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I smiled at him. “I know, Sam,” I said in a stage whisper.
“You know what?” he said as his eyes rolled and his face fell into utter boredom.
“I know about the fireworks.”
“Shit,” Sam said, and his face fell from boredom into worry. “What did James tell you about the fireworks?”
“He told me everything.”
“He told you everything?”
“He told me everything,” I repeated with the same sickly-sweet smile I’d given him when he’d walked in.
“You know it wasn’t my fault,” Sam stammered.
“What wasn’t your fault?”
“The firework going off in your face. I tried to tell James that you were still in the woods, but he wouldn’t listen. He kept pushing me to change the dial, so I did,” Sam said as he tried to work himself out of any of the blame.
“Don’t lie to me,” I said as my temper started to get the best of me. “I know what happened, and I know that you told James that I was back at the party,” I said sharply. “How can you not care that you did this to me?” I asked him as I gestured to scars that he’d left on my body.
“What can I say?” he said with a sneer and a casual shrug. “I guess I thought you kind of deserved it for being such a stuck-up bitch,” he finished venomously.
I smiled at him through the inner rage I was feeling and hit save on my phone before I pulled it open and turned the screen to him. “Do you know what this is?” I asked him as I waved it in front of his face.
“No?”
“It’s you admitting to setting off the fireworks, and to saying that I deserved it. That kind of sounds a little premeditated, don’t you think?” I asked him as I leaned across the table, so our faces were close. “I’m going to give you a real simple choice and you’re going to make the right one. Do you understand?” I asked him slowly, because I needed to make sure that he understood what I was about to say to him.
He nodded. “Sure,” he tried to sound cocky, but his voice was shaking.
“You drop the charges against James and I delete this recording, or you keep them, and I go to the police and you’re going to be locked up right along with him,” I said as I raised my eyebrows in anticipation of his answer.
He snorted at me. “I should have known that this was about James. You know, you both really are sick,” he said with a disgusted look in his eyes.
“First of all, Sam, we’re not actually brother and sister. The only person who is too stupid to understand that seems to be you. And second, nothing has ever happened between me and James, so why don’t you keep your dirty mind and your even filthier dick away from us?” I snapped at him.
“Whatever,” he said as he stood up from the booth. “I’ll drop the charges, okay, so you can delete that crappy little recording and run off back to your boyfriend-brother now,” he said, and then he turned and walked out of the diner before I had a chance to reply, or stand up to hit him.
I watched as he left the greasy little diner and then I called over the waitress so I could pay my bill. She walked off quickly to get it for me and I pulled my cell back out of my pocket, so that I could tell James the good news. I hit the dial button under his name and waited for him to answer, which he did after the first ring.
“What happened? Are you okay?” his worried voice played down the speaker.
“I’m fine,” I said as relief washed over me that he couldn’t see the stupid smile that was pushing up against the corners of my lips.
“What happened?” he asked me again, when I’d answered the first part of his two-part question.
“I talked to Sam and he’s agreed to drop the charges,” I said happily. “He seems to think we’re together, though, so I’d expect some awkward questions when we go back to school,” I warned him as I paid my bill and left a generous tip to the smiley waitress who had been serving me.
I walked back out into the sunshine with a smile on my face. It felt as though a weight had been lifted and the air smelled sweeter than ever.
“That’s great news, Tilly,” James said, and he sounded genuinely relieved. “Thank you so much,” he added.
“Don’t mention it,” I dismissed him quickly. “I’ll be heading back to the house later; I’ll see you then?” I asked him.
“Sure, I’ll see you soon,” he said and then I hung up before we ended up staying on the phone for another hour.
*******
Chapter 18
James
The police called shortly after Tilly had and they confirmed that the charges had, in fact, been dropped. I couldn’t believe that Tilly’s plan had worked so flawlessly or that she’d forgiven me so easily for what I had done to her. I knew that I had to make sure that she understood what she meant to me. I knew that all the rumors and whispers that were happening behind our backs didn’t matter because we had something that the rumor makers would probably never have.
I waited anxiously for Tilly to get home. I listened to the sounds coming from downstairs until I was sure that I could hear Tilly’s tiny patter coming up the stairs, and then I rushed out into the hallway so I could stop her before she turned off and disappeared into her room. She turned the corner on the stairs and looked up at me with surprise, as though she’d been expecting nothing but an empty hallway.
