Next to me, Blake let out a loud yawn as his arms tightened around my body. Turning to face him, I stared at his sleeping face. His heavily lashed eyes were closed and his pink lips were parted slightly. Whenever he breathed, his chest would rise and fall in a rhythmic motion. His dark hair was messy and hung down over his forehead in small waves, with a few unruly tufts sticking up at the top of his head. His jaw line was so sharp and defined that I couldn’t help but trace it with the tip of my pointer finger. His body shuddered visibly at my touch and I immediately pulled my hand away from his face in fear that I was going to wake him. He looked so peaceful that I didn’t want to wake him up right away, but he had to get up soon before my parents saw where he slept.
Sighing softly, I tossed my leg over Blake’s and scooted closer to him so that I could rest my head in the crook of his neck. We laid like that for about a half an hour before Blake finally stirred. A loud yawn escaped from his mouth. He hugged me tight before pulling away, turning on his side to face me, and propping himself up on his elbow. I watched him as he rubbed at his eyes which were slightly pink. I guessed that his eye irritation was due to the fact that he had slept in his contacts last night. Letting another yawn escape from his mouth, Blake ran his fingers through his hair, making it look ten times messier than it already had.
Sitting up, he smiled down at me. “I should probably go down to the living room before your parents wake up.” His voice was husky and sounded slightly deeper due to the fact that he was still tired.
Leaning forward slightly, I hooked my arm around his neck and shook my head as I pulled him back down next to me. “Just a few more minutes?” I begged, looking up into his pale blue eyes hopefully. I poked my bottom lip out a bit, trying to give him the puppy dog look but most likely failed miserably.
He brushed a few strands of hair back from my forehead and smiled. Rolling over, Blake positioned himself so that was on top of me, but he wasn't pressing any of his body weight down on me. He propped himself up on his elbows, which were on either side of my head, and just stared down at me. His eyes didn't leave mine once.
One of his hands played in my hair, twirling it around his finger slowly. Staring up into his eyes, I couldn't help but wonder how I had gotten so lucky to have someone as special as he was, actually be in love with someone like me. He was smart, kind, thoughtful, and absolutely perfect in every way. When he smiled at you, flashing the dimple in his left cheek, you couldn't help but smile back. The way his eyes flashed in the light, and sparkled when he was laughing or excited was enough to make anyone stop and stare. He just had a face that you couldn't look away from when he looked at you. It was like he could see straight through to your soul, and you couldn't look away until he let you.
I snaked my arms around his neck, pulling his face down toward mine. I didn't trust my voice to speak on account of the fact that it would probably come out in a high pitched squeak. As his face neared mine, I could feel his warm breath blowing gently across my lips, causing me to shudder in anticipation.
When his lips finally met mine, I couldn't help the small smile that curves the corners of my mouth upwards at the feel of them. His velvety lips moved in perfect sync with mine. One of his hands gripped into my hair, pressing our lips together tighter while the other hand stroked my cheek softly.
Removing one arm from around his neck, I pressed my hand against his bare stomach, tracing the lines where his lean muscles were most prominent, and causing Blake to shiver beneath my touch. Lifting one leg up, I hooked it over his hip and pulling his body impossibly close to mine.
Blake traced his tongue across my bottom lip, asking for entrance which I immediately granted. As soon as his tongue slipped inside of my mouth, he let out a little moan of pleasure that sounded in the back of his throat. His mouth tasted slightly minty from his toothpaste that he must have used last night before bed. He sucked my bottom lip into his mouth, nibbling on it gently.
Breaking the kiss, Blake pulled away, smiling down at me and flashing his dimple in his left cheek. “I really think I should go to the couch now.”
I bit my lip and nodded slowly, allowing my leg and arm to drop back down onto the mattress. I could feel a warm blush spreading across my cheeks and I turned my head slightly, trying to hide it.
Blake chuckled, brushing his thumb over my cheek. “That's the cutest thing ever. I love it when you blush. You don't do it that often, but when you do you look so adorable.”
“It's not cute,” I countered. “It's embarrassing.”
