Текст книги "Black Number Four"

Автор книги: Kandi Steiner

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Текущая страница: 6 (всего у книги 23 страниц)

Everyone waits, a few people whispering encouragements to Skyler as she stares down at me. I’m pretty sure she’s about to walk out, to smack me in the face and tell me to walk back to campus alone, but instead her free hand flies to her mouth and her eyes water. “Oh gosh, Tommy,” she says, shaking her head. “I wouldn’t spend my life with anyone else. Yes, a thousand times, yes!” She jumps off her chair and into my lap, throwing her arms around my neck. The restaurant erupts in cheers and we both laugh into each other’s shoulders.

“Nicely played, Ella Mae,” I whisper. She digs her knuckle into my rib and I let out a yelp before standing and pulling her with me.

“Kiss! Kiss!” Someone chants, and pretty soon a dozen others join in. The camera phones are recording and snapping away. I smile and turn to Skyler, who greets me with wide, shy eyes. Still grinning, I pull her in close and dip her in a dramatic fashion before pressing my lips to hers.

And for a moment, I forget this is fake.

When her mouth meets mine, that same magnetic charge from the first time we kissed flows through to my core, catching me by surprise. My fingers are splayed across her lower back where her tank top has risen a bit and I feel the chills race across her skin. I grip her a little tighter, my mouth eager, before I find control and pull her back up. Releasing her from my grasp, I offer a sideways smile and a shrug and she flushes deeper, more cameras flashing. I thank everyone in the crowd, leave enough cash to cover the bill and a nice tip on the table, and then grab Skyler’s hand and lead her out into the night.

For a few moments she doesn’t say anything, just lets me hold her hand as we wait for the cab I called. Maybe she wants to continue the show, or maybe she likes the way it feels to have her hand in mine. I’m fine with it, either way. When the cab finally shows and we dip inside, she waits until I close the door and then smacks me hard across the chest.

“What the hell, Kip?! What was that? Oh my God I could kill you right now. I’m in my sweat pants and you draw attention like that? And did you see everyone’s faces and all the cameras? And a paper ring? Seriously?” She starts off angry, but with every word I laugh harder until she gives up fighting the curve of her mouth and eventually ends up laughing with me. “You’re such a little prick.”

“Oh I have quite a large prick, actually,” I say, holding up a finger in correction. She shakes her head, still laughing, and I direct the cab to our next destination.

“The beach?” Skyler asks, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. “I can’t walk on the beach in my sweats. They’ll get all sandy.”

“Roll up the pant legs.”

“What? No, that’s silly.”

“Who cares? You trying to impress someone?”

She rolls her eyes. “That’s not the point.”

“Give me your legs,” I say, motioning with my hand. I hold it out and wait as she stares at me, confused. “Seriously, give them to me.”

She goes to ask why and I get tired of waiting, so I reach down and grab her ankles, pulling them into my lap. Slowly, I begin rolling up her left pant leg, letting my fingers rub against her smooth skin more than they need to. She jerks back at first, but I grab her calves in protest and she gives in. As my fingers work, I imagine pulling her to straddle me so I can feel her thighs the same way I’m feeling her ankles. After that kiss, I can’t think about anything else but how close her body is to mine.

“This is stupid, I’m going to look ridiculous.”

“It won’t be that bad,” I say, finishing her other leg and dropping her feet back to the floorboard as I pull my own up onto the seat. “I’ll have mine rolled, too.”

She tucks her arms across her chest and looks out the window, mumbling. “How very comforting.”

The lights from the pier are bright against the otherwise dark beach. The Ferris wheel spins slowly, the old wooden rickets colliding with the music in a strange symphony as we walk past the various food booths. I tried buying a pair of shorts from the beach shop when we got here, but Kip refused. So here I am, rolled sweat pants and faded Kappa Kappa Beta tank top walking around the pier like it’s a normal thing to do.

“Have you ever been here before?” Kip asks, biting a hunk off his cotton candy stick. Some of it sticks to his nose and it somehow turns me on. He’s dressed like a bum and eating like a child yet somehow my ovaries are reacting. Cool.

