by Lisa Simmons
"If you weren't so damn stubborn I wouldn't have had to do that," she replied. She leaned back into my chest as she gently ran her fingers across my hand. I wove my free arm lightly around her shoulders, my hand latching onto my other shoulder as I hung around her neck.
"It's fine," I repeated. "Honestly, it doesn't even hurt."
"It's already bruising," she pointed out skeptically, clearly not believing me. "At least let me run water over it or something?"
She tilted her head into mine so her eyes could connect with my gaze. If it would make her feel better, I guess I could let her do what she wanted.
"Fine, fine," I resigned. She grinned triumphantly as she started moving to the kitchen, her steps hindered because I didn't release her from my grip. She giggled as she stumbled over my feet once, my arms easily catching her and holding her up as we slowly moved to the kitchen.
We finally made it to the sink where she ducked out from under my grasp, her body taking its warmth with it. She turned on the sink, sticking her finger under the tap until she was satisfied with the temperature.
"Give me your hand," she instructed patiently, laying her hand out expectantly. I placed my injured hand in hers. Her hand was dwarfed in comparison with mine, but she cradled it gently with both of hers as he moved it under the warm stream of water. I watched in awe as she ran her thumbs lightly across my knuckles, washing away what little blood had dried there. Her gentle caress felt good on my slightly stinging hand. Once her fingers had cleared the blood, they moved in soft, light circles across the entirety of my hand, massaging away the dull ache that had settled there.
"Have you ever hit someone before?" she asked, her fingers continuing their gentle care of my hand. She didn't sound judgmental, merely curious.
"Yes," I answered honestly.
"Have you been in a fight?" she questioned again.
"Yes, but only once really," I replied.
"So you're not some secret street fighter or anything? Nothing like that I need to worry about?" she asked lightly. I smiled automatically.
"No, nothing like that." She nodded, accepting my answer.
My eyes shifted to her face, where she was concentrating on our hands under the running water. Her eyes were focused on what she was doing, brows pulled low and lips parted slightly as she was careful not to hurt me. I was struck, once again, by how absolutely beautiful she was. Everything about her was virtually perfect, from the soft skin covering her cheeks to her full, pink lips, to her clear blue eyes. More than that, however, was the fact that she was without a doubt the most beautiful person, inside, that I'd ever met. No one had ever touched me, watched me, or taken care of me the way she did, and I was again puzzled by what I had possibly done to deserve her.
"Does this hurt?" she asked, her eyes flicking up to find me staring at her. Her pupils dilated a bit in shock- she hadn't been expecting me to be observing her so closely.
"Not at all," I said quietly, our proximity making it feel like I needed to whisper. It was the truth- all the pain I had vaguely felt earlier was all but gone now as she tended to my injury. My eyes were locked on hers and I was acutely aware of her hands stilling against my own as she absorbed whatever emotion I knew I was emitting.
My free hand rose automatically to brush back a piece of her hair that had fallen into her face, my fingers tucking it behind her ear before I placed my palm across where her jaw met her neck. Light tracings were trailed across her skin from my thumb as it moved slowly back and forth across her cheek.
Thuds from my heartbeat sounded in my ears as I ducked my head slowly, her chin tilting up to meet me as I kissed her lightly. I just held my lips against hers, feeling their warmth and pressure before pulling back an inch or so to meet her unwavering gaze once more. I was vaguely aware of my hand pulling out of her grip to mirror my other hand on the other side of her neck, the wetness from the water largely ignored by the both of us. She copied me, pulling her equally wet hands from the sink to grip my sides as much as her small hands allowed.
A tiny smile pulled at my lips before I closed the space between us again. I kissed her slowly, my lips lingering on hers and hanging on every tiny movement we made. I wanted her to feel how much I felt for her, how much I already needed her, how much I wanted her. She was already so important to me that I'd chosen her over my friend of years without so much as a second thought.
