Текст книги "Confessions of a Kleptomaniac"
Автор книги: Jessica Sorensen
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Текущая страница: 15 (всего у книги 15 страниц)
When I wake up again, the room is dark, and a solid chest is pressed up against my back. At first, I think it’s Wynter, but how awkward would that be if my best friend was spooning me? Then I catch the faintest scent of cologne and soap, and a smile takes over my face as I roll over and nuzzle closer to Grey.
“You’re awake,” he murmurs, his lips moving against my forehead.
“Yeah.” I rest my head against the crook of his neck. “How’d you get in here?”
“Wynter let me in,” he murmurs, “after she made me promise I wouldn’t wake you up by doing anything sexual.”
Thank God it’s dark because my cheeks flame hot. “She has no filter.”
“It’s fine,” he says, stroking his finger up and down my arm. “It gave me a little self-control, anyway. If she’d never said it, who knows what I would’ve done when I walked in and saw you lying in bed with your shirt up just enough to give me an eyeful.”
I bite down on my lip. “I wasn’t flashing you when I was asleep,” I argue.
“You totally were,” he teases. “Nice bra, by the way.”
“Grey, that’s not funny.” I pinch his side when he laughs. “Did I really flash you?”
“No, I was just teasing you.” His laughter settles down. “You actually looked pretty peaceful when I walked. And completely out of it.”
“I haven’t been sleeping very well,” I admit it. “I’ve been too stressed out that my parents would find out that I was going to move out before I actually got out, and that . . . Well, I’m glad I didn’t have to find out what would’ve happened if they caught on to my plan. After seeing my mom lose it today, and right there in the middle of a restaurant, I can only imagine what would’ve happened if we’d been behind closed doors.”
“They’ll never be able to hurt you again.” He slips his arms around to my back and urges me closer. “You’re safe now.”
“I know . . . It’s just a lot to take in.” I can hear his heart beating steadily in his chest as silence sets in.
The longer it remains quiet, the closer I get to dozing off again. Grey seems to have the same idea because, within minutes, his breathing turns soft.
“Are you spending the night?” I ask softly.
“If that’s okay with you. Wynter told me I could,” he murmurs. “But if you’re not comfortable with that, then I can go.”
“No, stay,” I say with zero hesitation.
“I’m glad you said that,” he whispers, kissing my lips. “Promise you’ll tell me everything that happened in the morning. I want to hear it, but I want you to get some sleep.”
“I promise I’ll tell you everything.” I roll over and pull his arm over my side, aligning my back to his chest again.
He chuckles, his breath dusting the back of my head. “You like the spooning thing, huh?”
I nod my head up and down, realizing how comfortable I am, how much I like this. “I really do.”
The truth is, I don’t know much about what I like. I know I love my friends. That one has been a given forever. I like music a lot, and one day I might want to do something with that, but I’m still not sure what. I like to dress fashionable without showing too much skin. I like my hair long. And I definitely like Grey. I like spooning with him, talking with him, fighting over a game with him.
That might sound like a lot, but really, it feels like I have so much more to discover about myself. Am I scared? Heck, yes. I’m scared out of my damn mind. I never thought I’d be on my own before I got out of high school.
For the first time in my life it feels like I can breathe, like the walls aren’t caving in on me, and all I’m doing is lying in bed with my boyfriend. There’s no helpless feeling stirring inside me, no compulsion to steal and take control. Will things be that way forever? I have no idea what the future holds for me, but one thing’s for sure.
It’ll be my future.
And I’m going to live it to the fullest.
TWO WEEKS LATER . . .
“Oh, my God! You look so beautiful,” my sister beams at me as she takes in the navy blue dress I’m wearing.
The dress goes to my knees and elongates in the back, making me feel elegant. I topped off the look with strappy, velvet heels and wore my hair down because Grey loves to run his fingers through it.
“Thanks for helping me pick out the dress,” I say to her as I look at my reflection in the mirror.
For the first time in my life, I actually look happy, free, like myself.
