarters on those cheeks.
I pick out my black polo and clean skirt before going over to my chest of drawers to find some stockings and undergarments. Oh how I wish I didn’t have to wear a uniform.
When he comes back out of the bathroom, I ask, “What do you mean I happened to your face?”
He grins cockily and moves to right in front of me. He wraps his arms around my waist and nuzzles my cheek. “God you are so beautiful,” he whispers against my face, making my knees feel weak.
“Quit trying to distract me,” I say, placing a hand on his chest and moving him back an inch.
He sighs and stands up to his full towering height. “You toss and turn like a psyche patient. You clipped me pretty hard in your sleep.” Then he laughs at my expression, which is horror. “No big deal. I finally figured out all I needed to do was touch you. Then you stopped.”
I place my hands on my face, hiding from him. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t even think about that.” I’m so dumb sometimes. This is why I don’t like people sleeping with me.
He only chuckles. “Baby, you can kick me in the nuts and you still wouldn’t keep me from sleeping next to you,” he throws over his shoulder as he brings his pants up over his hips.
“Bullcrud. You can’t sleep here anymore. I’d rather not hurt you,” I state in a sad voice. I like him sleeping next to me, it makes me feel incredibly safe, but I can’t risk breaking his face.
He stops buttoning up his jeans and moves back to me. In true Channing fashion, when he wants me to listen to him, he slams his forehead to mine. “Paisley, no one will keep me from sleeping next to you. I can’t tell you what it means to me that you even let me in your bedroom.” His palms land on my hips, moving me close to his hips. “I’m a bastard most of the time, but I’ll give you all the sweet words you want. I’ll take you out and buy you shit, because it will most likely make you happy. But you aren’t going to start taking things that make me happy away. And I’ve never been happier than when you were sleeping in my arms.”
I sigh and throw my arms around his neck, kissing him deeply. We kiss for a while but I finally realize we have to be at school soon. I break away and take a deep breath. “Okay. But if I punch you again, I’m tying my hands to my body.” I purse my lips when he laughs and moves away to grab his shirt.
“I’ll see you at school, Paisley.” He comes over and kisses my cheek before he’s gone.
***
“You look amazing today. Did you get laid?” Rachel asks at lunch, eyeing me with squinted eyes. “You totally got laid, didn’t you? And it was freaking awesome because you are glowing.” She puts her arms on the table and leans over it, studying me closer.
Channing is trying to hide a laugh, so I kick him under the table. Royal just rolls his eyes and looks back down at his phone. “No, I didn’t get laid,” I stammer out at her. Now my breathing is messed up and my face is turning red.
“Bullshit. Your entire face is red!” She hoots, doing a little dance in her seat.
“My face is red from embarrassment. Seriously Rach, do you not have an tact?” I mutter, crossing my arms over my chest. I catch Channing’s eye and see the laughter there. I want to stick my tongue out at him, but that would be too immature.
“No seriously, who did you do? Come on! We won’t tell!” She slams her hands down on the table, getting a terrified look from several underclassmen.
I turn away from her and look at Royal. “You need to let her get some. She’s to worried about my nonexistent sex life.”
Royal grunts but doesn’t respond. Usually he’d be telling her she couldn’t ever have sex so she needed to stop thinking about it.
“What’s up with you?” I ask placing my hand on his lower arm. Channing kicks me under the table but I turn and glare at him. This is his best friend; he should be the one worried.
Royal finally looks up after I touch him. “Paisley, move your hand before Channing punches me again. I’m still hurting from the last time.” Then he looks at Channing. “I swear I didn’t ask her to touch me.”
I roll my eyes and just look down at my food. Rachel for some reason doesn’t understand the exchange between Channing and Royal. Then she looks at me and I smile innocently, which makes her scowl. “I’ll find out who you’re doing, Paisley Vaughn, and then I’ll grill you until you spill every detail.”
The rest of lunch goes by quickly and before I know it the bell rings. Channing squeezes my thigh, like he does everyday and heads to class. I sigh, kind of wishing we could hold hands and walk to class together. Though I don’t see Channing doing that.
“You know, he’d do it if you wanted him to,” Royal says next to me after I get out of my seat.
“You know you can talk to me about whatever is bothering you,” I counter. If he won’t talk about his problems, I’m not talking about mine.
Instead of laughing like I figure he would, he looks down at me seriously. “Do you mean that?” he asks, his eyes sad and pleading.
“Yes, Royal, I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it.” I sling my backpack over my shoulder and look up at him.
He runs his hand through his hair and grunts. “Thank you. You think Channing would care if I came over after school?” he inquires, looking around for my towering angry boyfriend.
