Chapter Twenty-Seven Claire

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Claire

Lacey and I are sitting on my bed, facing each other, laptops and notebooks spread out around us.

I hum along with the music playing on Lacey’s phone as I pull out my notes for chemistry. We’ve reached the point in the semester where the teachers are piling on homework and all the tests seem to fall on the same week. I have no idea how Lacey is managing. My regular classes are kicking my butt, and she’s in all AP.

When I glance up to check on her, Lacey is grinning at me. I stop singing and hesitantly smile back. “What?”

“You’re smiling…like kind of a lot.”

“I’m smiling back at you.”

“You are smiling as you do homework.”

“So are you,” I insist, laughing a little. I so do not get her point.

“Yeah, but that’s normal for me. You usually scowl more and insist we take snack breaks.”

“Ooh, good idea.” I get up and walk over to my desk. Opening the first drawer, I grab a small bag of chocolate chip cookies and hold it up. “Want one?”

“Do you have any Oreos left?” She unfolds her legs and walks over to me. “And would all this smiling have anything to do with Austin?”

“Maybe,” I admit. I rifle through the drawer, then say, “No Oreos. My studying junk food drawer is nearly empty.”

She peers in and frowns, then takes a bag of the chocolate chip cookies. I turn to lean against the desk as I pop one in my mouth.

“Umm, excuse me,” Lacey says, giggling and digging into the drawer again. “What is this?” She holds up a condom between her thumb and pointer finger.

My face heats, and I rip it out of her hands, toss it back in the drawer, and slam it shut. “It’s a condom. Duh. Did your dad not have the safe sex talk with you?”

With a snort, she shakes her head. “He handed me a book about the female body and told me I could always ask him anything.”

“It’s better than the ‘Boyfriends are a distraction to achieving your goals. They’re selfish and they only want one thing,’ talk I got from my mom when I started dating Vaughn.” To be fair, she had been right about the selfish part.

“Back up. Are you and Austin sleeping together?”

“No.” I quickly shake my head. “Andie gave it to me as sort of a joke.”

“But you want to sleep with him?” She studies me closely, and my blush increases.

“Yeah. Maybe. I’m not sure.”

“That does not sound convincing enough to be hoarding condoms.”

“Condom. One singular. And I don’t even know that I’ll use it.”

She takes her cookies back to the bed and sits quietly. Silence hangs between us.

“Wow,” she says finally. “I knew you really liked him, but this is big.”

“I do. I really, really like him,” I say, taking a seat back in front of her. “I know it’s cliché, but everything feels so perfect.” Emotion makes my chest feel tight.

“Babe, nothing is perfect.”

“I know that, but it feels perfect. All I want to do is talk to and kiss him for hours.” It’s only been a few weeks, but I’ve been falling for him for so much longer.

“And let him put his dick inside you.” One of her dark brows rises, and she aims a smirk right at me.

“Oh my god!” I toss a cookie at her.

She finally laughs, and the tight feeling in my chest loosens.

“I don’t want to see you get hurt again. I like Austin, but all the sneaking around…”

“It’s just for now.”

She doesn’t look convinced. “In a way, it feels like he’s pulling a Vaughn.”

My lips part, and I have a sudden rush of defensiveness.

She continues, “You’re not telling people because it’s what is good for him. What about what’s good for you?”

“Do I want to hold his hand walking down the hall? Yes, of course. But it’s not forever. He’s going to tell Vaughn when the time is right. Besides, it’s kind of fun keeping it hidden from everyone. Secret looks, brushes of hands, kisses in dark corners.” Heat pools low in my stomach.

“Forbidden love.” She sighs dramatically. “Promise me that you’ll really think about it before sleeping with him? It should be what you want.”

“I promise.”

“And one other thing.” A hint of insecurity flashes in her eyes, and her voice loses the usual spark as she says, “Promise me we’ll still hang out even if you and Austin start banging and spending all your free time together? I can’t protect you if I don’t know what’s happening.”

“Are you kidding me? You’re never getting rid of me. I will always make time for you. Always,” I vow. “But I’m okay. Better than I’ve been in months.”

“Claire!” my mom yells from downstairs. “That boy is here.”

“She means Austin,” I say, getting to my feet. A smile stretches wide across my face. “He’s dropping by to get his sketchbook.”

Lacey snorts a laugh. “I see your mom is really starting to warm up to him.”

I hear Austin’s low voice greeting my mom and then his footsteps as he comes up the stairs.

My door is cracked open, but I fling it wider as he comes into sight. My stomach flips, and my pulse races. His dark hair is still wet from a shower after practice, and I can smell his familiar body wash.

“Hi,” I say, voice breathy with excitement.

“Hey.” He leans in to kiss me. After his lips swipe over mine, he looks to Lacey. “Hey, Lacey.”

“New Guy.” She stands and gathers her stuff into her backpack.

“You don’t have to go,” I tell her.

“I should check on my dad anyway. Make sure he eats dinner.” Glancing at Austin, she explains, “He has a tendency to get so wrapped up in his work he loses track of everything else.”

If I didn’t know it was true, I’d think she was exaggerating.

Austin links our pinkie fingers, and once Lacey has all her stuff, she walks over, stepping into his space. Both of his brows lift, but he doesn’t move back or say anything.

“If you hurt her, I will glitter bomb you every day until graduation.”

“Always with the glitter,” he mutters, then nods. “I won’t hurt her.”

“Good.” Lacey smiles brightly, like she didn’t just threaten my boyfriend. “See you guys tomorrow!”

As soon as she’s gone, Austin turns to me with an amused grin that looks maybe a hint nervous.

“I’m a little afraid of her.”

“I think that’s her plan.”

He circles an arm around my waist and pulls me to him. His head drops so he can press his mouth to mine. I melt into him, kissing him back and losing myself to his touch and the warmth spreading through me.

When he pulls back, my head is light and fuzzy. He takes my hand and pulls me to the bed.

He leans back, resting on his elbow and foot hanging off the bed. “How was the rest of your day?”

“Good.” I get his sketchbook from my desk. His face lights up as I walk toward him with it in hand. As soon as I give it to him, he flips to the last used page.

His head falls back, and he laughs. I glance at the rough drawing. I’m not nearly as talented as him when it comes to sketching, but I managed to draw a decent-looking scene with a boy (him) and girl (me) playing chess, in which I’m winning. I even drew a bubble over my head that says “Checkmate!”

“This is great,” he says. “I love it.”

I climb onto the bed next to him. He sets the sketchbook aside and lies back, looking over at me.

“How was practice?” I ask.

“Tiring but good.” He gets a goofy grin on his face any time he talks about soccer, and he’s doing it now. “I am meeting up with Vaughn and Rowan in twenty minutes to watch some game video of the team we play next week.”

The mention of Vaughn makes me wonder if Austin has thought any more about telling him. “Should we make a plan on when to tell Vaughn and everyone else about us?”

“If it means I can start kissing you any time I want, then yes.” He leans in and brushes his lips over mine.

“This weekend is out,” I say. A bunch of us are going to Whittie Lake and if Vaughn did take it badly, it’d put a damper on the whole trip.

He nods, looking deep in thought. “We have games pretty much nonstop until the end of the season.”

It turns out there is no good time.

“How about after the season?” I suggest.

“You want to wait that long?” He seems surprised by that.

“I don’t want to risk Vaughn trying to make things difficult for you. Plus, it’s not that long. Conference championships are in a few weeks.”

“Yeah, but then there’s still another month after that until state. I really want to still be playing in November.” One corner of his mouth lifts.

“You will,” I say. “And after you win state, we’ll celebrate. Together.”