“I’m glad we actually could.” She starts cleaning up the makeup products she brought over. “I was so worried that somehow Mom and Dad were going to separate us again.”
“That’ll never happen,” I assure her.
The sad truth is, I haven’t heard from my mom or dad since the fight. They’ve cut all ties with me like they always told me they would if I didn’t turn out to be what they considered a great person. I tried to call them a couple of times, but after the third attempt, they changed their phone number. I wish I could say that it didn’t bother me, but it does. At the end of the day, they are still my parents, and I’m still their daughter. I wish that could’ve been enough, but like I know all too well, you can’t force people to change. They have to want to, and as of now, my parents care more about their beliefs than having a relationship with their daughters.
“I can’t believe I’m wearing a dress to this,” Willow grumbles as she walks into the pool house.
I eye over her strappy, red and black dress that flows to her knees. “You look nice, though.”
“Thanks, but I still hate dresses.” She sinks down in a chair. “So, how long do you think we’re going to have to wait for Wynter to finish getting ready? My bet is at least another hour.”
“Will you chill out!” Wynter shouts from the bathroom. “I’ll be out in a minute!”
While we wait, I introduce Willow to my sister. The two of them talk for a bit, and then Willow asks me about the wall.
I take great pride in the wall. In fact, I think it might be my most prized possession as of now. Wynter and I actually painted it after eating way too many bags of M&Ms and drinking an entire six pack of soda within an hour.
“What? You don’t like it?” I slant my head to the side, examining my handiwork.
“No, I like it.” Willow moves up beside me, fussing with a strap on her dress. “It kind of makes me feel out of control, you know. Like I could spin forever, yet at the same time, it kind of works as a whole.”
“That’s kind of the point.” I trace my fingers along the psychedelic purple and black lines. “It kind of reminds me of us in a way. We’re all different, but when we’re together, we just sort of work.”
“Aw, Lu, that’s so sweet.” She tears up a little, which is super weird for Willow.
“Oh, my God! You don’t need to cry about it,” Wynter says as she overdramatically whisks out of the bathroom, dressed to impress in her floor length, shimmering white dress that matches the diamonds in her ears. “I said I’d be ready in a few minutes, didn’t I?”
“She wasn’t crying over that,” I tell Wynter. “She was crying over the wall.”
“Oh.” Wynter looks guilty. “Sorry, Wills.”
“It’s okay,” Willow says, fiddling with a stud in her ear, “just as long as you do one thing for me.”
Wynter picks up her clutch from the bed. “And what’s that?”
She grasps the black and silver pendant of her necklace. “Stop bugging me about what happened with Beck.”
“I’ll stop bugging you when you admit that you guys did more than just dirty dancing.” Wynter sits down on the unmade bed to slip on her heels.
Willow crosses her arms. “How many times do I have to tell you that nothing happened?”
“You can tell me a million times, and I’ll never believe it.” Wynter gathers her dress, stands up, and admires her reflection in the mirror. “You two have been acting way too awkward around each other.”
“We have not,” Willow fires back.
“Liar.” Wynter shuffles for the door.
The two of them walk out, bickering, but hush when we reach the pool where the guys are waiting for us on the lounge chairs, dressed in tuxedos. The sun is sparkling in the sky, and the air smells better than it ever has
“You look so adorable,” Wynter muses, taking the three of them in. “Like little teddy bears.”
Beck mutters something under his breath, Ari shakes his head, but Grey ignores her. His gaze is fixed on me as he stands up and meets me in front of the hot tub, just out of earshot.
“You look beautiful.” He grips my waist, hauls me to him, and seals his lips to mine.
“So do you,” I say when we come up for air. “Or, I mean, handsome. I’m not sure guys like to be called beautiful.”
He chuckles. “You can call me whatever you want when you look like that.” With our fingers entwined, we return to the group. “My mom made me promise that we’d stop by later so she can take some photos.”
“My sister’s going to take some now,” I say, resting my head against his shoulder.