“Surprisingly, no. I always knew it was here, obviously. I see it when I’m paddle boarding, but I’ve never actually been here.”

“Good,” he says. “I figured it could kind of be like your senior fair, since I’m assuming you didn’t go when you were in high school.”

“My what?” I ask, confused.

“Fair? You know, the senior fair?”

I stop walking and stare at him blankly.

“What? You guys don’t have those?”

I laugh. “No, Kansas boy, we don’t. We have proms. You know, that normal thing most Americans do where you go to a lame dance and spend five hundred dollars on a dress that ends up getting stripped off by a nervous virgin at the end of the night?”

“Oh yeah? Is that how yours ended?”

I flush red and start walking again. “I didn’t go to mine.”

“Okay, well then this can still be like your senior fair. Since you didn’t do prom, you get a fair. Deal?”

“That doesn’t sound like a very good trade.”

“What if I win you a teddy bear and let you kiss me at the top of the Ferris wheel?” He waggles his brows and smiles a goofy grin.

“You mean what if I let you kiss me?”

“Whatever makes you feel better, Toots. Want a bite?” He thrusts the wad of cotton candy toward me.

“No thanks.”

“Come on,” he says, pulling off a small piece and holding it between his fingers. “You can’t have your senior fair without cotton candy.”

“You make me feel like a charity case.”

He shakes his head. “Nah, it’s not like that. I just want to show you a good time. I know you fit in just fine here. You’re Miss Popular and all that. But, I still think you probably missed out on a lot. I just want to show you some of it now. Life is too short to miss out on the dumb and insignificant rites of passage.”

“Are you going to sign my yearbook, too?”

“If by yearbook you mean cleavage, then sure.” He smiles and holds his index finger out, the blue stickiness holding on with a death grip. “Here, have some.”

“What, you want me to suck it off your finger?”

He shrugs, but doesn’t move. Oh that’s the way he wants to play? Please. Two can play that game.

I grab his wrist in both my hands and pull his finger close to my mouth, my eyes locked on his. Slowly, I slide my lips over the candy and down to his knuckle, running my tongue along his skin as I suck the last little bit off. He swallows hard and licks his lips, his eyes hard on mine. When I finish, I pull back and smack my lips together. “Yum.”

He shakes his head, grinning. “You know, you could have just grabbed it from me. You didn’t have to lick it off.”

This time I shrug. “I guess you’re right, but that wouldn’t have been as much fun now would it?”

Kip tries his hand at a few dart balloon games, winning small inflatable toys each time he failed to pop more than one. Then he moves on to a basketball game, a milk jug game, and finally a lucky duck game. Each time, he ends up with another small prize that didn’t match up to what he wanted. I can tell he’s getting frustrated, and it’s actually really cute. We have a pile of inflatable hammers and stuffed keychain-size teddy bears at this point, but he isn’t giving up.

“I think I should try to win something for you,” I say, fishing out five dollars from my sweatpants pocket.

“That’s not the way it’s supposed to go,” Kip says playfully, though I think he’s trying to disguise his frustration. I laugh and hand the man at the lucky duck game my money. He’s an older man with a flop of hair that’s half brown and half gray. He seems tired, but smiles a genuine smile nonetheless.

Hundreds of little ducks swirl around in the turquoise blue water of a tiny inflatable pool. I get three chances to pick a duck with a star on its butt. Kip has tried nine ducks with no luck. He is now the dad to three adorable stuffed, consolation-prize ducks, though.

I watch as the ducks circle, my eyes flicking to a new one each time I think I’m going to choose. Finally, I settle on one that keeps catching my eye. It has a strange stain on its rubber head that kind of looks like dried gum and one side of his little body is slightly dented. He’s kind of like the ugly duckling, which makes me like him even more. I wait for him to pass by again and snatch him out of the water, turning to Kip with his butt still facing down.

“Moment of truth,” I say, slowly turning the duck. When the bright lights of the game illuminate a small red star, Kip curses.

“No way!”

