Chapter 23 #2
Half a beat later, her eyes trail down to my chest which I realize is still exposed because Sally has my shirt, and I’ll be dead before I take that away from her. That means I’m currently in her kitchen in just my jeans from last night.
Mimi’s face turns beet red when she realizes she’s staring at my chest and abs.
“I’m so sorry!” she cries out. “Why are you here…shirtless… Why are you here and shirtless?”
She’s definitely more energetic than Sally and Ella. You’d never be able to tell they are sisters.
Mimi’s outburst seems to stir a sleeping Leon as his messy brown hair becomes visible. He rubs his eyes with a strong yawn before his brown and blue eyes land on me.
He doesn’t look as surprised to see me as his sister was. “Hey, Oliver.”
“Why do you look so unfazed?” Mimi exclaims, looking at her brother in disbelief.
Leon looks lazily at his sister before yawning again and getting up from the couch. He’s just as shirtless as I am, but he has on black sleep shorts instead of jeans.
“I made coffee if anyone wants some,” I say, pointing at the now full coffee pot.
“Sure.” Leon yawns again before walking over to the cabinet and getting out three cups. “Mimi, you want some?”
She’s still turned away from us. “I was gonna get some from Shoreline—unless you boys can make me a latte?”
“That might be out of my wheelhouse,” I say sheepishly. “Sorry.”
This causes a little giggle to come out of her mouth.
“Don’t mind her. She’s not used to boys yet.”
“Leon!”
“You’ve never had a boyfriend or even talked about an actual guy,” Leon shoots back in a playful tone. “You only like fictional men.”
“Well, with them, I have a guaranteed happy ending.”
Leon hands me two cups, and I fill them up. He takes the filled cup from me and walks over to the fridge, opening it up and pulling out some almond milk.
Good thing I like black coffee.
The youngest Reed must notice my look because he says, “I’m lactose intolerant. The whole family kind of changed what we drink at home because of it.”
“It sucks,” Ella’s voice comes into the room before she makes an appearance. “Oliver.”
“Ariella,” I quip back, noticing her scowl as she’s wearing Jaxon’s shirt and a headband to keep her hair back.
Now we are just missing my girl—wait, she’s not even my girlfriend yet.
“What’s with the party?” My eyes shoot past Ella at the familiar voice.
Sally walks into the kitchen, clad in my shirt, which doesn’t escape Ella as she stares at her sister with an amused look.
“Just making some coffee.” My voice comes out a little deeper than intended. Does she really have this effect on me? I thought I was smooth. Guess not. We’ve only kissed—well, more like eating each other.
“Hmm.” She makes her way toward the cups.
I jump to action, grabbing and mug and filling it with the hot, caffeinated liquid. “Do you need some milk?” I hand her the cup, ignoring Ella’s snort, Leon’s smirk, and a look of awe from Mimi.
“I’m good.” She lazily smiles up at me and parks herself right next to me, likes it’s the most natural place for her to be, and takes a sip. “Fuck, this is hot.”
“You okay?” my voice comes out fast.
“Perfect.”
“I missed a few chapters.” Sally’s siblings now stand in front of us with only a little kitchen island separating the group.
“I have a good idea since I could hear y’all last night,” Leon says.
Heat creeps up Sally’s neck, practically making her pale skin tone as red as a strawberry.
“I also heard some crying, so…” Leon trails off.
“Crying?” Ella fixes a look on Sally with apparent concern. “Sal?”
The cool expression Sally carried into the conversation is now gone with her whole body stiffening. She must really love the designs on her mug because she hasn’t looked up yet.
I wrap an arm around her waist, and with the contact, she instantly starts to relax and leans her body into me. This all feels so natural, and I love it.
All her siblings have their eyes trained on their sister, who is still studying her mug of coffee.
“Sally,” Mimi’s voice comes out soft but with an edge. “You can talk to us.”
“Is he the reason you cried?” Ella sneers, shifting her eyes into a glare at me.
“No!” That accusation breaks Sally’s silence. “Oliver is the reason I’m feeling better.”
My hold on her waist tightens at her words. A light warmth rises in my chest.
I want to kiss her again, even if it’s in front of her siblings. I want to have her soft lips on mine always.
“I just…” Sally stops and looks up at me. I give her a nod of reassurance. This is her story to tell. “I was revisiting some things that happened junior year.”
