Chapter 14 #2
I cautiously side-eyed him, and he did the same, moistening his lower lip. The sensation of his eyes locked on mine was violent, a projectile he launched that set sparks off in my chest.
No, June.
I shot him a look to tell him to cut it out, but when I turned around to face Will, who was coming back with water, James pulled a lock of my hair roughly.
“Ow!”
William looked at me, confused.
“Everything okay, June?” asked Sammy, almost concerned, unaware of what was going on in the dark behind her.
“Just peachy.”
Other than the fact that I didn’t know we were still in kindergarten.
James let go, and Sammy adjusted the blanket on both of them and clung to James’s chest.
“It’s still swollen, should I put ice on it?”
I heard Sammy’s shrill voice while she tried to caress James’s wounded hand. He pulled it away.
“No. Leave me alone.”
“Are you going to take me home, or should I call my mom and tell her I’m sleeping over?” she asked.
“You don’t have to sleep over, come here,” James countered. How romantic, I thought before concentrating on the scene again.
I took a sip of the water Will got me, then curled up under his arm while he squeezed me.
Suddenly, I felt movement next to me. I pretended to not notice it to not get distracted again.
Sammy barely moved, her leg grazing against mine. Once, then twice. I turned to glare at both of them, but right then James stuck his tongue out and licked the red lollipop while maintaining eye contact with me.
My jaw dropped when his hand went under the blanket.
I immediately averted my gaze.
No, June. You just have an active imagination.
“So are you telling me that it was all a bet?” I felt William’s chest vibrate against my cheek when he talked.
Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Sammy’s rib cage fill with air. She looked out of breath for a few moments, then she closed her eyes and bit her lip.
“Yeah, Will. Everyone knows that. It was a bet. Didn’t you read the book?” I replied, with a hint of sharpness.
“What a jerk that Hardin was, huh.” James stared at me right in the eye, and I noticed that his hand was moving relentlessly under the blanket. Sammy’s breath near me became slightly labored, and I couldn’t pretend I didn’t notice it.
He wasn’t really doing that. Not an inch away from me.
He pulled her face toward his with a malicious gaze, bringing the lollipop to her lips, then she sucked on it greedily.
Note to self: Buy a bottle of holy water and take a shower in it.
“James, come on, not here,” groaned Sammy suddenly.
“Why is it a yes for you and a no for me?” he chortled.
At that point, she stood up, tied her long hair into a ponytail, and they both disappeared.
I could accept the fact that they might not like the movie, but not being able to watch it without keeping their hands to themselves, well, that was a little much.
I wondered if Will thought the same thing, even though when I turned around to look at him, I noticed that he was the only one really into the story.
“No, come on. She’s gotta forgive him.” He pointed at the TV, disappointed. After it came to an end and while William rushed to Wikipedia to read the plot of the sequel, I stood up.
I’d been holding it for an hour.
“I’m going to the bathroom. I’ll be right back,” I announced without arousing even a single reaction. I walked down the hall in silence, but when I pushed the bathroom door open, I realized that it was occupied.
James’s red hoodie was crumpled into a ball on the sink. Nearby, his bruise-covered bronze chest stood out. The sight caught my attention, startling me.
I immediately averted my gaze, but out of the corner of my eye I couldn’t help but see a figure kneeling on the ground and a veiny hand holding a clump of blond hair.
I painstakingly avoided looking up at James’s face, because I knew the sight of him would torture me for weeks on end.
I went upstairs and after using the bathroom, I washed my burning face.
I took a deep breath.
I couldn’t wrap my mind around how a nice, attractive girl like Sammy could want someone like him. She had to know that she was one of many and that he’d use her for a night. Why would she put up with it?
As I looked at my reflection in the mirror, a question came over me.
Where was I with Will? Did he expect something from me? Maybe I’d better head downstairs.
I opened the door to leave the bathroom, but James was just walking in.
“Sorry,” I blurted, jumping backward. We both moved to the right, then to the left. I was awkward, while he was laughing like a moron.
“What the fuck is wrong with you, White?” he said, amused.
“Nothing, let me leave.”
With my cheeks on fire and eyes lowered, I tried to maneuver around him, but he wouldn’t let me through.
“Did you like the movie?”
James flashed me a mischievous grin, and I was suddenly overcome with the desire to slap him.
“No. The book was better.”