What. The. Fudge.
I just called The Channing Southerland my boyfriend. I don’t think those two words even go together when Channing is concerned. But I know they are true. That’s what he meant when he said I was his. He wouldn’t label it boyfriend/girlfriend though. But I can. Happy dance!
“I’ll talk to him about it. Knowing him, he’ll be there. But I don’t see how that’s a problem considering he’s your best friend,” I tell him, urging him down the hall before I’m late for class. A class I have with my boyfriend. Okay, I better stop calling him that so much, or it’ll get old and I won’t get the same rush from it. Sigh.
“He already knows, but I really would like a girl’s intuition on it.” He pulls me into a sideways hug before trotting down the hallway. I
***
I texted Channing during fifth period, making sure he was okay with it. He said he didn’t care as long as he was there. I told him he better come to my house after school then because I was going to talk to Royal. He proceeded to text that no one tells him what to do. I told him if he wanted to be with me then he would have to do some of the things I tell him to do. That made him laugh out loud in class.
I kid you not, every single pair of eyes were turned to look at him, including me. When he sees everyone looking at him, he just smirks and sits back cockily. Even Mrs. Harrison is surprised by the outburst. We all blink before turning around and getting back to work.
I heard whispering the rest of the day about it. I just smiled and knew it was because of me. He laughed in public and now people don’t think he’s such a robot. Mission accomplished. Now if I could get him to hold my hand. I know Royal said Channing would if I asked him to, but I wanted him to do it on his own. I’m not going to force the guy.
Now I’m sitting around in my dark denim skinny jeans and green sweater. I pulled my hair up when I walked into the house and I haven’t taken it back down. I really need to get it all cut off. It’s to freaking long and starting to give me headaches.
I’m contemplating that when there’s a knock on the door. I get up to answer it. If it was just Channing I would yell come in, but since Royal is with him, I want to act like we aren’t that close. Royal has a grim expression and pushes his way into the living room, settling down on my couch in an exhausted heap. I turn back to Channing who leans in and gives me a soft kiss. “Hey, baby,” he murmurs against my lips.
“Hey.” I move out of the way and let him in. He goes straight into my kitchen but I disregard that. Right now is about Royal. “So what’s up with you, Royal?”
He opens his eyes and looks at me seriously. “There’s this girl,” he whispers.
I join him on the couch and tuck my feet under me. “There’s always a girl,” I tell him with a soft smile on my face.
“Yeah, well, she’s really pissed at me, and for once I can’t figure out what I did,” He shares leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. He intertwines his fingers and lowers his head to rest on them.
“Considering I’m a girl, it could have been anything. We tend to get mad about the stupidest crap. And jealous over something that didn’t happen.” This I say loud enough for Channing to hear. “Why don’t you start from the beginning?”
“I didn’t think I was all that serious about her, you know? But then we slept together and now she acts like I mean nothing to her. I mean I did all my best moves on her and everything. But when I brought up being more, she turned me down. Now she treats me like she barely knows me.” He stands up and twists his hands in his hair. “I let this girl see me completely naked, and I don’t do that for anyone. Not even my fucking doctor. She spent the night in my bed; somewhere no one else has slept but me. I don’t even do girls there, like never.”
I can’t help it when I start laughing. I mean it is so damn obvious. An idiot could have figured it out. Since Royal is so insightful, I’m confused as to why he didn’t figure it out. “He isn’t insightful about his own situations,” Channing says, coming to sit next to me. He pulls me against him until my back rests against his chest.
Royal looks beyond pissed so I explain before he says something. “I don’t know the girl or anything, but I can figure out what happened. Well, really, two different kinds of things could have happened.” I shift around until I’m more comfortable against Channing. “One, she is a player like you and just wanted to get off. Some girls are like that, not many though. Or two, she could have gotten scared, you know? Everyone knows you, and I assume she goes to our school?” He nods. “Then she knows you don’t let girls sleep over or let them in your bed. She probably thought you were being serious about her and it freaked her out.”
“But I am serious about her,” he yells sitting back down on the couch. “I’m fucking in love with her.” He yells again and I flinch. The pain in his voice makes me want to cry. I feel Channing flinch too but he doesn’t say anything.
I finally lean forward and wrap my arms around Royal’s shoulders. Channing grunts behind me but I ignore him. “It’ll be okay Royal. If you feel this strongly about it, then she must, too. She probably didn’t expect to fall in love with you, either. You’re just handling it like a champ. The being in love part, not the her ignoring you part.” I plop my butt down next to him and keep my arm around him, and rub his shoulder. “I bet you’re still trying to woo her, and that’s probably making her fears worse. I say you start treating her with indifference. I think you’ll find she can’t handle that.”
