Chapter 35 Heath #2
“Thank you.” She unzips it, grabs her converse and slips them on. When she reaches again for something else, she sees her bras and goes fully red.
“Did I pick the right one?”
She quickly zips her bag. “They’re fine.”
“I picked a blue one. But I made sure there was red one because it’d look fucking sexy—”
“We’re running late for school.” She looks absolutely flustered.
And I fucking love it.
“About the panties—”
“Heath!” She faces me with a face burning red.
Leaning over the console, I get close to her. “Yes, Rose.”
She stares at me dumbfounded.
I arch an eyebrow. “You were saying something?”
She looks down and stares at my chest. “Can we not talk about my…bras and panties?”
“So you’re saying you don’t want to know what color I prefer?”
I prefer all the colors.
Not that those things will stay long on her when I have my hands on her.
Her tongue flicks across her lips as her breathing grows heavy. “What color do you prefer?”
A slow smirk curls across my lips. “Don’t you think, I have to see a few options before I can decide on one?”
Innocent brown eyes meet mine and my pulse races.
“I don’t have a lot of options.” Her tone holds something buried deep: embarrassment.
Tilting her chin up, I say, “You have enough to make me weak for you.”
She watches me closely while her overthinking kicks in.
Cupping her face in my hands, I add, “Don’t listen to the voices in your head. Listen to me.”
She nods.
Looking into her eyes, I try to be fully honest with her. “You’re so beautiful that every time I look at you my heart starts beating fast.”
“Really?”
I nod. “I love everything about you. The color of your eyes, the shape of your lips and the contours of your face. I love how soft and wavy your hair is. I love your body and the curves that make me lose my mind. And when I saw you naked that night… I didn’t know what to do at first. All I wanted was to spend hours memorizing your skin and the way you react to my touch. ”
She blushes hard. “It was a little dark.”
“I saw you. And I loved what I saw.”
“But I’m skinny—”
“I love your bones.”
“And the size of my—”
“They are perfect to me.”
Her lips press together, no further argument leaving her mouth.
I press my lips softly against the corner of her mouth, then her jaw, then the spot right below her ear and side of her neck that always makes her melt.
I’m starting to learn her places that make her go completely weak and surrender to pleasure.
Rose turns her head so our lips can meet and I end my torture.
I fight a smile at her eagerness, and comply.
The second we kiss, heat rushes through my system. I’m burning up. Not just with the urge to pull her in the backseat and explore that sweet, pretty mouth of hers that has me obsessed, but also, to take things further.
Rose shivers when I cup the side of her neck and pull her closer to me. A low noise escapes her as I kiss her deeply, taking my time with her.
When she seems to be on the edge of losing all the oxygen in her lungs, I unlock our lips.
Her quick, short breaths fan over my chin.
“School… late…” she croaks out.
I grin.
School should be the last thing on her mind after the kind of kiss I gave her.
Letting go of her, I put on her seatbelt and press a kiss to her cheek.
Then we’re off to school.
___________________
I’m fucking pissed.
It’s been weeks now but the people at school still stare at us like we’re paintings in the museum. Their gazes watch our actions with so much interest.
I don’t care about people, but my girlfriend does.
She caves in when the attention narrows down on her in a room.
She meets people’s eyes more than mine and she walks closely to me as if she wants to hide in me.
I shoot everyone a death glare, and their eyes avert, but there are some stubborn people who just can’t mind their own fucking business.
As usual, I walk Hope to her class. Before backing off, I lean down and place a quick kiss on her lips.
Of course, it’s not enough for me. And I want a good damn kiss. But the way she wants to be by herself tells me that I should think about her.
I know this is hard for her.
She’s gone from not being looked at to now being stared at. People are seeing her. She is not invisible anymore, as much as she likes to believe that she has an invisibility cloak — she told me about it and I felt like I just got to know her more.
The night we came back from the date, I took her to Marie’s place because she wanted to be with her. I scowled for a whole minute, before she kissed me and gave me a hug.
A hug.
She gave me a hug and I strolled back to my car and drove back home with a big ass grin.
If it wasn’t clear already, I knew it was at that moment.
I love her.
With Hope not being at my place gave me an opportunity to tell my parents to back off and hold their concerns in for this weekend.
I knew I was going to have a long, important conversation with them and I was dreading it.
It’d be filled with words that I didn’t want to hear.
They were adamant about being involved in my life.
Which was ironic since they spent nearly two decades being absent.
Sometimes I wonder what’s the reason? Why did they leave? How could they be so cruel?
And my stupid ass brain tried to come up with answers to assure me that it wasn’t because they didn’t love me or didn’t want me.
Giving my head a shake, I get to my class where Sebastian waves at me. I give him a nod and slide into the chair that he's saved for me.
I want to keep Rose.
Not like an object, but as my person.
Because when she’s next to me I can relax, knowing she’s safe.
No one will understand how much I used to worry about her — I still do — when I saw bruises and marks on her that weren’t an accident but inflicted upon. I spent hours, days and weeks trying to find the person who was the reason behind them.
Every day I got excited to see her at school, but also felt my stomach tied in knots when I’d see her sad eyes and the evidence of abuse.
It’d make me want to break the rules and just protect her.
This feeling has grown a million times.
It’s worse than before.
I don’t want to let go of her.
A pen taps against my temple and my chain of thoughts breaks. Turning my head, I find Sebastian studying me. “You okay?”
I nod.
“Everything good?”
I nod again.
He narrows his eyes. “Are you insane?”
I start nodding, then midway shake my head.
He slams his palm on the table. “I knew it! Your head is somewhere else.”
More like with someone else.
“I’m fine, Sebastian,” I assure him.
“I didn’t ask that, Heath.”
We stare at each other for a few seconds and I feel like he can see everything just by looking at me.
“Trouble in paradise?” He arches an eyebrow. “From what Marie told me, you guys had an amazing time. Hope loved it.”
I know she did. It was written in the bright, beautiful, bold colors the way she smiled and looked at me.
“The date was perfect,” I say.
“Then, what’s the problem?”
My jaw ticks as the thought crosses my mind. “I met her mother this morning.”
His green eyes fill with surprise. “You’re kidding, right?”
I shake my head. “I went to her room to grab her stuff and she came in. It was almost like she knew I’d come.”
“Maybe she did. Mothers are freaky like that.” He shivers a little as if a distant memory revisits him.
I don’t ask him because I don’t want him to remember. Some things should be left buried.
“She said she made Rose leave in order to protect her.” For some reason, it makes sense. Because if she hadn’t left, her dad would’ve attacked her next.
What she did was wrong, but it kept Hope safe.
“From her dad?” he asks.
I give him a side eye. Who else?
He scowls. “What I’m trying to say is, she couldn’t have done anything to protect Hope and realized that it’s better if she just left?
” He pauses. “That sounds fucked up. So as long as her dad lives in that house, she’s not safe.
Not even if her mother is there. She can’t do anything to protect her.
So where is Hope supposed to live then? It’s her home. ”
“She can stay at my place.” I suggest.
“Not for long. Your parents already know what happened. They asked you to drop her at her place.”
“Well they can fuck right off.”
He sighs. “We need to think — ”
“There’s no thinking. She isn’t going back.”
“Heath — ”
“No, Bash. You have to understand — ”
A streak of anger contorts his face. “And I do, but is she sixteen. Her parents can cause big problems for you if you don’t think with your head before your heart.”
My chest swells from the impact of his words.
The classroom quietens as the teacher enters. Sebastian turns around in his seat without another word. But I know he’s got a lot more to say.
I just can’t bear to hear it.
Because deep down, I know he’s right.