Sally nervously works through the same events she told me about. You’d think hearing it a second time would dull the rage in me, but nope. I don’t think my hatred for the man that made her feel broken will ever dwindle.
All her siblings have a different reaction. Mimi’s eyes well with tears. She keeps inching forward, looking for any sign she can pull Sally out of my hold and into a hug, but she doesn’t. Leon looks grossed out, and Ella has a murderous look that mirrors mine.
“I can’t believe I’m friends with his brother.” Leon makes a gagging noise.
Wait, they know who she’s talking about?
“Leon, I don’t want you to be mad at Jeremy. He’s sweet.” Sally tries her best to smile.
“That explains the way you reacted when you picked me up from school.”
This causes Sally to hang her head again. “You’ve always been more popular than me, so it makes sense you’d all hang out.”
“Fuck that!”
Sally winces, and Leon gives her an apologetic look, but I love the fire in his eyes.
After another moment of frowning, Mimi asks, “What do you need from us?”
Sally looks around the room nervously for a second before mumbling, “Can I be alone?”
My grip on her loosens, but her hand shoots to my jeans, taking one of the belt loops into her finger.
“Not you.”
Her siblings nod, trying to hide their frowns, as Mimi leaves to go to the cafe and Leon and Ella leave the room.
“How are you feeling?” I take the cup from her hands and place it on the counter.
Sally’s eyes drop to the floor. I take this chance to slip out in front of her. We’re basically chest to chest.
“What’s going on, princess?” The fact that she’s still not looking at me is breaking down whatever confidence I had waking up this morning.
After we fell back asleep, I half expected to wake up to an empty bed again, but my arms were still wrapped tightly around her waist.
“Last night,” she whispers. “I’m—”
“Please don’t tell me it was a mistake.” I can’t let her retract it—not again. I clasp her chin between my fingers and lift her face, staring down at her with intensity. “I don’t think I could handle you flipping saying it was.”
A soft smile twitches on her lips, and then a light laugh leaves her mouth. My heart warms at the sound.
“What?”
“Oh, I just think it’s cute that you don’t swear.”
That brings a smile back to my own lips, but then she shifts back to holding back. Something is dragging her back down.
“What’s going on in your head, princess?”
“Too much.”
“Want to unload on me, then?”
She breathes out a sigh, and I let go of her chin and back away. She frowns at my retraction, but I want her to have enough space to talk to me without being pressed against her.
“If you have questions, I’ll answer them.” There’s a moment of silence because she’s still scared that I don’t know what I’m getting into, and while I might not know everything, I know she’s the one I want to be here with.
“I’m sure I have lots of questions, but I don’t think that’s what you want to talk about.”
Another sigh, and then she looks back to the floor. Goddammit.
“I’m not sure I can give you what you want.”
“What do you think I want?” I lean back again on the kitchen island. Both my hands grip the edge of the counter.
“I’m leaving at the end of the summer.” She winces at the declaration. “I’ll be moving, and I don’t think I’ll come back.”
She looks up, and I nod her onward. Sure, the idea of her leaving hurts, but I already told myself this was a possibility.
I prepared myself for this outcome, but I still thought of it as the worst-case scenario.
That’s a lie, though. The worst case would be us stopping here and not even talking for the rest of the summer.
“Are you wanting to stop?” I deadpan, and her eyes shoot to me with worry. That looks like a no, which makes me happy.
“I don’t!” she says quickly.
“That’s good because I don’t want to stop either.” I grin at her surprise. She really thought I would want this to end. “I’ll follow your lead. If you want us to just be a summer fling, I’m okay with that.” I’m not, but having her even a little is better than nothing.
She thinks for a second before a half-hearted smile plays on her lips. “That’s what I want.”
“Good.” I peck her lips but pull away when she tries to deepen the kiss. “I got you something.”
“Oliver, you—”
“Don’t even finish that sentence.” I reach into the pocket of my Jeans and pull out the bracelet with pink flower knots from the market. “I saw this the day we went to the market and got it right afterward because it reminded me of you.”
Her eyes glisten. “Can I put it on?” she asks hesitantly like she thinks I’ll rip it away from her.
I gently take her hand in mine and push the bracelet onto her wrist. A small tear falls from her eyes, and I quickly kiss it away. She throws her arms around my neck, and we kiss again.