He steals another glance at my dress again. “Yeah, but I think she just wants to see you in your dress.”
I find myself smiling. I met Grey’s mom and sister a week ago, and they might just be the sweetest family I’ve ever met. They care about each other, and for some crazy reason, they seem okay with letting me be a small part of it. They have to know that I was kicked out, though, since half the town knows. But Grey assures me they don’t care, and they like me.
His mom even helped him decorate the pool house with hundreds of lilies when he properly asked me to the dance. Wynter gushed over it for days, and I don’t blame her. It was kind of a magical day and helped erase the bad memory of when I asked Grey to the dance. Plus, the bed even still smells like flowers, which helps me fall asleep each night.
After taking a ton of photos, I say good-bye to my sister, and then the six of us head for the limo Beck rented. It’s parked in the driveway next to Grey’s car. He’s been working with his uncle to fix it up and while it still has a very rustic look to it, it’s not as dinged up as it was a few weeks ago. He’s mentioned a couple of times that he might sell it once it’s finished. I feel bad that he might have to get rid of something his father gave to him, but hopefully, the present I’m going to give him tonight will make it easier.
Before I climb into the limo, I snag Beck’s sleeve and steer us away from the group, ignoring everyone’s questioning stares.
“Did you bring it?” I ask when we’re far enough away from everyone.
Beck hitches his thumb over his shoulder, pointing at the limo. “I put it in the front seat so you can get it whenever you’re ready to give it to him.”
“Thank you!” I loop my arms around him and squeeze him tightly before skipping back to the group.
“What was that about?” Grey asks as I duck into the limo.
“I just needed to ask him something away from everyone else,” I say as I slide into the seat beside him.
I can tell he wants to say more, but he doesn’t press. Grey never pushes me to tell him stuff when he can sense that I don’t want to. Almost always, though, I end up telling him.
As we drive toward the school, we sip on champagne while Beck and Wynter argue about where we’re going to do afterward.
“My place has the bigger television,” Wynter says. “We should go to my house.”
“Why the hell would we watch TV on prom night?” Beck retorts. “Do you know how lame that is?”
“About as lame as watching sports every stinking day,” Wynter quips with a sassy bob of her head.
Beck’s head bobs back as he heaves a sigh. “It’s going to be a long night if she keeps going like this.”
Thankfully, for Beck’s sake, Wynter gets distracted from arguing with him the moment we pull up to the school. We pile out of the limo one by one, and then everyone heads for the entrance. I catch Grey’s arm and tow him around to the front of the limo.
“What are you up to?” Grey asks as I open the passenger side door.
“Hello, good sir.” I smile at the driver as I lean in to grab the box Beck left there for me. The driver gives me a bored look as I back up and shut the door. “This is for you,” I say, presenting the box to Grey.
He lifts the lid open and sucks in a huge breath of air. “Luna . . . I can’t take this . . . It’s too much.”
“You have to take it,” I insist. “Otherwise, I’ll have to keep it, and I don’t have much use for signed baseballs.”
He shakes his head several times before looking up at me. “Where did get the money to pay for this?”
“I didn’t pay for it,” I explain. “Beck owed me.” Which is the truth. “And he was happy to give it back to me.” Okay, the last part might be a lie.
I may have had to remind Beck that he a) didn’t really need the money from the baseball, b) that giving me the baseball would show me what a good friend he is, and c) I reminded him of the time he wrecked my mom’s car when he was racing it around at lunch time—when he had his driver’s permit, I might add—and he ended up running it into a fire hydrant and denting the front end. To cover our asses, I had to lie to my mother and say someone ran into it while it was parked at the school and then took off without leaving a note. The last part really won him over, I think.
“My father would be proud of you and your arguing skills, Lu,” he said after he agreed. “Maybe you should consider being a lawyer.”
“No way. I’d never be able to talk in front of people like that.”
“True. Plus, it’d be wasting your awesome DJ skills.”
“You’re never going to drop that idea, are you?”
He shook his head. “I need you to become big time so you can get me into all the cool clubs.”