I was still convinced there was no way that I deserved her, but she seemed fairly set on staying with me, so I wasn't going to push her away. I could feel her melting into me as I kissed her, her body relaxing into mine as our lips moved together in perfect rhythm. This wasn't the type of kiss that would lead to other things- it was the type of kiss meant to show affection, emotion, feeling.
If the pounding I could feel through her chest was any indication, she felt something very similar to me because mine was mirroring the rhythm of hers. It was fast, frantic, uncontrolled, and beautifully chaotic as her lips curled around mine again, her hands pulling me tightly against her. Her head tilted to the other side, our lips adjusting to the tiny interruption before reconnecting. My body was actually tingling as I kissed her, each and every tiny movement she made shooting through my body like a firework.
She was absolutely incredible, and there was no doubt in my mind that I'd made the right decision earlier by choosing her over Samuel. She was far better than I deserved, but I was never going to let her go, if I could help it.
"You came and saved me tonight, defending all my life, oh, now I'm content with my breath 'cause I'm alive."
Chapter 34
“Reece, I have to go home,” I whispered.
“No,” he mumbled. His arms tightened around me as he pulled my back tighter against his chest. We were lying on the couch in the living room, pretending to watch TV but really just letting our fingers tickle across whatever inch of each other’s skin they could reach. His knees were curled into the backs of mine as he nuzzled his face into my neck and squeezed his arms around my torso. A smile pulled at my lips, glad he was as reluctant for me to leave as I was.
“I have to- I’ve got so much homework to do,” I argued lightly. Not a single bit of me really wanted to leave him and go do homework, but I knew it was necessary. I’d spent all of last night, all of today, and most of the evening with him and as incredible as it had been, I had to force myself back into the real world at some point. “When’s it due?” he tried, hoping to find a loophole so I could stay.
“Tomorrow,” I told him gently. My fingers tickled lightly across the back of his forearm as he refused to loosen his grip. He grumbled something unintelligible against my neck, his lips pushing against my skin. My head tilted automatically to the side at the feeling. “I don’t want to,” I said, hoping to ease his dissatisfaction.
“I know,” he sighed. My body was slowly released as he let his arms relax. I rolled cautiously on the narrow couch so I was facing him and leaned forward enough to press a kiss to his lips quickly before pulling back.
“So about my lack of shoes...” I said, grinning at him. He chuckled as a smile spread over his lips.
“Let’s see what we can find you,” he said, kissing me quickly once before sitting up from the couch and pulling me with him.
Ten minutes later, my feet were stuffed into a pair of black socks that were much too large for my feet, the tops of them bunching down around my ankles as Reece drove me back to my apartment. Finding the socks had been quick; what had taken so long had been Reece’s fit of laughter as he was reminded, once again, that I had forgotten to wear shoes. After fake pouting, he had finally apologized and kissed my lips, telling me I looked beautiful in the socks with an amused grin on his face. “What are you doing Friday night?” he asked me, glancing at me across the console. His hand was slung casually over the wheel as he leaned back against his seat. He looked so hot while driving and he made it look so effortless that I almost forgot his question.
“Um, I have
no idea, why?” I said, blinking and shaking my head slightly so I could focus.
“Would you want to go downtown with me? Luke asked a few days ago and I said I would without really thinking,” he said, frowning as he thought back to his rash agreement. Luke must have asked sometime between our fight and our reconciliation. “Yes,” I said instantly before it even occurred to me to not sound so eager. “I’d love to.”
He smiled widely, his beautiful grin lighting up the darkness of the car. “Okay, it’s a date then.”
“Oh, it’s a date, is it?” I asked, grinning even wider.
“Well, Luke will be there and who knows who else but we can pretend it is,” he said, shrugging.
“Okay,” I said, liking the idea. “Should I bring my friends? Make it more fun for Luke?”
I smiled at the thought, thinking he probably wouldn’t complain if I brought a few party-happy, single girls to the mix.
“All of them?” Reece asked apprehensively, clearly thinking of Lauren. I had almost forgotten about that.
“Um, maybe not,” I said, frowning. Lauren was still a touchy subject, not that it was really her fault what had happened- the blame for that rested pretty much on Reece. While I knew he wasn’t actually into her, I didn’t especially love the idea of the three of us hanging out in a small group.