“Winner!” the man running the game yells. A bell goes off after he pushes a button and I laugh as Kip shakes his head. “You have your pick of anything you’d like, young lady.”

My eyes scan the plethora of large stuffed animals hanging from the top of the game until I spot a fluffy, goofy looking gray and white shark.

“Do you have any Palm South gear in your apartment yet?”

Kip shakes his head. “Not really. I have a banner thing they gave me at orientation.”

I turn back to the man. “I’ll take the shark.”

When he hands it off to me, I immediately turn and stuff it into Kip’s arms. “There. Your first Palm South University Shark.” The shark is our mascot, which is one of my favorite things about the school. We always have parties during Shark Week on Discovery Channel and we even have an on-campus aquarium with a few small sharks swimming around in it. It’s in the Student Union right by the cafeteria, which makes for an interesting tour stop for possible freshmen and their families.

“I should feel embarrassed, but I think I’m too busy being excited. What should we name him?” Kip’s messy blonde hair falls over his eyes a bit as his smile widens, illuminating the night even more than the pier lights. He has his glasses on tonight, which fits perfectly with the laid back sweats and tank style. I still don’t understand how he can make I just woke up look so damn sexy.

“Sparky?”

Kip scrunches his nose. “That kind of sounds like a male stripper.”

“Hey, you don’t know what this shark does in his spare time. And don’t judge, maybe he’s a good dancer. Maybe he’s the one that gets booked for all the bachelorette parties and sorority functions. Maybe he’s paying off college.”

Kip shakes his head, still smiling. “Well excuse me, I didn’t mean to offend you. Or good ol’ Sparky here.” He tucks the shark under his arm and throws the other around my shoulders, leaving me to carry the small bag of misfit toys.

“So, you said you paddleboard?” Kip asks as we wait in line for the Ferris wheel.

I nod, taking another bite of a fried Oreo we picked up along the way. I know I’ll have to work extra hard in the gym this week to work it off, but I don’t even care right now. Whoever thought of frying this little cookie was a freaking genius.

“Can you teach me? I really want to surf, but maybe I could start with paddleboarding.”

“They’re really, really different. Paddleboarding is pretty easy, anyone can do it really. Surfing takes a lot of skill. But yeah, I could show you.”

“Sweet. So tomorrow morning?”

I suck the last bit of melted cookie off my finger and smile inside as Kip’s eyes react. “I’m busy tomorrow, but I’ll show you sometime.”

“Busy doing what?”

I cross my arms. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Oh come on,” he says, stepping a little closer to me. “You’re not busy and you know it. Stop acting like hanging out with me is the bane of your existence.”

“I’m not one to cover up the truth.” I smirk.

He shakes his head before pressing his hips against mine, pushing me back against the flimsy silver rail of the ride. “How is it that you infuriate me yet turn me on at the same time?”

My heart rate quickens at his words, my breaths shallowing as his eyes flicker to my lips. I could ask you the same thing, I think, but I don’t say it out loud. His hands fall to my hips and he hooks his thumbs in the pockets of my sweats, tugging me even closer. I feel him harden against me and my chest squeezes tight in response, chills racing through me. His touch is confusing, lighting me on fire and drowning me in ice water at the same time.

Suddenly, someone clears their throat and we both look to our left at the same time to see the line has moved. A short, large woman with fiery red hair holds a cart for us, smiling. “You two want to take this show to the sky?”

I blush and Kip grabs our bag of stuffed animals and my hand, a cocky smirk on his face as he leads the way. Once we’re seated and move up a few pegs as other carts are emptied and then filled again, the wheel finally starts rotating in a slow, mechanical fashion. The music only plays from the speakers on the ground, so when we’re at the top, everything is muffled and faded behind the wind rushing in from the water.

We take in the view of the city and the beach, not really saying much. After a few rounds, we get stuck near the top as they begin exchanging passengers again. Kip stands as much as he can in the small cart and spreads his arms out before yelling, “I’m the king of the world!”

Other passengers on the wheel and bystanders below turn to stare at us and I grab the bottom of his shirt, jerking him back down.