I rolled my eyes but smiled. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“It still doesn’t feel right to just take it,” Grey mutters, staring at the box.
I can tell he’s torn, that he wants to take it but feels bad about it.
“Please take it,” I beg. “It’ll make me so happy to know you have it back.”
I know the happy thing will win him over. Grey always wants to make me happy.
He finally nods, puts the box in the limo, and then backs me against the rear end of the vehicle and smashes his lips against mine. His lips devour mine and his hand is surprisingly gentle as he molds it to my cheek. He kisses me for what feels like forever, finally lifting me on top of the trunk. I fasten my legs around him and pull him closer as I grind against him. He groans, biting my lip as his hand travels up the front of my dress. Somehow, I completely forget where I am until I hear laughter from nearby.
We pull away, breathless, eyes glazed.
“Thank you,” he says, helping me down off the trunk. “That gift . . . It means a lot to me.”
“I’m glad,” I tell him. “Just promise me you’ll keep it.”
“I will,” he promises wholeheartedly. “But I’m going to make it up to you one day. Somehow, no matter what it takes, even if I have to do it years from now.”
After a few more kisses, we head for the gym and join Ari, Beck, Willow, and Wynter, who are already rocking out on the dance floor. The music is loud and cheesy, and the matching blue and gold banners and streamers placed sporadically around the room look awful with the disco lights flashing from the ceiling. But the fact that I’m here with my friends and Grey, wearing a dress I picked out makes me appreciate the cliché ambience.
Grey doesn’t ask if I want to dance; he just steers me toward my friends, knowing I’ll want to dance with them. He’s also learned from the few parties we’ve gone to together that he has to dance like there’s no tomorrow when he’s with me.
The six of us form a circle and begin doing our thing. Beck, being Beck, gets in the center and does his best break dance moves. For the most part, everyone is relaxed and enjoying themselves, but every once in a while, I cast a glance in Piper and Logan’s direction.
Ever since Wynter threatened her, things have been fairly quiet—well, at least toward us. The two of them have found a new victim to torment—Dalton, a sweet, quiet guy who works with Ari. Tonight, Dalton is here with his friends, and Piper and Logan have made it their mission to make sure he has a terrible time. Logan keeps tripping him every chance he gets, and Piper does her best to laugh as hard as she can.
“I can’t believe I used to be friends with those assholes,” Grey says as we grind against each other to the sensual beat of the song.
“Used to being the key words,” I say, swaying my hips. “You’re not like that at all anymore.”
“I know. I just wish I could get them to stop.” Grey grits his teeth as Logan bashes his shoulder into Dalton and knocks him flat on the ground.
Wynter suddenly untangles herself from Ari and marches over to Piper and Logan. Grey catches on to what she’s doing and heads after her. While she yells at Piper and Logan, Grey helps Dalton to his feet. Piper rolls her eyes at Wynter, and Logan laughs in her face. Wynter flips them the middle finger, turns her back on them, and grabs Dalton’s hand. Then she drags him toward us with Grey trailing behind her.
“Hey, everyone, this is Ari’s friend Dalton,” she says, flicking her wrist at him. “And tonight, he’s going to dance with us.”
Dalton’s eyes practically pop out of his head. “I am?”
“You are.” Wynter twirls around and starts using him as a grinding pole.
Dalton looks like he has no clue what to do with Wynter and her boldness, but after a song or two, he does manage to put his hands on her waist.
Grey slips an arm around me. “Wynter’s got a big set of balls on her.”
I let out a very unattractive snort. “I guess that’s one way to put her colorful personality.”
As the fast, poppy song switches to a slow one, Grey and I align our bodies until there’s no room left between us.
“I’m glad you came with me tonight,” Grey murmurs, gently combing his fingers through the bottom of my hair. “I was actually kind of worried that you wouldn’t.”
I rest my head on his shoulder and play with his bowtie. “That’s a silly thing to worry about. Of course I’d say yes.”