We had arrived at my apartment and he pulled into a parking spot before turning off his car. I had been expecting him to just drop me off so I was surprised when he jumped out of his door. He jogged around the front and opened my door, shooting me a grin before backing into the space between it and the frame. “Hop on,” he said.
“What?” I laughed, confused.
“You don’t have shoes so I’m gonna carry you inside,” he said simply.
“What was the point of the socks then?” I asked, giggling as I turned in my seat to wrap my legs around his lean torso. He shrugged as my arms wove around his neck and I hoisted myself onto his back. He moved out of the small space and I shut the door for him before he started walking toward the building. My head ducked down next to his, my grin spreading easily across my face as he carried me.
“I dunno, just thought it’d be cute,” he said, tilting his head just the slightest to shoot me an amused look.
“I can easily walk, Reece. I’m not going to die if I don’t have shoes on,” I joked lightly. “I made it to your house, didn’t I?”
“Yes but clearly you were distracted so that’s irrelevant,” he said playfully. We reached the front door, which he allowed me to pull open before moving inside and down the hallway. He didn’t put me down until we reached my door, my sock-covered feet colliding lightly with the ground. My back pushed against my door as he shifted forward, a happy smirk on his face as his body towered over me and covered me completely. I grinned up at him as he ducked his head near mine.
“I’ll see you soon, yeah?” he asked quietly. My hands automatically found the ridge his hips created on his sides, the thin fabric of his shirt doing a poor job of keeping his heat from searing into my skin. “You better,” I replied. His lips pulled to the side before he closed the space between our lips as he kissed me gently. The pressure between our mouths lingered for a few seconds before his parted to capture my lower lips once. He pulled back and his hand rose to brush his thumb lightly across my lip. “Bye Abby,” he whispered, his eyes glinting beautifully.
“Bye Reece,” I breathed, my lips tingling still from his simple kiss. His grin widened a bit and he blew out a soft breath before kissing my forehead quickly and turning to walk back down the hall. I watched his wide shoulders shift slightly as he walked, the easy lope of his walk torturing me until he exited the building. With a ridiculous grin on my face, I let myself into my apartment. The lights were on and the TV could be heard as I practically floated through the door, my grin firmly in place as I wiggled my toes in Reece’s socks. My brief moment of bliss was soon cracked, however, when I saw who was sitting on the couch in the living room. Emily, Chloe, and Lauren were gathered there, eyes all looking at me as they waited for me to realize that Lauren was here. My grin fell from my face as I studied her expression with wide eyes. Her lips were pulled tight in a nervous grimace and her eyes, too, were wide. She looked almost scared. “Hey Abigail,” she tried casually. I fought the flare of anger that flashed through me as I reminded myself that she was, essentially, innocent in everything that had happened. I had never spoken of my feelings for Reece, much less really even told her that I knew him, so I couldn’t expect her to just know to stay away from him. “Hey,” I said, forcing my voice to sound at least neutral. “Um, we should talk.”
“Yes, please,” she said, her voice sounding immensely relieved when I didn’t immediately start yelling at her. I hoped not to, but it was always hard to predict my emotions when it came to Reece. I crossed the room and sat down on the free chair, vaguely noticing that Emily and Chloe were sitting by expectantly like viewers at a movie. Emily had even muted the TV. “Okay, so... I’m gonna start by saying I’m not really mad at you because that wouldn’t be fair,” I said. An automatic smile stretched across her lips.
“Thank god,” she said, visibly relaxing in front of me as she slouched back into the couch.
“Yeah,” I said, stalling to collect my thoughts. “And I probably should have told you this from the beginning but... I’m kind of... with Reece.”
“I gathered,” she said lightly, smile still on her face. I blinked at her in confusion.
“Well it was pretty obvious when you came back crying and kissed him then ran away,” she said, shrugging.
“Oh,” I said, never having really considered what this whole situation must have looked like from her perspective.
