wanted to do for this girl since the first moment I saw her. She looks up at me and smiles, then laughs and buries her face in the pillow. I lean toward her and kiss her neck. "What are you laughing at?" She lifts her head from the pillow, her cheeks a dark red. She shakes her head and laughs. "At us," she says. "It's only been twenty-four hours, and I've already lost count." I kiss her crimson cheek and laugh. "I can't count anymore, Lake. I've counted down too many times for one lifetime." I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her on top of me. When she leans in to kiss me, her hair falls between us. I reach over to the nightstand for the elastic, twisting her locks into a bun and pinning them up. "There," I say, pulling her face close to mine once more. "That's better. She made sure we had robes in our rooms, but we haven't used them once. Her ugly shirt has been on the floor since I threw it there last night. Needless to say, these have been the best 24 hours of my life." She kisses my jaw and brings her lips to my ear. "Are you hungry?" she whispers. "Not for food." She pulls back and smiles. "We still have 24 more hours here, you know? If you want to keep up with my pace, you better get your energy up. Besides, we ended up skipping lunch today, for some reason." She rolls away from me, reaches over to the nightstand and grabs the room service menu. "No burgers," I say. She rolls her eyes and laughs. "You'll never forget this." She glances at the menu, holds it up, and points to it. "How about beef Wellington? I've always wanted to try that." "Sounds good," I say, stepping closer to her. Layken picks up the phone to call room service. While she's on the phone, I kiss her back and forth, forcing her to stifle her laughter to keep her composure as she orders. When she hangs up the phone, she slides down from under me and pulls the covers over us. "You've got twenty minutes," she whispers. "Think you can handle it?" "I only need ten." The beef Wellington didn't disappoint. The only problem was that we were both too full and tired to move. We turn on the television for the first time since I carried Lake into the room, so I think it's safe to assume we'll have a break of at least two hours. Our legs are intertwined, and her head is on my chest. I'm running my fingers through her hair and stroking her wrist with my other hand. For some reason, these trivial things, like lying in bed watching TV, become kind of exciting when we're this tangled up. "Will?" She props herself up on her elbow and looks at me. "Can I ask you something?" She strokes my chest, then rests her hand on my heart. "I run twelve laps around the college track and do a hundred sit-ups twice a day," I say. She raises an eyebrow, so I point to my stomach. "Weren't you going to ask about my abs?" She laughs and playfully punches me. "No, I wasn't going to ask about your abs." She leans over and kisses my stomach. "But they are nice." I stroke her cheek and pull her back to look at me. "You can ask me anything, gorgeous." She sighs, lowers her elbow, and lays her head back on the pillow, staring at the ceiling. "Do you feel guilty sometimes?" she asks softly. "That you're feeling so happy?" I move closer to her and rest my arm on her stomach. "Lake." Don't ever feel guilty. That's exactly what they would want for you." She looks at me and gives me a forced smile. "I know that's what they would want. But it's just... I don't know. If I could undo everything that happened to have them by my side again, I wouldn't think twice. But if I did that, I would never have met you. So I feel guilty sometimes because..." I press my fingers to her lips. "Shh," I say. "Don't think like that, Lake. Don't think about the what ifs." I lean in and kiss her forehead. "But if it helps at all, I understand what you're saying. It's just that there's no point in thinking about it. It's just the way it is." She takes my hand and intertwines our fingers, bringing them to her mouth and kissing the back of my hand.
about the past and I promise I'll stop." She looks at me with a subtle smirk. "I'm so glad you got dumped by that bitch Vaughn." I laugh. "Tell me about it." She smiles and releases her fingers from mine. She turns to face me on the bed and looks at me. I pull her hand up to my mouth and kiss the palm. "Do you think you would have married her?" I laugh and roll my eyes. "Seriously, Lake? Do you really want to talk about this now?" She smiles a little sheepishly at me. "I'm just curious. We've never really talked about the past.