Blake drooped his head down to place a warm kiss on my jawline, and my collarbone before he pushed himself off of me and chuckled. “It's cute.”
“You think everything is cute.” I sat up, tucking my feet beneath my body and staring at Blake as he slid off of my bed.
“That's because most of the things you do are cute.” He shrugged casually as he picked his shirt up from the floor and yanked it over his head. His hair looked like a bird had gotten into it and made a nest. He ran his hands through it again, but this time when he took his hands away it actually looked slightly better than before.
If possible, my cheeks blushed brighter than they already were, and I glanced down at my lap where I was wringing my hands together lightly. “You’re just saying that.”
Blake sat back down on my bed, although this time he was perched across from me with cute smile tugging at his lips, lighting up his handsome face. He leaned forward slightly, cupping my face in his hands. “You're so beautiful, Violet. Everything about you.” His thumb brushed across my bottom lip lightly, causing me to part my lips. “I love you. No matter what anyone says, remember that. You're absolutely perfect in my eyes.” He let his hands drop down from my face before he continued speaking. “You know, except for when you disobey your mom. Like when you go to McDonald's. That's a little too naughty for my liking.” He smirked, poking me in the rib playfully.
I shook my head, slapping his chest gently. “You made me go with you! If anyone asks, I’m saying that you held me down, and shoveled the food into my mouth.”
Blake chuckled to himself. “I’ve never seen someone down a milkshake as fast as you did. You probably set a world record for all we know.”
I rolled my eyes at him trying to look serious, but I couldn’t keep the smile off of my face. “Yeah, right.” Placing both of my hands on his chest, I shoved him backwards gently, laughing at the little shocked faced he pulled as he slipped off of the edge of the bed. His body thumped against the floor and forgetting that he wasn’t supposed to be in my room, I threw my head back, laughing loudly. When Blake wrapped his hand around my ankle and tugged me toward the end of the bed, I rolled over and grabbed hold of my headboard, continuing to laugh.
“No!” I shrieked as Blake began tickling my bare feet. My toes curled as he tickled the bottom of my foot fiercely. Letting go of the headboard, I let out a squeak as Blake yanked me off of the bed, causing me to land on top of him in a pile.
He smirked at me as I poked my tongue out at him. Just as he reached both arms forward and began to tickle my sides, my door knob jiggled for a moment. When the person realized that the door was locked, they rapped their knuckles against the door a few times.
My eyes widened as I looked at Blake. My face flushed as the realization that one of my parents could be standing on the other side of the door, waiting to come in and see me and Blake tangled together on the floor. Thinking quickly, Blake pushed his body off of the floor and walked to the other side of my bed, crouching down low and pressing his pointer finger to his lips. My lips pulled back into a forced smile as I stood up and walked over to the door, unlocking it and pulling it open.
At first I didn’t see anybody, but when I shifted my eyes down slightly, I saw a little smiling brunette. Lilly stood there with a little cup in one hand and a pint of orange juice tucked under one arm. She looked up at me with her doe-like, brown eyes and smiled happily.
“Good morning, Lizzie,” she chirped.
I smiled down at her, opening the door wider for her to come in. “Good morning, Lilly.”
The smile stayed pasted to Lilly’s face as she adjusted the jug of orange juice under her arm and proceed to walk into the room. Her little pigtails bounced along on each side of her head until she reached my bedside table, where she set down her cup along with the orange juice. Uncapping the bottle, she hoisted it up using both hands and splashed a few drops of orange juice into the cup. Her tiny arms shook as she struggled to hold the half gallon container up.
“Lilly, you know that mom doesn’t like it when we bring food upstairs.”
Lilly swiveled her head around at me, and giving me a sassy look, she said, “It’s not food. It’s juice.”
“She doesn’t like it when we drink upstairs either. Besides, you can’t pour your own drink.” I walked over to her, took the orange juice from her hands and poured a little into her cup for her.
“Thank you!” A few stray strands of hair fell into her face as she jumped up and down for a moment before grabbing the cup up with two hands. Her small fingers barely wrapped around the whole glass, but that didn’t stop her from raising the cup up to her tiny mouth and taking two long gulps of orange juice.
