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“Oh, the life of a rock star.” Grinning, I shake my head. “He’s going to be a handful. Isn’t he?”
“Probably,” Ayden agrees with amusement. “Every band has one, though.”
“So what do we do now?” My mind promptly conjures up very creative and vivid images.
“We could exchange our belated Christmas presents,” he suggests. “It might be fun.”
“I thought we were going to do that later? When we were happy.”
“You look pretty happy right now.”
“But what about you?”
“I’m happy just seeing you happy.” When I hesitate, his brow cocks. “Do you really want to wait even longer? Or are you just procrastinating because you don’t have mine?”
“I actually do.” Which is the truth. But the present isn’t bought so I’m uncertain how much Ayden will like it. Still, it did come from the heart. “Alright, let’s do this. Hand it over.”
“I don’t have it with me.” He nods his head at the bar. “But we can go get our moms and head home and I’ll give it to you. Lila’s looking pretty tipsy anyway.”
I stick out my elbow and he links arms with me. “Sounds like a deal.”
An hour later, Ayden and I are in my bedroom on my bed with the door open. Music is floating from my stereo and a soft trail of light flows from my lamp. My mom and Aunt Lila are downstairs with Kale, Everson, and Fiona, drunkenly chatting, so loud we can hear them all the way upstairs.
“They’re trashed,” Ayden remarks as he tosses my present in the air like a baseball. It’s small, about the size of mine, with shiny silver and purple wrapping paper.
“Not as bad as last New Year’s.” My present for Ayden is secured in the palm of my hand. I’m nervous to give it to him. I don’t know why. Maybe because the gift kind of means something? “Remember how giggly they were. Like two silly teenage girls.”
“You’re a teenage girl,” Ayden reminds me with a clever grin.
I smack my forehead with the heel of my hand. “Duh. Thanks for reminding me. I almost forgot.”
He shakes his head, half grinning. Then he shoves his hand in my direction, presenting his gift. “You open yours first.”
I snatch the present from him, tear open the paper, and lift the lid from the box. Inside are two leather bands with the words Endlessly Yours engraved on them.
“You mentioned once that your parents used to have leather bands that said forever on them and how they used to be best friends like us,” he explains as I stare inside the box. “I remember how happy you looked when you told me about it and how you said that one day you were going to be with a guy that would get you something like that. I didn’t want to make them exactly the same, though, so I went with endlessly yours.”
I’m quiet for a lengthy amount of time, mainly because I’m way too emotionally overwhelmed to speak.
“You don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to,” he says self-consciously. “Or you can keep them both and give the other to someone else one day.”
I finally find my voice. “You said ‘how they used to be best friends like us’.”
“Huh?”
“Just barely. You said that we used to be friends like how my parents used to be friends.”
Pink hues his cheeks. “Well, I didn’t really mean it like that. We’re still best friends now, like your parents are, too. I just meant that we were like them in the sense that we used to be friends but now we’re…” He scratches at the back of his neck, glancing at the door like he wants to bolt.
I place my hand on his arm. “We’re more than friends, Ayden.” When I withdraw my hand, he turns his head and looks at me. I take the bracelets out of the box, slide one on my wrist, then slip the other on his. “And I think this is going to prove it even more.” I hand my present to him.
He gingerly rips off the paper then opens the tiny box. “We think so alike it’s frightening.” He removes the two faded leather bracelets. Each one is engraved with Forever.
“Definitely, but I like that we do.”
He puts the band on his wrist, then his fingers circle my arm and he slips the other bracelet on my wrist. His fingertips are right above my pulse and I wonder if he can feel how rapid my heart is racing. “Endlessly yours forever,” he says, staring at the bracelets together.
“The ones I gave you were actually my parents,” I say when he doesn’t release my wrist. “My mom gave them to me the other day when I asked her for present ideas. It kind of makes me wonder if she knows about us, since the bracelets are so symbolic to her and my dad’s relationship.”
“After tonight, I’m pretty sure Ethan might be wondering if something’s up, too.”
“I hope they don’t know yet.” My gaze flicks to the door then a smile curves at my lips as I lean in. “I like being able to be in my room alone with you still.” I stop when our lips are an inch away. “Thank you for my present.”
“You’re welcome… And thanks—” He eliminates the space between our mouths, cutting himself off.
I grab at his shirt and pull him down as I lie back on my bed. Our tongues entwine as our bodies align. Our chests collide, my heart slamming inside my chest and knocking against his unsteady heartbeat. His hands skate across my body, along my curves, the arch of my breast, and my hips, his fingers tremulously as he rocks against me.
I moan and my fingers form a mind of their own, wandering, wandering, wandering, to the bottom of his shirt. I want to touch him. Savor the feel of his skin, bask in every part of him like he’s doing with me. My fingers delve under the hem, caress his skin, fleetingly relishing his smooth, solid muscles. But then those muscles tauten along with the rest of his body.
I quickly pull my hands out. “Sorry,” I breathe against his lips.
“It’s okay.” His voice is raspy, his chest forcefully rising and falling. “Can you just touch me on the outside of my shirt?”
“Of course.”
“I’m sorry,” he sputters, battling for oxygen.
I cup his face between my hands. “Don’t be sorry… You’re perfect… Everything’s perfect.” And I think I might be in love with you.
The thought strikes me like bolt of lightning. Out of nowhere. So startling that I don’t dare utter it aloud. Too afraid. Of how he’ll react. Of how I’ll react.
Instead, I just keep kissing him and falling.
Deeper, deeper, deeper,
Into another world.
Where I don’t even know who I am anymore.
But it’s not a bad thing.
Just terrifying and confusing.
My head is so foggy yet clear.
My heart so alive, so vibrantly beating.
My body so needy, desperately seeking.
Him.
It’s all about him.
Endlessly his.
Forever.
Chapter 15
Ayden
The next couple of weeks fly by rather fast. Life begins to return to normal as no more incidents happen with the strange man who broke into the house. The police are still looking for him, but the more days that go by, the less likely it seems that they’ll find him.
I hardly spend any time alone anymore. Someone is always with me, except for the rare occasion when I’m driving somewhere by myself, like to therapy. The Gregorys had an alarm installed in their home, which shows how worried they are, not just about the break-in, but because I’ve been sleep walking m
ore frequently. I think they worry I’ll wander off in the middle of the night.
On a positive note, the band is doing pretty fantastic. After our exceptional performance at the opening, Mr. Scott is allowing us to play every other Friday night and wants us to put together some songs to hopefully record in the future months.