“What the hell are you doing?” I whisper-yell, mortified.

He laughs. “What, you don’t like Titanic? Did I embarrass you?”

“Oh, I don’t know, you brought me out in my pajamas and now you’re yelling like a crazy person. What do you think?”

Kip laughs harder, shaking his head. “You care too much about what others think. Do you know any of these people? Are you ever going to see them again?”

“I could have sisters down there,” I say, the thought hitting me with more influence than I expected. Suddenly the urge to scan the crowd for familiar letters overwhelms me.

“And so what even if you do? Come on.” He turns to face me, taking my hands in his. “Scream. Just let it all out.”

“What?” I shake my head. “No, absolutely not.”

“Do it. You’re going to tell me nothing makes you want to scream? Not your schoolwork, your sisters, the pressure to win in May? Nothing?”

I bite my lip, thinking of the one person who does make me want to let out my frustration. I imagine the conversation I’ll have to have with Erin tomorrow, detailing every minute of tonight – playing into her game whether I want to or not.

“See? You know you want to. Just do it.”

“I don’t know what to yell.”

“Doesn’t have to be words,” he says. “Watch.” He tilts his head back and lets out another loud scream, this time his voice reverberates off the other carts and bounces back, the echoes filling the space between us. More people look, but he just smiles. “See? Easy. Now your turn.”

I shift uncomfortably, take a deep breath, open my mouth, and let out a small, pathetic yelp. Kip rolls his eyes. “Not even close. You have to really open your chest and your throat. Let it rip through you, give it purpose. Think about how much you hold onto, about everything you’re dealing with right now, and just let it out.”

I let out a frustrated sigh, but close my eyes and focus on his words. I think of Erin, of my lack of major, of the ESPN reports saying there’s no way I’ll win in Vegas. I press my lips together and then scream again, this time letting it flow from the source. It feels like I drag out the air forever, my chest heaving when I finally finish. I open my eyes and see Kip still smiling, though it’s a more contemplative smile now.

“Feel better?”

I nod. “Yeah, actually.” I don’t even care to look down and see who’s staring up at us. I know there are eyes turned toward the sky, wondering what the hell is going on, but Kip’s right – I don’t know these people. Why do I care?

“Who knew screaming could feel so good?”

“You haven’t had the right kind of sex if you’re just realizing this now,” Kip says, winking. I shove him playfully and turn back toward the water, breathing in the fresh air as it rolls across the waves and up to our little part of the sky.

The wheel moves again, taking us up a little higher. I’m still looking out at the water when Kip moves the hair that’s fallen from my bun away from my neck and replaces it with his lips, making my eyes flutter shut at the touch.

“What are you doing?” I whisper, barely audible as I turn toward him.

He pulls my chin up so that my eyes meet his, our blue pools reflecting the lights of the wheel. Gently, he pulls my lips to his, hovering for just a moment with our mouths centimeters apart before finally breaking the space. A spark shoots through the kiss straight to my stomach before trailing its way between my hips. I know I should pull away, I should stop this right now, but this is part of the game. If he’s going to fall for me, we’re going to have to kiss… we’re going to have to do more than kiss. If it has to be this way, I should at least try to enjoy this part.

Even though I know this is what will break me in the end – the memory of this kiss. The memory of his hands on my waist and weaved into my hair, of the groans escaping between his parted lips as he moves to kiss my neck again, of the faint tremble in his legs that mirrors my own.

Eventually it’s these things that will break me, but right now they’re what make me feel alive.

The ride moves us up another notch, making us second from the top. Kip pulls me onto him, my hips straddling his as his hands wrap around my hips. He rocks into me, his tongue darting into my mouth at the same time. The combination is too much and I moan, unable to fight the current.

