Chapter Seventeen
Hollie
I wake early, the morning light flooding my room. I’m still half-dressed and my tongue is stuck to the roof of my mouth.
Several thoughts flood my mind at once.
I told AJ I kissed him at Amber’s party.
Afterward, I was unceremoniously loaded onto a coaster and driven back to Canyon. The first person I saw when I stepped off the coach? My stepmother, alongside the county sheriff.
So, she knows exactly where I was last night.
I sit up in bed, rubbing my eyes. My fingertips come away all black from not having removed my makeup.
I know the call is coming. I just have to wait for it.
So, when my phone rings on the nightstand, it feels like kismet. I take a moment to calm myself. Last night, I’d had a tad too much to drink, and I let my emotions spill out all over the place. If I’m not careful, the same will happen this morning speaking to my father.
‘Hi, Daddy,’ I say when I answer and I’m surprised by the depth of huskiness in my own voice.
‘You went to Rapture?’ he questions, without even saying hello.
Here we go. ‘I did,’ I say quietly.
‘Why?’ he questions, and it’s enough to cloak me in a blanket sewn of guilt.
‘Because I was invited.’
‘You lied to me.’
‘Me not telling you does not constitute me lying to you. I know perfectly well how you would have reacted.’
‘I cannot believe you would go out there.’
‘There were some people from my high school there I wanted to see, Dad. I mean, obviously, I didn’t think you would find out about it. I’m sorry if you’re disappointed in me.’
‘I am,’ he blurts, followed by a lengthy pause. ‘But it’s not me you need to apologize to. You need to speak to Evelyn.’
At the mention of my stepmother, my mind wanders.
I think about last night, and the fact that AJ now knows it was me who kissed him five years ago.
I want to know what he thinks of that revelation.
What he would have said or done had the sheriff not interrupted my tirade.
For most of last night, he ignored me, so I’m proud of myself for finally getting the words out.
For finally saying what I wanted to after he left me hanging in Roswell.
Though the way we left things unresolved has put me in a panic. Maybe for him, me kissing him is a case of so what?
‘I get that’s she’s unhappy,’ I say to Dad, because he’s still droning on about Evelyn. ‘It wasn’t meant maliciously.’
‘So, what are you going to do about it?’ he asks tersely.
I go quiet. I’m not minded to do anything. ‘What does she want?’
‘She wants you to have nothing to do with Rapture. She wants your backing. Your support. That, and a groveling apology.’
It’s another ten minutes before I hang up.
I crawl out of bed and go to the bathroom, groaning at the sight of my makeup making me look like the undead.
I get a shower and wash my face, wondering how I handle the AJ situation, given that I’ve just offered my father a vague promise that I won’t go back to Rapture again.
I’m in the kitchen when there’s a knock at the front door.
I pause. It’s still early.
I go to the door and check the spy hole.
The sight of AJ on the other side has my heart pounding inside my chest. I twirl in circles, swiping up my discarded clothes from last night, conscious my hair is still wet from the shower.
I remove the chain and open the door.
An invisible force squeezes my lungs. He’s wearing a black pair of ripped jeans, a black T-shirt under his leather jacket.
‘Hey,’ he says.
‘Good morning,’ I respond. ‘What are you doing here?’
I tense. He tilts his head slightly to one side. His gaze is fixed on my mouth, and a ball of pent-up anxiety detonates in my gut.
When he steps forward and his lips capture my own, I forget how to breathe.
There have been nights where I’ve dreamed of this moment, where I get to feel him against me once more.
Only this time, he deepens the kiss almost instantly, maybe in recognition of our prior experience and that we’re done being coy.
A whimper escapes my throat as my skin prickles, and the tiny hairs on my arms stand fully to attention.
The outside world melts away and I’m back in that closet.
Heat blossoms down my spine. Where our mouths touch, it’s pure electricity. When his tongue touches mine, I’m lost.
Since the night of the party, I’ve yearned to go back and have this happen again. For five years, I’ve dwelled on it for much longer than I should have.
Now I’m reminded why. AJ Callahan kisses me like no other man ever has.
He may not be the only man I’ve kissed, but he’s the only one I’ve enjoyed kissing.
From the back of AJ’s throat comes a low moan.
He pulls away and it’s over. We’re breathless.
‘I wanted it to be you,’ he whispers.
He raises his eyes to me. We both know the exact moment he’s referring to. I offer him a gentle nod.
The second time, there’s no stopping us.
We’re kissing feverishly, desperately, like we’re making up for lost time.
His hands go to my waist and he marches me backward.
I’m vaguely aware that he’s kicked the door closed behind us with his foot, and the next thing I know, my butt has come into contact with the top edge of the couch.
He breaks the kiss. Our ragged breaths mix together. ‘I was hoping if I kissed you, it would sway you into liking me again, so I can like you back at the same time.’
I let out a shaky breath. Did he just say what I hoped he did? This time, it’s me who presses my lips to his. My hands go into his hair. The way he responds sends heat rushing south to my core. Alone, and aware from prying eyes, we paw at one another hungrily.
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ he asks eventually, between frenetic kisses.
We break apart again and I swallow. I can feel the bulge in his jeans straining against my thigh and his hands are at my waist. ‘I wanted to. I was afraid. I told you I’d kissed you that night in Roswell, but you’d already fallen asleep.’
Our foreheads are touching. He laughs gently. ‘I think I knew, this whole time.’
‘What changed?’ I ask.
‘I wised up and saw what an incredible woman you are.’