Brushing the loose hair away from her face, I squatted down and kissed her forehead. “You’re welcome. You better get out of here though. If mom catches you then you’ll be in big trouble.” I laughed as her eyes widened slightly.
If she did get caught, there was no way that she would get any more than a small slap on the wrist. The worst punishment Lilly has ever gotten was when she was caught eating grass in the back yard. Apparently she thought that it was “healfy”—that was how she had pronounced the word—and that grass was a “veggie-table”. After telling her that she couldn’t eat grass, my mom took pictures of Lilly in her grass stained outfit and put them inside of her baby album, writing next to the pictures about the situation.
It doesn’t sound like too bad of a punishment, but knowing my mom, when Lilly gets older and gets her first serious relationship, she would be showing all of those pictures to her boyfriend and embarrassing her to no end. She would probably show off all of Lilly’s old naked baby photos as well. After all, she didn’t hesitate to show my naked baby photos to Blake when he came over for the first time.
Lilly guzzled down the rest of her orange juice before tucking the bottle under her arm again, grabbing her cup, and walking out of the room slowly so she didn’t spill her juice. As she walked her nightgown billowed around her small frame.
As if on cue, as soon as a Lilly was out of my room, in came a dizzy-looking Lena. She walked over to my bed, flopping down on it backwards and letting a loud groan escape from her mouth. “Forrester,” she whined. “Please tell me that you can make the world stop spinning.”
I chuckled to myself as I walked over and pushed the door shut so that Blake didn’t have to hide anymore. Now that Lena was in here though, I’m sure that my parents wouldn’t mind as much if Blake was in here as well. At least we weren’t alone. Also they couldn’t prove that he had slept in here.
“No, but I can,” Blake said in response to Lena’s question. He stood up from behind the bed causing Lena to sit up quickly.
“Damn you, Blake. You almost gave me a heart attack!” She swatted at his form, but he jumped out of her reach and smirked playfully.
“Use your nice words, Lena, or I won’t help you with your headache.”
Lena groaned again, clutching her head in her hands and massaging her temples gently. “Please, Blake. Dear God, make it stop.”
I laughed as I sat down on the bed next to her. “Happy hangover!” I joked.
“Shhhhh,” Lena shushed me, still cradling her head in her hands. “You’re way too loud. It feels like Mike Tyson is punching me in the skull.”
“Maybe next time you shouldn’t drink your body weight in beer,” Blake countered.
Lena flopped back down on my bed. “I come from a long line of alcoholics and I’m seventy-five percent Irish. I was born knowing how to hold my liquor.” She held her fist up over her head for a few seconds before letting it drop back down onto the bed.
Blake smiled and walked toward the closed door. “I’ll be right back, drunky. Try not to puke on anything, okay?”
“Ha ha ha. Stop it. You’re too funny,” Lena deadpanned, rolling her eyes.
Blake chuckled and left the room, leaving the door open behind him.
As soon as he was gone, Lena tilted her head and stared up at me. Her red hair was fanned out around her head and her brown eyes shone in the sunlight that was streaming through the open window. “Did you have fun at the party last night, Forrester?”
I scratched my chin, thinking about the best way to answer that question. To my satisfaction, it was then that Blake chose to return.
He walked in, closing the door behind him and coming over to Lena. She sat up as he handed her two pills and a bottle of water. “Take those.”
Lena brought her hand up to her mouth and tilted it back so that both pills dropped onto her tongue. She drowned the pills with a long swig of water before capping it and looking at me.
“What?”
“Did you have fun at the party last night?” she questioned again.
Blake sat down on the floor, rubbing his hand up and down my calf lightly. His touch was so soft and gentle that I could barely feel it.
“I guess I had fun.”
Blake scoffed. “Before or after Brianna smashed your head against the ground?”
“Before,” I admitted begrudgingly.
“Wait, back up. Brianna did what?” Lena furrowed her eyebrows together and stared at me with her mouth dropped open slightly.
“She attacked me yesterday at the party.”
“What the hell? What did you do to earn that?” Her expression was mixed with shock and skepticism.