“And why is that, White?” He leaned his elbow on the doorjamb and showed me the stupid lollipop that he was still holding. “Want some?” he asked.
“Eww,” I raved, irritated.
“The queen of saints’s crown is falling.” His arrogance got on my nerves.
“What’s that supposed to mean, Hunter?”
“That you’re not as innocent as you’d like to believe you are.” I pushed him, but it was completely pointless.
“Let me go. I won’t tell you twice.”
“It tastes good,” he teased, sucking on it with his chin facing upward. Then he finally moved over. “You should try it.”
I curled my lips in a disgusted grimace and ran out of the bathroom.
Will stared at me confused when I came back to the living room. Maybe it was my expression that gave me away. “June, is everything okay?”
“Yeah, I’m just a little tired. Rough day.”
“Yeah, tell me about it. Should we go to my room? I feel like I’m running low on energy.”
I watched him stroke his hair clumsily. Were we about to sleep together?
“June?” he called, trying to snap me out of my thoughts.
“Yeah, yeah. Sorry.”
I shook my head, then grabbed my backpack and followed him to the second floor. When we got to his room, William took off his T-shirt and put on a black one.
“Did something happen?” he asked, more worried than usual.
He looked at my face, but I avoided his gaze.
“No, nothing. I’m gonna brush my teeth and get changed.”
I rummaged through my bag, grabbed my sloth pajamas, and headed to the bathroom. Under other circumstances, sleeping with the guy I liked would’ve been the highlight of the day, but right then, so many things had happened, and I was so shaken that everything went to the back of my mind.
After brushing my teeth, I put my pajama shirt and shorts on, took my bra off, and after confirming that nothing was showing, I left the bathroom and hid my clothes in my backpack.
William had turned the TV on, and I sat down on his bed as my eyes drifted to the couch I’d slept on last week.
“Where’s Sammy?” asked Will when James barged in without knocking.
His friend’s answer was predictable. “I don’t know.”
I saw James rummage through the knickknacks on the nightstand in search of something.
“It’s always the same. Did you send her away? Poor thing.” Will smiled.
“I wouldn’t say that, given that I got her off twice on your couch.”
“James!” William and I yelled in unison.
He shrugged, leaving the room with a vape pen in his mouth. “Jackson’s dropping by. I’m going downstairs.”
William flashed me a conspiratorial grin.
He seemed happy that his friend was out of the way.
From my perspective, I certainly didn’t want James to stay with us, but being alone with Will made me a little anxious.
I saw him get in the bed and lift the quilt, waiting for to join him.
I stood and stared at him. It was the first time we’d been alone at night together.
“Everything okay?”
I nodded briefly, then positioned myself next to him. Will stretched toward the nightstand to arrange his medicine, and I flashed a smile at him when he moved a lock of hair away from my forehead.
Finally the thoughtful, kind guy was back. We were in the dark, as close as could be, and my heart was beating wildly.
William squeezed me toward him, and I hugged him back, putting my cheek on his chest.
“I promise it’ll become a distant memory. The thing with Austin,” he murmured softly.
“I hope so.”
I looked up a little to meet his gray eyes, which shut when our mouths slid over each other’s.
The way we kissed was violent, maybe because we were cramped in his bed, or maybe because something was really growing between us.
I decided to quit my usual rationalizing.
I just wanted to turn my brain off and be myself.
But something was preventing me from doing that, and not letting me go all in.
I slowly pulled away from the kiss and put my head on the pillow.
Our gazes and legs interlocked with each other.
The dark made our bodies look darker, but I could see the contrasting sensations in his eyes. Maybe remorse, maybe resentment.
I was lost in my thoughts, but I quickly snapped out of it when William rolled on top of me. His lifted my T-shirt.
I just hoped there wasn’t too much flesh there.
William started kissing me again slowly and I stopped pointlessly being paranoid. My fingers wiggled on the cotton on his back as if I wanted to hug him again. I felt his breath accelerate as soon as I pushed both hands through his golden curls.
“Your friends are downstairs, you know—”
We smiled, our noses touched in a goofy and clumsy way, but Will rushed to reassure me.
“Don’t worry, they won’t come up.”
I held my breath because while he said those words, his hand was touching my quivering body even more, reaching under my shirt and grazing my stomach. I exhaled a long breath against his parted lips.