by Lisa Simmons
“You-“ I growled, my insult cut off by the force of her hands shoving into my chest in at attempt to throw me off. Her hands clawed at my face like a whiny little five year old, my own hands gripping her wrists to try and push them down. “Get off me!” she yelled, attempting to kick my side but only managing to land a weak blow to my thigh.
“You stupid bitch,” I growled, finally getting her hands under control and throwing them down by her sides. I pulled my fist back, aiming a punch at her overly made up face, and was just about to swing it forward when a strong hand wrapped around my wrist to stop me. Another arm wound around my waist, hauling me backwards into a firm chest.
“Abigail what the fuck are you doing?!” Reece hissed in my ear, tugging me away from Lauren while I struggled wildly against him. My legs kicked out from under me as he lifted me completely off my feet and my arms tried to rid themselves of his hold, red blurring my vision. I was too angry to be restrained. “Let me go, Reece!” I shouted, glaring daggers at Lauren who stood panting down the hall. I couldn’t resist the urge to shout at her. “You fucking bitch!”
“Abby, stop,” Reece said, his arms fighting to get mine under control as he continued to drag me backward. He had me all the way to the front door now, though I continued to struggle against him. My breathing came out in ragged pants and I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest, but I still wasn’t satisfied. I wanted to feel the sting of her jaw connecting with my knuckles and hear the slap of her skin beneath my palm. She deserved it. Her stupid face was cut off from my burning glare, however, when Reece dragged me out of the apartment into the hallway. I finally stopped struggling but could feel the tightness in my muscles as he cautiously released me. He spun me around in his grip and pressed my back into the wall, cornering me with his wide body.
“What the hell was that?!” he demanded, staring down at me in shock.
“She’s a fucking bitch,” was all I managed to say, seething on the spot. I was furious at Lauren for being such a lowlife and at Reece for stopping me from hitting her like I really wanted to.
“Yeah, but why the hell were you about to punch her?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow.
“Because! She tried to come on to you and she said all that shit to you and now she...”I paused, my body actually shaking with rage. “Ugh, she just said a lot of stupid shit about how she would get you in bed or whatever and I just snapped.”“Abby,” Reece sighed, shaking his head slowly. His hands ran down the sides of my arms soothingly. “You know there’s no way that would ever happen.”
“I know, but Reece-“
“No, Abby, she’s nothing. You hear me? Nothing. How could I ever even look at her when I have you, huh?”
I didn’t say anything as I looked up at Reece, my chest still heaving and my muscles tight. My fists slowly uncurled by my sides and I felt a slight sting in my palms where my nails had dug into my flesh. One of his hands left where it had been running down my arm to run his fingers across my jaw lightly. I felt it unclench when his touch moved over it, easing the tightness I’d held there. “You’re all I’ll ever want, okay?” he said quietly, green eyes burning into my own intently. My breath rattled from my chest as I started to calm down, Reece’s presence and touch doing wonders on my frazzled nerves. His thumb brushed lightly over my lower lip as he waited patiently for me to answer.
“Okay,” I said quietly, nodding and taking a deep breath. His lips tugged up on one side in a lopsided grin, pleased I’d finally calmed down. He ducked his head down to press his lips to mine gently, giving me a light kiss. My eyes closed easily as I let the warmth of him wash over me, soothing away the anger that still lingered in my veins. After a few seconds he pulled back, his beautiful eyes darting back and forth between mine.
“If I’d have known what a fighter you were I might have had second thoughts about asking you to move in,” he joked, his grin widening to show his dimples in his cheeks. I giggled once before punching him lightly in the chest. “Watch it, or I’ll fight you, too,” I replied as I shot him a smirk. He chuckled and threw his arm around my shoulder, pulling me away from the wall and into his side. He lowered his lips to my ear and raised his other hand in front of us as if to give me a pep talk.
“Now Abby,” he started, a conspiratorial grin on his face. “If we go back in there, can I trust you not to start round two?”
I huffed and shot him a playful glare. “You can if you get her out of here.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” he chuckled before pressing a kiss into my temple as he steered me back inside. Irritation flashed through me immediately as I saw her standing in the hallway, her hands running continuously through her hair to try and straighten what I’d disrupted. I rolled my eyes at her and resisted the urge to run at her again, Reece’s touch around my shoulders the only thing keeping me in place. “Ma’am,” Reece said, his voice very formal and stiff as if he were impersonating a police officer. I snorted at the offended look on her face as she realized he was addressing her. “I think it’s best you leave.”“Please,” she scoffed. “Like I’d want to hang around with you assholes anyway. Chloe, you coming?”
My eyes darted to Chloe, who stood a little further down the hall next to Emily. Her eyes widened suddenly at the attention. Everyone watched her for a few seconds before she finally shook her head no, shifting closer to Emily.
“No, sorry. I have to agree with what Abigail said...” she trailed off, glancing once at me. I shot her an appreciative look, pleased she sided with me.
“Fine. You’re all a waste of my time anyway,” she spit as she launched herself away from the wall. She stalked down the hallway, glaring at me the entire time with a hideous sneer on her face. My hand started to raise to flip her off when Reece stilled my action, his large hand folding around my arm to stop me before shooting me a subtle disapproving glare with a shake of his head. I sighed and returned my glare to Lauren as she marched toward the door. She flung it open and whipped herself through.