“Holy hell, that was sexy,” Kip says against my lips before pressing his hips up against mine again. I can feel every inch of his hard on through his thin sweat pants rubbing me where I want to feel him most. I moan again and Kip smiles in satisfaction, trailing his tongue down my neck and across my collar bone. Unable to control them any longer, my hands release the grip I had on Kip’s hair and dive toward the band of his pants. When I dip a finger just beneath it, he inhales stiffly and pulls my mouth back to his, sucking my bottom lip between his teeth. Every touch feels amplified, every sense awakened. I hear his breaths in my ear, feel his body against mine. I take in his blue eyes and inhale the smell of the ocean mixed with his body wash as I taste his skin, his tongue, his lips.

Suddenly, the wheel begins moving again, taking us down quicker than we anticipated. I jump off his lap and run my fingers through my hair, praying my flushed cheeks won’t be visible in the pier light. Kip tucks his length in the band of his pants and grabs the bag of stuffed animals. “I think I’ll need to carry these.” He pulls the bag onto his lap to cover his erection and we both laugh as we step out of the cart. The heavyset redhead smiles knowingly and gives us a wink as we exit, which just makes us laugh harder.

By the time we reach the beach, we both have tears in our eyes. “Well,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest. “I definitely feel like a high schooler after that.”

Kip smiles and then pulls me into him, kissing me so softly I should be swooning but instead I feel my panties dampen more.

“Stay the night with me,” he says. “We can rent paddleboards in the morning.”

I shake my head against his lips, my stomach tying in knots again. I’m getting too caught up, mixing up what I want and feel with what reality is. I know this is all part of it, but I’m failing at keeping my emotions and my body reactions separate. Kiss him? Yes. Like him? Fine. But feel anything past that? Absolutely not. I need to put distance between us, and fast.

“I can’t, all my sisters know I’m out with you on a first date. I can’t just not come home,” I say. “I may have gone out in my sweats and screamed at the top of a Ferris wheel tonight, but I’m not ready to brave the walk of shame into my sorority house yet.”

“Didn’t that kind of already happen after the poker game?”

I glare at him. “That was different, I didn’t stay the night with you. I was just out all night.”

“Can’t you pretend that you’re out all night tonight?” His blue eyes are pleading with mine, but I give him a pointed look and shake my head. “Fine,” he concedes, pulling me closer. His hands grip at my skin like he wants to be inside me, like any tiny space between us is too much. “Paddleboarding though?”

I sigh. “Are you going to keep annoying me if I don’t do it tomorrow?”

“Obviously. Besides, we need to start figuring out your tournament schedule. I’m serious about helping you with poker this semester.”

I roll my eyes, but I know he’s right. I haven’t even looked into other tournaments since the underground one two weeks ago and May is going to be here faster than I think. I need to get my head in the game, but right now it’s too focused on the one I’m playing with Kip. “Yes, I’ll come back in the morning. But I need to go tonight.” For many, many reasons.

“Deal,” he agrees, moving in to press his lips against mine once more. They’re barely there before they’re gone again and we’re walking down the beach. Kip calls the same cab from earlier and tells him to meet us where he dropped us. When he ends the call, he turns to face me. “Oh, one more question.”

“What now?”

He pulls the stuffed shark from the plastic bag and tucks him back under his arm. “Where do we get a board for Sparky?”

I sneak back into the sorority house just after two. It’s not that late, but I still open and close the front door as quietly as I can before tiptoeing across the foyer. I’m almost to the stairs when a voice comes from the living room couch, making me jump.

“Good night?”

I clutch my heart and let out a large breath. “Holy shit, Big. You scared the living hell out of me.”

She smiles, but it looks forced. “Sorry. I was waiting up, wanted to know how it went tonight.” The way she says it, hushed and hesitated, makes me think she doesn’t really want to know. She wants to know how the plan is going, but she doesn’t want to hear how the date went.

“It was nice,” I say, falling down into the couch cushions next to her. I lean my head back and look over at her, trying to ease the worry laden on her face. “We went to dinner and to the pier, nothing special,” I lie. Technically, that is what we did, but it was definitely special.

That kiss was special.

Erin relaxes a little, her shoulders loosening, but not enough to make me feel comfortable. She opens her mouth to ask me something, but thinks better of it and just smiles instead. “Good.”