Now that I know you're not going anywhere, I feel more comfortable talking about it. Plus, there's a lot of stuff I want to know about you," she says. "Like how you felt when she broke up with you like that." "That's a weird topic to talk about on our honeymoon." She shrugs. "I just want to know everything about you. I already have your future, now I want to know your past." She smiles. "We have a couple of hours to kill before your energy recharges completely. What else can we do?" I'm too tired to move, and even though I'm not counting, nine times in 24 hours must be a record. I lie down on my stomach, put a pillow under my chin, and start telling her my story. "Good night, Caulder." I turn off the light, hoping he won't get out of bed again. This is our third night alone here. Last night he was terrified of sleeping alone, so I let him sleep with me. I hope it doesn't become a habit, but I would totally understand if it did. I still can't wrap my head around everything that's happened in the last two weeks, much less the decisions I've made. I hope I'm doing the right thing. I know my parents want us to be together, but I don't think they'll be happy to see me give up my scholarship because of this. Why am I referring to them in the present tense? This is going to be an adjustment. I go to my room and throw myself on the bed. I'm too tired to even reach over and turn off the lamp. Just as I close my eyes, I hear a soft knock on the door. "Caulder, you're going to be okay. Go back to bed," I say, somehow dragging myself out of bed, trying to coax him back to his room. He's been able to sleep alone for seven years, so I know he can do it again. "Will?" The door opens and Vaughn walks in. I had no idea she was coming here today, but I'm grateful she's here. She seems to know exactly when I need her company the most. I walk over to her, close the door to my room, and hug her. "Hi," I say. "What are you doing here? I thought you were going back to school today." She puts her hands on my forearms and pushes them back, giving me the most pitiful smile I've ever seen. She walks over to my bed and sits down, avoiding eye contact. "We need to talk." Her gaze sends a chill down my neck. I've never seen her so worried. I sit down on the bed next to her, bring her hand to my mouth, and kiss her. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear just as her tears start to fall. I wrap my arms around her and pull her into my chest. "Vaughn, what's wrong? Tell me." She doesn't say anything. She keeps crying, so I give her a break. Sometimes girls just need to cry. When the tears finally start to stop, she straightens up and takes my hands in hers, but she still doesn't look at me. "Will..." She hesitates. The way she says my name, the tone of her voice... My heart starts to panic. She looks at me, but she can't hold my gaze and quickly turns her head away. "Vaughn?" I say hesitantly, hoping I'm misinterpreting things. I put my hand under her chin and force her to look at me. The fear in my voice is clear as I ask, "What are you doing, Vaughn?" She looks almost relieved that I've seen through her intentions. Then she shakes her head. "I'm sorry, Will. I really am. I just can't do this anymore." Her words shock me to the core. This? She can't do this anymore? When did we become this? I don't answer. Anal, what could I say? She senses my shock, so she squeezes my hand and whispers again, "I'm really sorry." I pull away and stand up, turning my back to her. I run my hands through my hair and take a deep breath. Suddenly, the anger that's been building inside me is accompanied by tears that I don't want her to see. "I didn't expect any of this to happen, Will. I'm too young to be a mother. I'm not ready for this kind of responsibility. She's really going to do this. She's really breaking up with me. It's only been two weeks since my parents died, and she's going to break my heart again? Who does this kind of thing? She's not thinking straight. It's just shock... that's all." I turn to face her, not caring that she can see how much this is affecting me. "I didn't expect this either," I say. "It's okay, you're just scared." I sit down on the bed next to her and pull her close. "I'm not asking you to be his mother, Vaughn. I'm not asking you to be anything right now." I hug her tighter and press my lips to her forehead, which immediately makes her cry again. "Don't do this," I whisper into her hair. "Don't do this to me. Not now." She turns her head to the side. "If I don't do this now, I'll never be able to do it again." She stands up and tries to walk away, but I pull her close and wrap my arms around her waist, pressing my head to her stomach. "Please." She runs her hands through my hair and around my neck, leaning forward and kissing the top of my head. "I feel terrible, Will," she whispers. "Terrible." But I can't live a life I'm not ready to live just because I feel sorry for you. I press my forehead into her shirt and close my eyes, letting her words sink in. Does she feel sorry for me? I release my arms and push against her stomach. She pulls her hands away and takes a step back. I stand up and walk to the bedroom door, opening it to signal that she needs to leave. "The last thing I want is for you to feel sorry for me," I say, looking her in the eyes. "Will, no," Vaughn begs. "Please don't be mad at me." She looks up at me with tears in her eyes. When she cries, her eyes are a dark, cloudy blue. I used to say they were the exact color of the ocean. Looking into her eyes right now almost makes me hate the ocean. I turn and grip the door on either side of it, pressing my head against the wood. I close my eyes and try to hold myself together. It feels like the pressure, the stress, the emotions that have been building up inside me for the past two weeks... I feel like I'm going to explode. She gently places her hand on my shoulder, trying to comfort me. I move my shoulder so she can remove her hand and turn to face her once more. "Two weeks, Vaughn!" I yell. I realize I yelled too loudly so I lower my voice and move closer to her. "They died two weeks ago! How can you think about yourself now?" She walks through the door and into the living room. I follow her as she grabs her purse from the couch and walks to the
Chapter 1 I know you're
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Chapter 2 Good thing
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Chapter 3 I guess I live...here
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Chapter 4 speaking know
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Chapter 5 take this
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Chapter 6 my questions
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Chapter 7 I'm confused
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Chapter 8 I got to know
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Chapter 9 I call out to her
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Chapter 10 have some privacy
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Chapter 11 but I don't
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Chapter 12 But, my God
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Chapter 13 back to reality
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Chapter 14 I was mad at you
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Chapter 15 she's your student
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Chapter 16 three months
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Chapter 17 Good morning
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Chapter 18 What did she say
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Chapter 19 new poem
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Chapter 20 drama
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Chapter 21 She leaves my house
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Chapter 22 Married to you
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Chapter 23 I think so too
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Chapter 24 it's too soon
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Chapter 25 No panties, huh
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Chapter 26 But I don't
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Chapter 27 the morality
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Chapter 28 I swear
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Chapter 29 I'm so sorry
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Chapter 30 You heard me
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Chapter 31 What are you doing
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Chapter 32 I'm here
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Chapter 33 Mrs. Cooper
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Chapter 34 The last thing
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Chapter 35 My grandfather
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Chapter 36 Will! Stop
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Chapter 37 Her father just died
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Chapter 38 I'm going to get fired
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Chapter 39 attraction for me
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Chapter 40 moment with you
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