“I wouldn’t have blamed you if you’d turned me down, though,” he says. “In fact, I would’ve deserved it.”
“Nah, you’ve made up for those days and then some.”
“You really think so?”
“No, I know so.” My fingers trail from his bowtie to the buttons on his shirt. “People deserve second chances if they really want them, Grey.”
“You think everyone deserves a second chance? To be forgiven?” he asks. “Even your parents?”
“I don’t think everyone deserves one. I mean, if my mom came up to me tomorrow and offered me some half-ass apology, then no, I wouldn’t forgive her. It takes time, effort, trust.” I settle my hand above where his heart beats. “You, though . . . I could tell you wanted to change, and it wasn’t something that you just decided. You knew you had to earn my trust, and you did that by helping me when I most needed it, by being the person I could open up to. By making me feel safe when I needed it. You didn’t judge me for who I was. You didn’t make me feel bad for the stuff I did. You let me just be me.”
“I like letting you be you.” He pulls me closer. “And I’m also glad you forgave me so I got a chance to see the real you.”
“Me, too,” I agree, knowing he almost didn’t get to see the real me.
I almost let my fear and my parents’ words stop me from showing anyone my true self. Thankfully, that didn’t happen; otherwise, I would’ve missed out on this amazing moment, dancing with my boyfriend and feeling giddy about it. I would’ve missed out on getting to know my sister, working at the diner, and earning my own money. And I probably would’ve missed out on a lot more stuff because every day moments happen all the time. Sometimes, they’re epic. Sometimes, they’re small. But each one means something. Each one has helped me figure out a part of myself, who I am in this world.
And, good or bad, I’m glad I get to experience each one.
RULES OF A REBEL & A SHY GIRL
(Rebels & Misfits, Book 2)
Jessica Sorensen is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who lives in the snowy mountains of Wyoming. When she’s not writing, she spends her time reading and hanging out with her family.
Connect with me online
jessicasorensen.com
ISABELLA ANDERS SERIES:
The Year I Became Isabella Anders
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The Year of Falling In Love (Coming Soon)
THE COINCIDENCE SERIES:
The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden
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The Redemption of Callie and Kayden
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The Destiny of Violet and Luke
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The Probability of Violet and Luke
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The Certainty of Violet and Luke
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The Resolution of Callie and Kayden
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Seth & Grayson
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THE SECRET SERIES:
The Prelude of Ella and Micha
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The Secret of Ella and Micha
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The Forever of Ella and Micha
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The Temptation of Lila and Ethan
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The Ever After of Ella and Micha
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Lila and Ethan: Forever and Always
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Ella and Micha: Infinitely and Always
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THE SHATTERED PROMISES SERIES:
Shattered Promises
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Fractured Souls
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Unbroken
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Broken Visions
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Scattered Ashes
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BREAKING NOVA SERIES:
Breaking Nova
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Saving Quinton
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Delilah: The Making of Red
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Nova and Quinton: No Regrets
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Tristan: Finding Hope
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Wreck Me
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Ruin Me
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THE FALLEN STAR SERIES (YA):
The Fallen Star
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The Underworld
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The Vision
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The Promise
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THE FALLEN SOULS SERIES (SPIN OFF FROM THE FALLEN STAR):
The Lost Soul
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The Evanescence
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THE DARKNESS FALLS SERIES:
Darkness Falls
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Darkness Breaks
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Darkness Fades
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THE DEATH COLLECTORS SERIES (NA AND YA):
Ember
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Ember X
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Cinder
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Cinder X
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Spark
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Spark X
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THE SINS SERIES:
Seduction & Temptation
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Sins & Secrets
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UNBEAUTIFUL SERIES:
Unbeautiful
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Untamed
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UNRAVELING SERIES:
Unraveling You
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Raveling You
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Awakening You
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Inspiring You
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ULTRAVIOLET SERIES:
Ultraviolet
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STANDALONES
The Forgotten Girl
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The Illusion of Annabella
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COMING SOON:
Entranced
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Steel & Bones