I nod and yawn, exhaustion catching up to me. If I’m meeting up with Kip early for paddleboarding, I need to at least try to get a couple hours of sleep. “I think I’m going to turn in, Big. Let’s catch up tomorrow?”

“Wait,” she says as I stand. “Has he asked you to the A Sig Valentine’s Day dance yet?”

I scrunch my nose. “No, and I doubt he will.”

Erin nods, silent for a moment before saying, “No, he definitely will.” She pauses, crossing her arms and thinking for a minute. “When he does, you’ll say yes. And that’s the night you blow him off. I’ll be there with Chance Griffins, it’ll be perfect. Chance is a dog and will surely do something to piss me off, Kip will be heartbroken, and by the end of the night we’ll be consoling each other between the sheets.”

I cringe inwardly at that thought but try my best to hide it. My heart is racing, beating hard against my chest like a trapped animal. I swallow and focus on taking deep breaths. “Okay, sounds like a plan.” No, it definitely does NOT sound like a plan. I’m not ready, not yet.

But I don’t have a choice.

Erin nods once, sort of smiling, before sitting back down on the couch. There’s nothing on the television, which lets me know she’s not okay. All I want to do is go up to bed, but Erin is my Big, and no matter what’s going on right now, I love her.

I sit back down on the couch and pull her under my arm. She hesitates, but finally rests her head on my chest and I lean my head on hers. “You okay, Big?”

She sighs. “No. I’m stressed the fuck out. Being president is amazing, but it’s a lot of work. I’m falling behind in class already and I feel like my social life is consumed with meetings and philanthropy work. I’m happy, but, I don’t know…”

“Can’t you take a break? Let J-Love and Lei handle some of the weight for a while? I know you like to be in control, but maybe just let a few of the smaller things go so you have more time.”

“Yeah, I guess I could,” she says. “You know how I am, though. I just feel like if I don’t do everything, it’ll all get messed up.”

I laugh. “I know, Big. But trust me, the girls know what they’re doing. Your G-Little is pretty smart, too. You should ask her to help.”

She leans up and looks at me. “Really?”

I nod, thinking of my Little. “Seriously. She’s amazing. I really hope you two can get to know each other more.”

“I do, too,” Erin replies, smiling. She tucks her arms under her thighs and looks down at her toes. “Do you hate me for what I’m making you do? Be honest.”

Yes.

Please don’t make me do it.

“No,” I lie, letting out a long breath. “I mean, I’d be lying if I said it didn’t bother me to play him this way, but I want to be president. I want to keep our Greek line tradition. And I know that you would do the same thing for me. It’s about sacrifice sometimes, and I’m pretty selfish all of the time, so it’s a good lesson.” It’s only half a lie. I hate playing this game, but I’m serious about our traditions. This sorority has been the one constant in my life for the past two and a half years. These girls woke me up from a coma I didn’t know I was in. They helped me discover who I am, to break through my insecurities and become someone I’m proud to be. I want to lead these girls, even if it takes a heartbreak to get there.

God, I hope it doesn’t hurt as much as I feel like it will.

Erin smiles, her eyes watering a little. “Ugh, sorry. I’m such an emotional wreck right now.” She laughs and wipes away a tear. “You just make me so proud, Little. You’re going to be an awesome president. I love you.” She wraps me in a hug and I lean my head on her shoulder, her touch feeling strange now that Kip’s hands have been around me. He’s ruined my skin.

Great.

“I love you, too.”

She sniffles, pulling back from our hug. Her eyes pause on my pants. “What are you wearing?”

A laugh bursts from my lips. “It’s a long story.”

I sit with her a while longer before finally retreating to my bed. Jess wants all the details but I promise her we’ll talk tomorrow and force myself to close my eyes for a few hours. I want to sleep, I’m exhausted, but it’s pointless – my body won’t rest. I feel Kip’s touch everywhere – on my skin, my lips, in my hair, in my soul. It’s suffocating. I check my phone for the time, but the first thing I see is the date. It’s just past three in the morning on February first.

I only have two weeks left with Kip.