“Bye, bitch!” I couldn’t help but call just before the door slammed shut. I grinned in satisfaction while Reece shot me another disapproving look.
“What?” I asked lightly, giggling now that I’d gotten at least some satisfaction from her departure. He rolled his eyes lightly and chuckled quietly.
“Oh Abby. I love you,” he said simply, his tone light and amused.
“Love you too,” I said with a wide grin, rising to my tiptoes to kiss his lips lightly before darting out from beneath his arm. “Now you better help me or this is going to take forever.”I strolled down the hall, beckoning him to follow as I approached Emily and Chloe. They both looked somewhat shocked at what had happened but neither were really upset.
“Holy shit,” Emily said. “You let her have it!”
“She deserved it, honestly. She was always talking shit about how she was going to get him ‘any day now’ even before you guys broke up,” Chloe said, rolling her eyes. Anger flashed through me again, giving me half a mind to chase her down and punch her for real, but I subdued it for Reece’s sake. “Ugh. Why were we friends with her again?” I asked, laughing in relief that she was no longer there. Reece appeared by my side, joining our conversation.
“She likes to party, we like to party... but other than that, no idea,” Emily laughed, shrugging.
“This is all your fault,” I told Reece, nudging him lightly in the side. He blinked in surprise.
“What? How?”
“You’re too damn attractive,” I joked, giggling as relief washed over his face when he saw that I was kidding.
“You’re right about that,” he said with a wink, bumping me with his shoulder before letting himself into my room. He came to an abrupt stop when he saw the chaos unfolding in there.
“I told you I needed help,” I laughed, taking in his surprised expression. His eyebrows were high on his forehead and his lips parted slightly in surprise.
“Abby, baby, I love you, bu
t all this shit is not coming to our house,” he said, shaking his head. A wide grin spread across my face at his word choice.
“Our house?” I repeated, taking a step away from my friends and towards him. He turned toward me suddenly as if just realizing what he’d said. A smile pulled at his lips as he looked at me.
“It’s our house now, isn’t it?” he asked, ticking his head to the side while he smirked happily at me.
“Yes, it is,” I said, closing the remaining distance between us. I looped my arms around his neck and felt his hands fold around my lower back as I leaned back to look up at him. “I just liked hearing you say that.”“Good, baby,” he said quietly before ducking down to kiss me, his lips folding perfectly over my own as we stood in the midst of all my stuff. My heart pounded a little faster, the combination of his presence, his words, and the way he kissed me making me feel inexplicably happy. “Get a rooooom,” Emily jeered from the hallway, causing us to break apart as a giggle fell from my lips. My arms tightened around Reece’s neck to hug myself into him as I diverted my gaze to Emily and Chloe. They stood in the hallway, wide grins on their faces as they teased us. Reece chuckled quietly as he hugged me into his chest, not bothered by our spectators. “We’ll be out here, away from your PDA,” Chloe teased, shaking her head playfully as they disappeared down the hall.
I turned back to Reece, my arms still locked around his neck. He ducked down to press one last light kiss to my lips before releasing me. He took a step backward and stumbled over something on the floor, catching himself at the last second before straightening back up. I giggled as I watched him, his lips pinching together in surprise while his brows shot upward. “Clumsy, clumsy,” I teased, crossing carefully to the other side of the room to start organizing some more.
“Messy, messy,” he shot back as he pushed his hand through his hair, earning another giggle from me. “What can I take out of here? To go to our house?”
“Um...” I pressed a finger to my lips and looked around. “Those two suitcases. I haven’t sorted anything else out yet.”
He nodded, stepping tentatively over my stuff to gather what I’d indicated, nearly tripping once again on the way. The rest of the day passed quickly thanks to Reece being surprisingly helpful. We managed to pack everything I would need to live at the house permanently, as well as some random things Reece found in my room that he wanted. My movie collection, school stuff, a few decorative things, and some other random stuff were claimed to bring with. Before I knew it, we had loaded all of what I would bring into Reece’s SUV, which was nearly overflowing with stuff. The remainder of my things were organized and piled neatly in my room of my apartment, waiting to be brought back to my parents’ house. Reece’s tidy tendencies had definitely come in handy, easing the process and actually making for an enjoyable afternoon despite the tediousness of packing. “Ready to go home? For real?” Reece asked, shooting me a glance from across the console of his vehicle. I grinned at him as a flutter ran through my stomach at his words.
“I’m so ready,” I replied.
We were going home, officially, but in all honesty, I’d been home for a long time now. Home wasn’t a place where you lived or a building you spent time in. It wasn’t where you stored your things or went at the end of the day. Home was where you felt loved, happy, free. It was where your soul found it’s other half and reveled in the perfect completeness achieved by two people being together that were made for each other. Home was an abstract idea, and I’d found mine a while ago- my home was with Reece, wherever he may be.
"On the warpath 'cause I love you just a little too much."
