Page 210 of Nobody's Girl

They’ll think me a gold digger. No one gets married this quickly. The sound of a car pulling into the drive gets my attention and I look out the window. It’s my best friend, Laura. I haven’t spoken to her since the day I had my accident. Man, she’s going to freak on me.

She’s taking the stairs two at a time. Her footsteps are loud, and dare I say, angry?

My door flies open and there she is.

Oh yeah, she’s angry!

“Alyssa Shaylee Devlin, how could you?” Her long blonde hair is put up into a high ponytail, just like she used to wear it when we were kids. It swings back and forth as she moves quickly to me.

“I can’t believe Kyle told you. I wanted to do that,” I say as I hold up the hand with the to-die-for engagement ring on it.

Laura’s big, blue eyes widen as she looks at the ring. “Christ, Ally, it’s true. I thought he was messing with me, but it’s true,” she says, then turns her eyes to me. “I can’t let you do this. It’s insane, and I can’t believe your parents are going along with this. What’s happened to you and your entire family?”

I pat the bed for Laura to sit next to me. “Take a seat and I’ll tell you everything. Once you’ve heard my story, I hope you understand. You do remember the totally hot guy from the hospital, right?”

Hesitantly, she sits on the bed and holds my hand. She’s in shock. I guess I would be too if she was doing this.

“Yeah, he was exceptional, but this is too sudden, even for a guy like him,” she says.

“In a normal situation, I would be waiting to marry him. This situation is not normal. The way we make each other feel is not normal. It’s like electricity flows through us when we touch. Hell, sometimes when we just look at each other we can feel it.”

She squeezes my hand. “Ally, that’s lust. You can’t love this guy yet, and he can’t love you. This is a mistake. How long will your engagement be?”

My eyes look away. I know what her reaction will be. “Not long. We’re getting married on my birthday.”

She stands up and throws her arms in the air. “No! No, Ally! This is crazy. I tell you what we need to do. Kyle and I are loading your ass up in his truck and taking you to his grandfather’s house in Texas. They won’t find you there and we can de-brainwash you. You have to have been brainwashed, don’t you see that?”

Hearing her tell me how crazy this is makes me realize just how insane it really is.

“Maybe I’ve been living in a fantasy land. You might be right, but if I couldn’t see Eden, if I couldn’t touch him, I think I might die. Even now, I miss him, and he’s just down the hall.”

Laura sits on the bed and takes my hands. “Don’t you see how unhealthy that is? You are way too wrapped up in him. It’s not normal.”

“It isn’t normal. Not one bit. I do know this, Laura. Maybe I should leave with you and see how I feel about him after a day or so apart,” I say. My stomach clenches at the thought.

Laura jumps into action, running to my closet to grab some clothes. “So, he’s here, but your parents and Scotty are gone. Let’s get the hell out of here before he leaves his room.”

I scramble out of bed and run to the bathroom. “I need a shower.”

“No! You can take one at my house before we leave,” Laura orders. “We need to hurry and get you out of here.”

I grab a fresh pair of underwear, a pair of shorts, and a shirt from my drawer, then go into the bathroom to change. My reflection in the mirror shows pink cheeks where the stubble from Eden’s overnight beard growth rubbed them as he kissed me a while ago. On my neck is a bit of red where he bit me, making me come undone.

I run my hand over it and swear I can still feel his teeth as they clamped down on me. The electric current is back, though he’s not anywhere near me.

My hands flow over my neck, down the front of my body, and stop at where he’s kissed me and stroked me until I orgasmed. The first two of my life and Laura wants me to run away from him. I can’t.

I dress, put my hair in a ponytail, and go out to let my best friend know that, crazy or not, I can’t leave him. She has a bag packed and is sitting on my bed, looking at her phone, texting someone.

“Hey, Laura, I’ve been thinking, and I can’t go.”

She looks up at me. “You can go. You need to go. This is not mentally healthy for you, Ally. Let me and Kyle take care of you for a little while. If you still think you love him, then we’ll understand. We’ll bring you back if after a few days you still want him.”

A few days away from Eden sounds like hell to me. “No, I won’t go. I love him. I know you don’t understand how this can happen so fast, but it has. I love you for trying so hard to help me, but I don’t need any help. Maybe if you see us together you’d understand.”

As if on cue, he walks in my bedroom door. A smile on his face, he looks at me, then quickly over at Laura. He smiles at her and walks to her. “Nice to see you again, Laura.”

He holds out his hand and she places hers in his. He takes it, lifts it to his lips, and leaves a kiss on top of it.