He doesn’t look up at me, but at Channing. “You think that will work?” I feel a bit miffed but I keep rubbing his shoulder. I think it’s a guy thing. Almost like saying “Hey do you think this is a manly thing to do? Or a girly thing?”
“I think you should listen to her.” He grabs my hand and pulls me back against him. I scowl at him before he goes on. “She did get me to commit. That should tell you something right there.”
Royal suddenly stands up and leans down to kiss me on the cheek. I smile when I feel Channing become really tense. “Thanks, Paisley.” He fist bumps Channing before leaving my house.
“Paisley, we have to talk about you touching other guys,” he says into my ear, making me shiver.
“What? It doesn’t mean anything. I was just comforting him,” I reply with a smile in my voice.
He laughs low and sexy against my neck. He nuzzles deeper before saying, “It gets you wet to see me jealous, doesn’t it?”
I moan when his hand reaches around to go under my skirt. “Damn straight.”
Chapter 23
I HAVEN’T BREATHED a word to my Grandma in a week. It’s Sunday morning and I’ve decided I’ve been hiding for way to long. If I want to avoid my Grandma then I have to avoid the inside of their house. Which means I haven’t seen BeeBee in a week. Which I feel really bad about, but it was either stay away from her or get into a screaming match with Grandma. I don’t know about you, but I just don’t have the heart to yell at a sixty something old lady. She might have a heart attack and then I would be responsible for her death. So yeah, I’m good.
“Baby? Have you seen my socks?” Channing asks from the bathroom. I look up from my place siting on the bed putting on my shoes. He’s only wearing his jeans and they are unzipped, showing peeks of his boxers. His hair is everywhere, which is normal this early in the morning. He yawns and starts rubbing his eyes and I try hard to not laugh.
“Yeah, they’re under the bed.” He is so lazy when he first wakes up. He doesn’t want to look for his clothes or even brush his hair. A lot of the time I’ve been folding his clothes and putting them on my dresser so he can find them in the mornings. Last night was different considering he went to a party and got drunk. I stayed in and talked on the phone with Carly. “What time did you get in last night?”
He pops his head up from under the bed and grins. “Like two, I think. I don’t know I was pretty drunk.” He goes back under the bed, his back muscles stretching and pulling. Damn that’s hot. He finally comes out holding two black socks.
“Why didn’t you wake me up?” I question, standing from the bed and crossing to my dresser. I rummage through my earrings; trying to decide which ones I want to wear today.
I see him shrug in the mirror over my dresser. “I don’t know. I was trashed and you looked tired earlier, so I just crashed. I probably should have stayed at Royal’s but Jasmine was after me all night. I really didn’t want her climbing in bed with me.” He shudders and I laugh.
He finally pulls on his shoes and comes up behind me. “You coming over for dinner tonight?” he inquires right in my ear.
I grin and shiver, much to his delight. “Yeah,” I tell him slipping an earring in my right ear.
“Good. I want to see you in my bed.” He kisses my neck and heads out of the room. “Bye baby.” He laughs on his way out my front door.
He can’t say things like that and expect me to handle them normally. Though I don’t know what the big deal is. I don’t have to have sex with him in his bed. Well maybe I kind of maybe sort of do want that but I still don’t think I’m ready. This is all really driving me crazy.
I know I’ve had sex with him that once, but still that was a mistake. Not that I regret it or anything, but I don’t want him to think I’m a whore or something. He said he doesn’t think that, but you never know with boys.
The sexual tension is getting out of control, though. I accidently stood up in front of him on his way out of English the other day. He gently slammed into me, but his hands were on my hips and my dumb mouth let out a moan. After that he grabbed my backpack and ushered me out of the room. Before I knew it we were in the girl’s bathroom, the one that no one uses. He even locked the door and attacked me.
Well not attacked, but you know what I mean. I was up on a sink with him between my legs before I could figure out where we were. He was kissing my lips, my neck and unbuttoning my shirt so he could kiss my breasts. Then I was taking off his shirt and mauling him because that’s what I do. His hand ended up in my panties and mine ended up in his pants. This is usually what happens when we are alone, in my bed. Not in school.
I was very uncomfortable the rest of the day. At one point it drove me so crazy I about left so I could change my panties. Don’t ask me what’s wrong with me. I just can’t stand wearing dirty underwear. Ugh. But Channing being Channing did the most wonderful thing ever. He knows me a little too well, I think, but at that point I couldn’t care. Because that boy went to my house and got me a pair of clean panties. I wanted to kiss him in front of everybody but he got that uncomfortable look in his eyes. So I scowled at him and went and changed.
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