My arms are around his neck. I am fully aware that I am gazing at him. The irritation that consumed me last night has melted away to unbridled desire. And he definitely deserves another kiss for calling me incredible.
I push my tongue into his mouth, tentative at first, but his hum of assent builds my confidence, and delicious sensations shoot through my abdomen as I taste him.
He yanks off his jacket, and it drops to the floor. Pulling with both his hands, he eases me away from the couch, cupping the underside of my butt as he helps guide me backward toward my bedroom, his fingers sliding to my hips.
I go willingly, our tongues still sliding together.
My body is fizzing. And maybe I didn’t think that things would go this fast, but every one of my nerve endings is on fire, and I need all of him.
In my bedroom, AJ breaks our kiss, pulls back and yanks his T-shirt over his head.
He looks back to me, and he can see that my eyes have come alive at the sight of his bare chest. He lowers me to the bed and, cocooning me with both his hands either side of my head, he brings his mouth back to mine and I melt into him.
I’m needy for him. He must know it. I put my hands on his chest and slide my palms southward. His chest is ridiculously hard.
He breaks our kiss, our faces almost touching.
‘We shouldn’t do this,’ he breathes, and disappointment floods my veins. Has he changed his mind?
‘The first time we’re naked together and I’m inside you,’ he continues in a gravelly voice, ‘it should be special.’
Liquid heat rushes to my core as I picture his graphic description. The ridge in his jeans pushes into me. If AJ took me now, I wouldn’t mind, but I gently nod my head.
‘And by the way, you’re so fucking beautiful,’ he adds.
I grin. ‘Thank you,’ I say. ‘And you have no right being as hot as you are.’
He grins back down at me. ‘Oh yeah? I didn’t know you thought that about me.’
I reach up and touch his cheek. ‘I’ve always thought that about you.’
He lowers his mouth again, slower this time. ‘Did you have a timeframe for you know… the wait?’ I ask between kisses.
His laugh is low and languid. ‘How about tonight? I could swing by after I finish work?’
‘I’d like that.’
He slides down to lie by my side, keeping his fingers pressed against my cheek. ‘I brought you breakfast from Waffle House. It’s prolly cold by now. You want some?’
‘Where did you put it?’
‘Out in the hallway.’
He gets up off the bed, pulls his T-shirt back on and a moment later, I hear my front door. I get up off the bed and walk out, only to find him holding a bouquet of pink roses, a grease-stained paper bag and his motorcycle helmet propped under his arm.
‘These are for you,’ he says, holding up the roses. ‘To say sorry for abandoning you in Roswell. I should never have left you like that.’
‘They’re beautiful,’ I say. I can hardly believe this is happening. I take them and he leans over and grants me another kiss.
‘Have you talked to Noah?’ I ask.
‘Couple times. He’s doing well. Rita says he’s settled well, despite missing our mom.’
‘That’s good. And no word from the police?’
He shrugs. ‘Cops have gone quiet. What happened last night? When they took y’all away?’
We go about reheating the food in the microwave. ‘They literally dropped us off at the bus station in Eastvale, then took the rest to the Canyon Uni campus. No explanations. I stepped off the bus and came face to face with the county sheriff and my stepmother.’
‘No way.’
‘She looked at me, and I could tell she was livid. Then she just turned her back on me. It was like I didn’t even exist in her universe.’
‘Ouch.’
‘So now, of course, my dad is very disappointed in me.’
‘You went out to Rapture, so what?’
I shake my head. ‘Evelyn doesn’t like what Echo is doing. Making Rapture out to be this Instagrammable location.’
AJ nearly chokes on his food. ‘I’m sorry, what?’
‘You know. Rapture is, like… cool now.’
‘Tell that to the people scrapin’ a living there with no electricity.’
Our eyes meet. For the first time, I’m reminded that we’re from different worlds.
I look down. ‘Sorry,’ I say.
‘Don’t worry about it. I know what Echo’s tryna do. Sometimes I think he’s just prolonging the inevitable.’
‘You think he should stop fighting?’
‘I think he should ask them to up their offer. Offer the residents a better compensation deal instead of tryna cut our lifelines. Strangle us into submission.’
When it’s time for him to leave, AJ puts on his jacket. He holds out his hand, and I walk into his embrace. With the kiss he gives me, it’s a miracle we don’t end up back in my bedroom.
‘So…’ he says, our foreheads pressed together. ‘Tonight.’
‘Tonight,’ I repeat and my body is already on fire. I don’t know how I’m expected to make it through to this evening.
‘What time?’
‘Seven?’
‘I’ll be here.’
I kiss him one more time. Just to get me through the rest of my day.
‘I’m happy that you told me about Amber’s party.’
‘I’m sorry I yelled at you.’
‘Don’t be. I should have straight up asked.’
He holds my hands. Whatever sins he might have committed in the past, they are all forgiven, because having both his undivided attention, plus his lips to kiss, trumps any anger I may have felt toward him.
‘I should have told you the night of Amber’s party.
Found some way to drag you away from Amber. ’
He winces. ‘You should have, then told me what an idiot I was.’
‘Oh, I was already doing that… in my head.’
He smirks. ‘You do know that if you’d told me, tonight would have come a lot sooner?’
Something blossoms inside me. I kiss his cheek, trailing my lips up to his ear. ‘So let it be worth the wait.’
I hear his quiet chuckle. ‘Oh, don’t you worry, Palmer. Tonight, when I come back, I plan on making you feel so damn good.’