“Everyone knows that,” she mumbled. “People have to be voted into the student council, and my grades aren’t a secret.”
“Alright, you want me to go past the superficial shit?” I blew out a breath, not waiting for her to answer. Mom always said it was rude to cuss in front of a lady, but I think even she would make an exception right now. “You bring your lunch every day, except for Pizza Fridays—which I’ve always found weird because it isn’t even good pizza. Whenever you have to make a speech in front of our class, you always make it look easy, but I think it terrifies you because you always have at least one fist clenched at your side or on the podium.” She stared at me, completely stunned by my admissions, so I continued. “This is new, but I’ve noticed you do this little shoulder shimmy thing when you’re trying to pull yourself together—which would be so freaking cute if it didn’t mean you were hiding something from me. And you blush every time you see me. Did you know that?”
Cleo looked away, biting her lip to hide a smile. “No, I don’t.”
I stepped forward, taking her chin between my thumb and forefinger and forcing her to look at me. “Then why’re your cheeks strawberry red right now?”
“I don’t know,” she muttered. “Because you said all that stuff. I’m not used to it.”
“Not used to what?” I asked, chuckling.
Cleo’s face sobered. “Being seen.”
Without thinking, I let my hand slide along her jaw and ran my thumb across her cheekbone. My eyes dipped to her lips as she sucked in a breath. It was taking everything I had not to kiss her, to let her know just how much I saw her.
“What’re you doing?” she whispered.
“Trying not to kiss you,” I answered honestly. There was no point in lying. Not when there was so much tension lingering between us.
Her tongue darted out to moisten her plush lower lip, and I bit back a groan. “I’ve never been kissed before.”
“And I wanna change that,” I said hoarsely. “But I wanna wait until I take you home because if I kiss you now, I know that’s all I’ll want to do.”
Cleo swallowed, nodding slowly. “Yeah, I think that’d probably be best.”
She tried to pull away, but I didn’t let her. “You shine bright, Cleo. Brighter than anyone else I know. Remember that.” I let my hand fall away from her face, intentionally brushing my fingers along the exposed skin of her arm.
cleo
. . .
I collapsed onto the couch,letting out a low groan as my body sank into the leather and stared up at the ceiling. Every part of my body ached. I may have been used to running after kids all day, but not with the additional concern of wide-open spaces and teaching animal safety. By the end of the day, I’d nearly had twenty heart attacks from every time one of the kids launched themselves toward a horse they thought was cute.
I struggled to make it through dinner. Thankfully, we had leftovers from the weekend I was able to scarf down without having to worry about cooking a full meal. The only reason I hadn’t made a beeline for my bed was the fact that I always tried to spend time with Mom and Dad before they went to sleep. Not that it seemed to matter tonight. Some old TV show they loved played in the background, but neither of them was paying attention to it. Instead, their attention was focused on me.
“How’d the first day go?” Dad asked. The leather groaned as he shifted into a comfortable position. “Saw a lot of cars out front.”
“Oh, it looked like it was so much fun,” Mom cooed from his side. She walked in from the kitchen and perched on theottoman. “I kept watching all the parents drop off this morning, and those kids—they were just precious!”
I squeezed my eyes closed, trying to forget about one father and daughter duo in particular. I still don’t think it’d hit me that Grady was back in town, or that his daughter had clung to my side at every chance she got.
Lennox and I agreed to split the kids in half by last name to make pick-up go a bit smoother. When the time came, I’d all but begged my sister to take the first half of the alphabet so I didn’t have to see Grady again.
She may not have fully known my reason for the switch, but if there was one thing I cherished about my sister, it was her unyielding loyalty. That girl understood if I was asking for a favor, there was likely a damn good reason. Especially if I begged.
I never begged.
Someday Lennox would ask me about it, but not yet. She would give me the time I needed to figure things out myself before asking questions I didn’t have answers to.
“I think it went really well,” I said, pushing thoughts of Grady from my mind. Or at least, I tried to. It didn’t really work as planned. In fact, the more I thought about the day, the less I could recall about the actual camp.
He’d been at the forefront of my mind, even when I tried my hardest to get him out. There was only one blissful moment of the day that’d been Grady-free, however, it quickly came to a screeching halt when Charlie came running up to me after lunch and asked to see my pony.
Her affection should have made me uncomfortable, but it didn’t. The truth was I loved being someone she could rely on. Loved the way she seemed carefree and full of life. There was never a moment she censored herself, nor was she afraid to ask for the things she wanted.
If anything, I was jealous in a way. I wished I could’ve beenmore like that when I was her age. Maybe if I were, I wouldn’t have spent my life waiting around for something—anything—to happen. Maybe I would’ve gone out into the world and demanded what I deserved, instead of settling for something I’d known in my bones hadn’t been right.
Maybe I would’ve fought a little bit harder, too.
