My stomach pitched, and suddenly all I wanted was him. I wanted to reassure him of my love, that I’d love him forever no matter what, and I’d never,never, been afraid of him. And I never would be.
When he chose that very inopportune moment to come stomping down the stairs, looking grouchy and out of it, as he often did after waking up, I had to grit my teeth and clench all my muscles to keep from springing up out of the chair and going to him. Because on top of looking grumpy and half-dead, he also looked chiseled and sexy and dark and brooding. And I was so in love with him, I was half sick with it.
She looked over to him, giving my hand a quick squeeze, like she was silently asking me not to say anything to him, not to mention that we’d had that talk. It was totally unnecessary, but I hoped to reassure her by giving Kieran a casual greeting. She echoed mine, telling him good morning like always.
“Morning,” he mumbled, barely sparing either of us a glance as he stumbled to the refrigerator. He had no idea we’d been talking about anything important. It was a relief. I didn’t want him burdened with the knowledge yet, though I knew I’d have to let him know at some point.
Mom left the table to go finish whatever last minute chores she’d decided were so urgent that they had to be done immediately, and he sat down across from me with a bowl of cereal.
One thing that definitely wasn’t contributing to the danger of our parents finding out about us was the way that he acted with me when we weren’t totally alone. He hadn’t let slip even one smidgen of real affection for me, and this morning was no exception. I wasn’t offended. The way he acted with me in private more than made up for it.
When he started scrolling his phone, I knew it was a good time for me to catch our mom, out of his earshot, to wrap up our little conversation.
“I have to pee,” I announced to him as I stood. He flicked his unimpressed gaze up to me, raising an eyebrow.
“Okay? Do you want a chaperone or what?”
“Yeah,” I answered, blinking innocently as I lowered my hand to my crotch, lightly cupping it there in a crude gesture. “Can you hold it for me while I go?”
His spoon dropped out of his hand, clattering into the bowl and spraying a few drops of milk out onto the table as he frantically glanced around for a sign that either of our parents had heard me. When he was sure they hadn’t, he turned back to me with his eyes narrowed, his cheeks darkened.
“You’re testing my fucking patience, Jordy,” he hissed. He really hated when I teased him now, but he should have known I wasn’t dumb enough to say anything where anyone could hear us.
Snorting, I pranced away from the table, making sure to sway my hips just a little. I didn’t have to look back to know he’d be checking out my butt. I wanted to make sure he remembered it was there, because they’d be leaving really soon.
Ambushing her in the laundry room, Mom jumped a little, startled, when she saw me hovering in the doorway.
“God, Jordy!” She said, shaking her head and laughing at herself a little bit. “You nearly gave me a heart attack.”
“Sorry,” I said quickly. “I just, um… I just wanted to say thank you for talking to me about all that stuff. And I’m sorry if it made you feel bad or anything.”
“No, sweetie, you didn’t,” she promised. “I’m perfectly okay now. If it made you feel better, then I’m happy to help.”
“Um, yeah. It did,” I admitted. Better wasn’t exactly the right word, but it had helped me a lot. “Love you,” I tacked on at theend, and she smiled, bringing out an arm and pulling me against her in a hug.
“I love you too.”
Finally, my dad came out of the bedroom, all showered and dressed and ready to go.
“Oh, Dad,” I remembered suddenly. “I’m about to change the sensor for my glucose meter.”
The sensors expired about every 2 weeks, and it usually took about an hour for the new one to sync to the app. I always let him know when I was changing it, just in case he chose that hour to check my levels, he wouldn’t think I’d spontaneously died or anything.
“Thanks for letting me know,” he said, leaning down to give me a kiss on the top of my head. “We’ll see you guys tonight.”
“Bye! Have fun,” I said, giving them a friendly wave as they made their way out into the living room.
“Bye,” Kieran said, though his farewell didn’t sound nearly as enthusiastic. Of course he wouldn’t want them suspecting he was excited to be alone with me or anything.
When the front door closed, the key from the outside engaging the lock with a click, we both stared at each other as the silence settled around us. When I stood up and walked by him to gather up the stuff I needed to change out my sensor, he reached up and grasped me around the hips, pulling me to him briefly.
“Why do you have to be such a little weirdo?” He complained lightly, pressing his face to my waist and giving me a little kiss before releasing me and letting me make my way to the cabinets.
I snorted, shrugging. “I don’t know. You’re just so cute and funny when you get all riled up.”
He didn’t answer, but sat back in his chair, watching as I peeled the old sensor off my left arm, tossing it in the trash and quickly wiping a spot on the back of my right arm with an alcohol wipe. I unscrewed the cap off the applicator, waiting a fewseconds for the alcohol to completely evaporate before I popped it onto the back of my upper right arm, pushing down hard so it stuck to my skin. His eyes suddenly went dark and intense, and I felt a pleasant chill wash over me as I pressed down on the edges of the little circle to make sure it was secure.
“What?” I asked, picking up my phone so I could start the scanning process from the app.