“So is that where you’ve been for the last day and a half?” she asked playfully, clearly already accepting my reasoning for acting so strangely.
“Yes,” I admitted, my lips pulling into a soft grin. All three of them smirked at me in unison, and I was suddenly in a much better mood than I had been only minutes ago when I’d spotted Lauren on the couch. It was clear she never would have done any of that if she’d known, and whatever tiny amount of unfair anger towards her I’d been feeling evaporated.
“Hey, what are you guys doing Friday?” I asked in a sudden burst of excitement.
“Dunno, going out I’m sure,” Emily answered. Chloe and Lauren nodded in agreement.
“Wanna go downtown with Reece and I? And some of his friends?” I asked. A slight apprehension still lingered at the thought of Reece and Lauren being near each other again, but I knew nothing would happen. I trusted both of them, now that things were finally out in the open. “Yeah!” they all shouted at once.
“Okay awesome,” I said, grinning at them all. “Okay, I’ve got a ton of homework to do but I’ll see you guys later.”
I dismissed myself, accepting their departing words before I disappeared into my room. A happy, bubbling feeling settled in my body as I flopped onto my bed. Things were going so well at the moment, and I was beyond excited for Friday and the prospect of actually going somewhere with him instead of planning to meet him or just running into him like we usually did. It was extremely difficult to focus on my homework, but I forced myself to do it by bribing myself with breaks to think about Reece. Before I knew it, I was finished and curled up beneath my blankets with Reece’s socks still on my feet as I fell asleep. The rest of the week passed relatively slowly, and I was extremely disappointed that I hadn’t gotten to see Reece for more than fifteen minutes at a time- once on Wednesday and once on Thursday evening. It seemed as if my teachers had all decided to load on the homework this week, because I practically lived in the library trying to get it all done before the weekend; I didn’t want to have to worry about it then because I figured I’d be busy doing other, much more entertaining, things. Wednesday, Reece had convinced me to stop by his house on my way to the library, where what was supposed to be a quick thirty second stop to say hel
lo had turned into a fifteen minute make out session in his driveway. It had taken every single bit of strength I had to pull myself away from him and go study, and my body had suffered most of the day as I fought off thoughts of his lips and hands on my skin. Thursday night, he had scared the absolute hell out of me by sneaking up on me in the library. He had taken advantage of my headphones blocking out any warning noises, and I was pretty sure the entire library had heard me scream when he slid his hands down my sides from behind. It had taken nearly the entire visit for my heart to calm back down to a normal rate, a feat that was not helped by his hand repeatedly sliding between my legs under the table. Finally, after much frustration caused by both school and Reece, it was Friday. I had finished my classes for the day and had just gotten off the phone with Reece to decide where we would all meet up. I had been surprised when he’d offered up his place as the pregame setting, because I had noticed how irritated he had become when Samuel and Luke had left their empty beer cans around his living room when I’d helped him clean up Monday. The girls, who were now piling into Emily’s car to head to Reece’s, were beyond excited to have somewhere new to drink besides our apartment. We sang along loudly to the music we blasted as we drove to Reece’s, Chloe following my instructions as I shouted them over her shoulder from the backseat. Soon, we had parked and were climbing excitedly out of the car. It suddenly occurred to me how loud my friends could be, and I hoped they didn’t rub Reece or his friends the wrong way, although I suspected he at least was indifferent towards Emily because of her sympathetic side when he’d come to our apartment that day begging to see me. I just hoped nothing would be weird with Lauren.
I didn’t bother to knock, sure that Reece wouldn’t mind if we just came inside. As soon as I crossed through the frame, shock spread across my features. There were far more people here than I had expected there to be as about twenty people crowded into his small house. I could hear my friends chattering excitedly behind me, because it was quickly clear that most of the bodies in the house were male, only a few of which seemed to have girls attached to them. Music pounded from his stereo system as people stood around chatting happily to each other, drinks in their hands. A few of them turned to observe me as I entered, curious looks on their faces before turning to whisper to each other. Were they expecting me to show up?