AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I nod. “Yep. I already tried to go to sleep, but that didn’t work—my mind’s too wired. So, I’m busying it with unpacking.”
He stuffs his hands into his pockets. “All right, yeah, I’ll help you unpack.”
I step back and motion for him to come in. He steps by me with uncertainty flowing from his every move. It’s crazy to think that, only an hour ago, he was fingering me and I was giving him a hand job. Now the tension is heavy between us, weighing down the air.
I want it gone.
I want back the comfort he’s been giving me since the day in the dressing room.
I shut the door and face him. “Blaise?”
His back is to me, but he instantly turns. “Yeah?”
I latch on to what I felt every time he kissed me as I push away from the door and walk up to him.
“It’ll take me a while to process this”—I stand up on my tiptoes and kiss him before stepping back—“but I won’t be upset with you guys forever.”
He melts at my touch, and that’s why I’m so grateful he’s the one here.
“Take all the time you need. I’ll be waiting here for you.”
“In this very spot?” I attempt to joke.
He cracks a smile.
Before the moment can be ruined, I swing past him and go over to the box that’s on my bed. “I didn’t pack up any of my stuff, and my mother didn’t have the movers label any of them, so it’s like a guessing game, opening each one up.”
Blaise follows me over to the bed. “Like those gift bags we used to get at those Christmas parties your mom threw?”
I nod. “Sort of. Only there’s no chocolate in these. Actually, you know what? There might be some old Halloween candy in one of these.”
He snorts a laugh while brushing strands of my hair off my shoulder. “I’m not surprised. You never would throw any of that away.”
“That’s because you guys usually finished it off, like dogs licking their bowls clean.”
“Did you just compare me to a dog?”
“Yep.” I flash him a smile, trying to ignore the throbbing in my chest.
He plays along, but the smile he offers me doesn’t quite reach his eyes. Before the moment can be ruined, I begin rummaging around in the box.
“This stuff is so disorganized. There are pens in here, stuffed animals … and—hey, my snow globe.” It’s one of the few presents my mother gave me that actually means anything. She bought it for me when she and I went to Paris, sans my father. I saw another side of her that week, where she laughed, smiled, and even hugged me once. She bought a snow globe for me at the end of the trip while we were at the airport.
We were in a gift shop, and she was on the phone while I was browsing through the souvenirs. I was ten then and wanted to get myself and the guys something cool. I got a snow globe for myself and leather bracelets for the guys, which Blaise is wearing right now.
Come to think of it, Reece and Ryder still wear theirs, too.
Why did I see it? That there was more to the breaking of our friendship than meets the eye?
“What are you thinking about?” Blaise watches me closely.
I shake the snow globe, watching the fake snow inside flutter around. “About when my mom bought me this. It was during our trip to Paris. The same trip when I bought each of you guys one of those.” I lightly brush my fingers across the leather band that he’s wearing. “I was thinking about how maybe I should’ve known that you guys didn’t end our friendship because you hated me.”
He swallows audibly. “I’m so sorry. I know that can’t erase what we did—and part of me wishes I could—but the alternative …” He swallows again.
I place my hand against his scruffy cheek. “I know.” I skim my finger along his cheekbone before lowering my hand. I look back at the snow globe as I shake it again. “I always knew my parents were monsters, even from a young age. I think we all knew that about our parents. But when my mother and I went on this trip”—I tap the glass of the globe with my finger—“she was actually kind of nice, for like a week.”
“Really?” he asks, unable to hide his surprise.