Chapter 87
“Abby, you’re gonna hit the wall,” Reece told me, frowning at me across the expanse of the desk we were currently carrying. I blinked and looked at the corner he nodded at to see it was indeed about to dig into the wall of the narrow entryway we were trying to maneuver through.
“Shit, sorry,” I muttered, shifting the heavy piece of furniture as best I could. I felt a trickle of sweat roll down my back, the exertion of moving all my stuff quickly heating me up. That, in combination with the warmth of the day, had me dripping in sweat. It was almost the end of the school year now and the weather was reflecting that. I followed Reece’s lead as he helped me carry the desk into the living room where we unceremoniously set it down in the middle. A heavy huff escaped my lips while my muscles celebrated the relief of the heavy item. Luckily there wasn’t much we’d taken from my apartment that required the two of us to lift. The desk had been an after thought, and we’d had to return after emptying the first load of my stuff to fit it into Reece’s car. “Looks great right there,” Reece joked with a chuckle. He reached up to wipe the sweat from his forehead and shoved his hand through his hair, which stayed pushed back a little easier than usual thanks to the dampness of the strands. He’d long ago shed his shirt, leaving him in just a pair of black athletic shorts. A thin sheen of sweat covered his torso from all the moving and the heat of the day, making it extremely difficult to focus on the task at hand: unpacking.
“I don’t see a problem with it,” I laughed in return. I picked up the hem of my shirt and pulled it back and forth, fanning myself off with the fabric. I was only wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top, but I was still hot. “You sure we can’t turn on the air conditioner?”“Oh suck it up,” Reece teased. “We can just open the windows, it’ll cool down again tonight. Besides, I like seeing you sweaty.”
His brow cocked up at the last part and a self-satisfied smirk tugged at his features. He bit his lower lip into his mouth and very obviously let his eyes rake down my body. I giggled and shook my head, amazed he found me attractive when I looked like I’d just been dipped in a vat of sweat.
“You’re insane.”
“No, baby. I just have a hot girlfriend,” he said, flashing me a wide grin and a wink before turning to head into the kitchen to fill a glass of water.
“Temperature-wise, yes, extremely hot,” I laughed, lifting the hem of my shirt to my forehead to dab away the sweat. I couldn’t help but smirk when I heard a low groan rumble from Reece.
“Stop teasing me,” he grumbled, a playful frown on his face. I grinned at him.
“Didn’t mean to,” I said innocently with a shrug. He pinched his lips together and shook his head slowly in amusement as if he didn’t believe me.
“Sure, babe.”
“I swear!” I laughed. “I’m gonna start unpacking, feel free to help.”
I shot him a wide, obnoxious grin that he returned sarcastically. “Yeahhhh I’d love to unpack all your clothes.”
I giggled, getting the response I expected. He’d helped me move in all my stuff without complaint but had stated several times he would not put my clothes away. He remained in the kitchen where he leaned against the counter casually, the firm muscles in his chest and stomach testing my will power. There would be time for that later, I decided, because if I didn’t unpack right now I’d spend the next two weeks inevitably attempting to put everything away in procrastination. I entered Reece’s room and I realized, as had been happening all day, that it was no longer ‘Reece’s room.’ It was ours. I had a feeling it would take a long time for that to sink in, but I enjoyed the flutter of butterflies that exploded every time in my stomach when the thought occurred. This was now our room, with our dresser, our closet, our bed. It felt like our bed for a very long time; I had been the first girl in it and if I had anything to say about it, I would be the last.
Two giant suitcases were piled on the bed, full to bursting and waiting to be unpacked. I looked at the single dresser in the room and relatively average size closet skeptically, extremely unsure about everything fitting. We would maybe have to go back for my dresser after all. The sweltering heat seemed even more drastic in our room, the warm air pressing in on my skin and heating me even more. I crossed the room and pushed the windows open to let a light breeze flow through. I sighed in relief as it washed over me, clo
sing my eyes for a few seconds to drink in the moment. I was unpacking my clothes into a house I now shared with Reece. It was so strangely surreal yet so amazingly normal all at once. I pushed my hair off my face as I moved back to the bed and unzipped my suitcase. Clothes spilled out and I sighed. It would be a long process but it would, with any hope, be the only time I had to do this for a very long time. I started the methodical process of unpacking, putting clothes away in the closet and dresser in the space Reece had already cleared for me. I let my mind wander as I moved, and soon I became lost in the simple monotony of it. I heard the soft sounds of the TV floating down the hall from the living room where Reece was, and I found myself the happiest I’d ever felt at the thought that this was about as far away from him that I would be whenever we were home. I stood at the closet, a few shirts hung over my arm while the other pulled hangers out to put them on. I heard a quiet creak of the wood floor before I felt Reece’s hand brush my hair off my neck. A smile crossed my lips when I felt his mouth press at the skin where my neck met my shoulder as he hovered behind me. His chest pressed lightly against my back as he repeated his action a little higher.
“Hiii,” he breathed quietly. I soft hum left my throat at the way his lips felt on my neck.
“Hi back,” I replied, hanging another shirt and placing it in the closet.
“You’re done unpacking, right?” he asked, even though it was very obvious I wasn’t. An entire suitcase remained fully packed on the bed.