Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
SOPHIE
Jules assures me that they don’t want to get rid of me and stresses how worried Cole was. "He almost lost it. The last time I saw him like this was years ago."
I find this hard to believe, but Cole seemed genuinely relieved when he found me, and I begin to wonder if his anger is actually just worry in disguise.
"Promise me that next time you’ll talk to one of us instead of running away, okay?" Jules looks at me urgently while sitting next to me on the couch.
I just nod and lower my gaze.
"Say it," she demands, leaning forward and tilting her head so she can look me in the eye.
Lifting my gaze, I force a smile on my face. "I promise."
"There you go," Jules says with satisfaction and leans back again. "No solo acts. No short-circuiting. And above all, no running away, got it?"
"Yes. I promise."
"Great. Then we’ve cleared that up." Abruptly, she gets up and walks to the kitchen. "No offense, but I need a drink right now." With that, she opens the fridge, and I’m relieved that she forgave me so quickly.
Two hours later, we’re sitting on the bed in my new room. The picture on the small TV is frozen because Jules has pressed the pause button for what has to be the twentieth time.
After she made herself something she calls a Tequila Sunrise, which looks pretty but tastes awful, she decided that it was time to give me a crash course. I didn’t understand what she meant by that, but I quickly realized that the movie she’d started was not about pie as described in the title.
"He’s going down on her," she replies after I asked her what Kevin is doing between Vicky’s thighs.
I frown.
"To lick her."
My frown deepens while I tilt my head to the side and glance at the TV. "Down there? With his tongue?"
Jules nods, sucking at the colorful straw before answering without letting go of it. "Yep. It’s called oral sex."
"Why would someone do that?"
She lets go of the straw. "Well, because it feels good," she then explains, looking at me as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Of course I know that sex is basically just that: the most natural thing in the world.
Something completely normal. My mother explained to me how it works, but her descriptions gave me the impression that it’s some kind of necessary evil in order to get pregnant and have children.
She never even slightly hinted that it could feel good.
Not to mention all the things that apparently come with it, or that oral sex is even a thing.
So I’m confused and shocked in equal measure.
But there’s also curiosity. Because both the movie and Jules’s explanations speak a different language than my mother.
When she picked the movie, Jules insisted it wasn’t just to show me the hormone-fueled behavior of young men. She claimed it portrayed many aspects of growing up in a lighthearted and funny way.
Since I’ve never been to high school, let alone a party, I can hardly judge that. But it seems as if the average teenager has to go through a lot in this world, and I’m not quite sure if it’s a curse or a blessing that I missed that.
Thanks to Jules’s easygoing and, above all, patient manner, however, I stopped feeling uncomfortable an hour ago.
No matter what I ask her, she answers in detail and without making me feel inexperienced, which I am.
And although some of her descriptions initially disturbed me a bit, I became more relaxed over time and my questions became more detailed.
"Have you ever been licked?" I ask.
"Sure. It’s really great. Well… Of course only if your partner knows what they’re doing.
Unfortunately, some don’t." She takes a sip of her beverage before leaning over to look at me with a grin.
"Oh, and if they use their fingers, too, it can be pretty damn good," she adds in a conspiratorial voice, winking at me.
I’m not sure if I like the idea of that, but even if it’s truly as good as Jules claims, I’ll probably still have plenty of time to get comfortable with it.
"I’m going to get another drink," I declare, climbing out of bed.
Jules sinks deeper into the pillows. "Okay."
After taking a bottle of water from the refrigerator, I go to the stairs and look down. The first floor is dark, but strange sounds reach my ears. Shouts. Male voices talking over each other in a chaotic mess. Then there’s whistling, followed by angry screaming.
It sounds like there are a lot of people in the basement.
My curiosity urges me to go downstairs, but Cole’s words ring way too loud in my ears, which is why I go back to my room.
"Jules?"
She’s tapping away on her phone as I lie down beside her. "Hmm?"
"What’s going on down there?"
She’s just about to take another sip but pauses in her movement. Then she lowers the glass again and looks at me. "Cole didn’t tell you?"
"No."
Jules grimaces. "Then I can’t tell you, either. It’s on him to do that," she explains, only raising more questions.
I’ve never asked for anything I wasn’t supposed to have. My mother’s word has always been law, and I’ve never dared to doubt it or even beg for anything. But my curiosity is killing me, so I don’t back down.
"Jules, please. I swear I won’t tell him!"
She shakes her head while her expression remains unchanged. "No. Not a chance."
"Is it something bad?" I keep probing.
Jules squirms visibly. "Sophie, please stop. I’m really not good at turning down someone I like."
Her words make me pause. What Cole is doing right suddenly becomes secondary.
"You… like me?" I whisper.
She looks at me with raised brows. "Well, sure! Why wouldn’t I?" A broad smile appears on her face. "You’re the sweetest person I’ve ever met. Kind, honest, nonjudgmental, and just… I don’t know… sweet. One can’t help but like you."
My heart warms because no one has ever said anything so nice to me.
"Cole doesn’t like me," I then mutter, though, averting my eyes.
"Bullshit. He’s just too guarded to show it," she says as she puts an arm around my shoulders to pull me into her. "He may not even know it himself yet, but he does like you. Trust me."
I want to believe her. A tiny part of me even does. But the cold look he gave me not just once won’t leave my head.
"Let’s keep watching the movie," Jules decides and presses the button on the remote control. "Otherwise, we’ll still be sitting here tomorrow morning," she adds, laughing, and I can’t help but join in because, despite everything, I’ve never had as much fun as I have tonight.
When I’m awakened by the sound of water rushing through the pipes, I have no idea what time it is.
Jules and I have been awake forever, but it seems like it’s still night, which is why I need a moment to get my bearings.
The TV is still on, but there is only a gray flicker that dimly illuminates the room.
A sideways glance shows that Jules is fast asleep, so it must be Cole who’s responsible for the rushing water.
Without thinking, I get up and slip through the slightly open door.
The glow of a streetlamp shines through the large windows and makes it easy for me to move across the room and toward the bathroom door, which is also just ajar, letting out a sliver of light.
Not wanting to eavesdrop again or see anything I shouldn’t, I gently knock on the door. "Cole?"
A soft curse reaches my ears before he answers. "Go back to bed, Sophie."
As he sounds rather exhausted than angry, I push open the door. Immediately, my eyes fall on his broad back because Cole is standing at the sink. "Is something wrong?"
He jerks his head toward me, which also causes his upper body to turn slightly in my direction. I catch a glimpse of his hands and gasp when I see red.
"Dammit, darling," he hisses, turning back round again. "I told you to go back to bed."
Ignoring his words, I cling to the door. "Are you hurt?"
Cole drops his hands into the sink and lets his head fall back, exhaling audibly. "Go to sleep," he then says more calmly, but no less insistently. "Everything’s fine. Really."
I swallow hard because I get the feeling that he’s not telling the truth.
But after what happened yesterday, I decide not to push him any further.
Instead, I pull myself back even though everything in me wants to go to him and see if he’s unharmed.
I don’t know why, but my gut tells me that wasn’t paint he washed off his hands.
It was blood. And even though I’m pretty sure that’s not normal, I’m scared at that moment. Not of Cole, but for him.