“I was hoping we could talk?” I asked her with a smile when she looked at me a little nervously.
“Sure,” she said as she returned my smile and her shoulders seemed to relax a little as she realized that it wasn’t bad news that I carried.
I waited for her to come and join me, and when she’d reached my room’s door, I walked in and let her close the door behind her. “So, the police called, and they’ve confirmed the fact that the charges have been dropped,” I said, so that I could break the ice.
“That’s great,” she said as her eyes lit up and I could tell she was really happy that everything had been sorted.
“So, obviously there are a lot of rumors going on about us at the moment,” I said, trying to find my way into the conversation. She looked at me intently as she waited for me to make a point. “I mean, I know this is probably going to sound crazy, but I get where they’re coming from. I mean, I don’t know about you, but I like you, Tilly. I mean, I more than like you—I love you,” I stumbled as I tried to tell her how I was feeling.
“You love me?” she asked me as though she didn’t quite believe me, and that suspicion felt as though it was cracking my heart in two.
“I love you, Tilly. I really love you and I have for a long time. I don’t want them to be rumors; I want them to be telling the truth. I want you to return the way that I feel. I want you to say that you don’t care about what anybody else says.”
“I don’t care what anybody else says,” she said with a little shake of her head and a cute, confused look in her eyes.
I stepped up to her and slowly leaned in. I gave her all the chance in the world to push me away and call me disgusting, but she didn’t. She just watched me as I slowly brought myself closer to her and then kissed her gently on the lips.
She picked up the rhythm of my kiss instantly. I could feel the hunger in her kisses, and suddenly it was her kissing me and not me kissing her. I let my hands stroke up her waist as her hands fell down to the hem of my top and then slowly crept up my bare skin. I could feel goosebumps raising on her skin as I stroked up her arm, and then her hands wrapped around my waist and started to pull me in the direction of the bed.
I kissed her harder as we fell together on top of the sheets. I pulled on her top and pulled it off, whilst she kissed my chest softly and tenderly. I could feel my heart racing as she pulled off my shirt and our skin touched for the first time in places it never had before. I wanted her. I wanted her more than I’d ever wanted anybody. I wanted her more than Romeo had ever wanted Juliet.
“You’re so beautiful,” I said as she played with the button of my jeans, until it popped open and my pants started
to slide down my legs.
“You’re not bad yourself.” She grinned at me as she nestled her head against my chest and started to leave a flurry of kisses as she worked down to the throbbing tightness that I now had in between my legs. She stopped when she reached it and looked up at me in a teasing way that made me groan with anticipation, before she shifted her body back up and pressed her damp, hot prisoner against me.
I reached down and pulled off her pants quickly. I could feel myself rushing as I realized what was about to happen and I had to remind myself to breathe. I had Tilly lying naked on my bed. Her beautiful, perky breasts in between my fingers, her dark pink nipples hardened to my touch.
I could see longing in her eyes. I could see her pleading with me to give her what she wanted, what I wanted, what we both wanted. I couldn’t deny her any longer. I had to give her anything and everything that she wanted. I brought my body down to hers without putting my weight on her and I thrust my body into her, until her back arched and her finger tips started to dig deeply into my back.
“Oh, god,” she said in a wispy voice as she tried to pull in the air she needed to breathe.
I buried my face into her neck and left a trail of soft kisses as I picked up my speed, until she was repeating herself over and over again.
*******
Chapter 19
Tilly
Everything had changed, but that wasn’t a bad thing. In just a year, my life had been turned upside down. I’d suffered more than I thought I ever would, but at the end of it, I found something that people spend a lifetime searching for. I had James, and that was all that mattered to me. We’d been getting closer since my accident, but I’d always thought that at some point he would grow tired of me—but he didn’t.
When we went back to school after the fight, the place had been rife with rumors. When people found out that those rumors were true, they’d lost their shit about it. I’d spent two or three weeks at school where people were literally shouting stuff at me as I walked down the hallways, but none of that mattered to me. I’d expected it. It couldn’t touch me.
I was happy with James and that was all that mattered.