“It’s a long story. Basically, I called her a bitch.” I shrugged nonchalantly as I took Lena’s water bottle from her hand and took a water-falled swig.
“She was standing up for you,” Blake cut in.
Lena slapped my shoulder. “Why would you do that? You know that I prefer being the one to smash my fist against Brianna’s cake face.”
I rubbed my arms for a second before slapping her back. “You can’t hit her. You’ve already been suspended. Besides, you were too busy snoring on the lawn chair.”
“Ohh, I can hit her. It’s not like we were on school property or anything. You should have woken me up.”
“You could barely stand!”
Blake chuckled quietly as if he suddenly remembered something funny. “She couldn’t stand up straight on her own, yet she was able to do a handstand while chugging beer for over a minute. How is that even possible?”
Lena smirked down at Blake. “I took gymnastics for almost five years. I can walk on my hands for five minutes straight.”
“I took gymnastics when I was eight.” I crossed my arms over my chest and grinned widely.
Blake looked up at me with doubt lining his face. His eyes caught the light, making them look almost clear. “Really? That’s hard to believe considering how you’re so inflexible that you have trouble sitting crisscross applesauce.”
I glared at him for his final comment, then I held my head high as I went on about my gymnastics career. “I took gymnastics for exactly three days.”
Lena and Blake stared at me for a moment; judging my face to see if I was serious. When they realized that I was, they both burst into fits of laughter. Lena clutched at her stomach as she leaned over the edge of the bed. Her curly hair bounced as she rocked back and forth.
“What happened to make you stop?” Blake asked, still chuckling softly.
“We started learning how to do cartwheels and my mom was scared that I’d break my neck,” I mumbled under my breath.
Lena laughed harder, her face going red to match her hair. Blake just shook his head, grinning like a Cheshire cat. “Only yo
ur mom would ever do something like that,” he joked.
“Hey, at least I learned how to do a somersault!”
“Anyone can do a somersault, Vi.”
“I couldn’t!”
Lena laughed. “Did you ever learn how to do a cartwheel?”
I cleared my throat. “Maybe I did, and maybe I didn’t.”
Blake poked my leg. “That means no.”
Lena threw her arms around my torso with a huge smile lighting up her freckle covered face. “I’ll teach you how to do a cart wheel.”
I laughed, and nodded. “Just don’t tell my mom.”
Blake smiled at my words. “You should be fine as long as you don’t break your neck.”
Lena’s eyes bulged slightly as she dropped her arms from around my shoulders and clutched her stomach. “Just not right now, I think I’m gonna puke,” she groaned as she jumped off of the bed and ran out of the room.
I looked at Blake and raised an eyebrow at him. “Aren’t you glad that I took that beer from you last night?”
He shrugged, “Honestly? Yes, I am. Because if you didn’t then I would have woken up with “sweaty-urine-covered-sock” breath and you wouldn’t have kissed me this morning.”
I laughed as he raised his voice to imitate me as he used my words from last night. “I definitely don’t sound like that.”
“That’s what you think.” He stood up, pulling me off of the bed, and lacing his fingers through mine before guiding me toward the door.
“Where are we going?”
“You’re going to check on Lena, and I’m going to see what that yummy smell is that’s coming from the kitchen.” Blake rubbed his stomach with his free hand, and as if on cue, his stomach grumbled.
Laughing, I shook my head. “You’re always hungry. I swear you have a bottomless pit for a stomach.” I don’t even know how he smelled anything from the kitchen. I couldn’t smell anything until I was at least halfway down the hallway, and yet somehow he had been able to smell the food from inside of my closed bedroom. I’m really starting to think that Blake has extra heightened senses. He can smell from closed off spaces, eat twice as much as a sumo wrestler, and he can always hear every little thing that someone says. If it weren’t for the fact that he had terrible vision, I may have come to the conclusion that he was some type of inhuman creature with sharp senses. Like a vampire or something. With my superhuman strength and Blake’s heightened senses, if we ever had kids, they’d have to be part time superheroes.
Crush: A YA Romance Collection Page 38