Fighting Silence (On the Ropes #1)(7)

Eliza had been jabbering about these special paintbrushes she wanted for months. At fifty bucks, they cost a freaking mint for kids like us. But when I realized that her birthday was coming, I knew exactly what I was getting her. I folded a million pieces of notebook paper into these little flower things and taped a few onto the ends of each brush. Then I shoved them into a vase and bam! I had flowers that wouldn’t die. I’d thought it was a good idea, but it had actually turned out far better than I’d expected.

“Did you make those?” she asked from behind her hands.

“Yep,” I said proudly.

“Are those . . .”

“Yep,” I confirmed, and her eyes grew wide. “I bought them,” I quickly added when I remembered the first time I’d given her art supplies.

She burst out laughing. God, I loved that sound so much. I knew I’d never be the same when I lost it to the silence. I’d happily give up every noise in the world if I could just keep her laugh. But my life didn’t work that way.

“Till!” She scrambled out the window and threw her arms around my neck. “Thank you!”

“You’re welcome, Doodle,” I whispered into the hair at the top of her head. Holding her impossibly tight, I siphoned the warmth only she could give me.

She leaned away, and her eyes heated as they immediately flashed to my mouth. Eliza always looked at me like that, and as the years had passed, it’d become more and more difficult to stop myself from kissing her, touching her, claiming her. But I knew that, if I did, I would eventually lose her. Relationships didn’t work in high school. Something would have happened, we would have broken up, and then I would have lost her completely. I needed Eliza too damn bad to ever chance that.

I’d spent years loving her from afar—well, actually only from afar when we were outside of our private little haven. It wasn’t safe to notice her outside those walls.

She had always been beautiful. Even at thirteen, her deep, ink-blue eyes had captivated me. Her shoulder-length, brown hair was perfectly straight, but she nervously played with the ends so often that it had formed a permanent curl in the front. Her fair skin had a sprinkle of freckles I could map out from memory alone. And her body . . . Jesus, her body had been made for me. She was naturally thin, but a small curve rounded her hips. Those same curves taunted my hands on a daily basis. I was at least a foot taller than she was and probably had her by almost a hundred pounds, but on the inside, she was the strong one.

See, Eliza Reynolds flew under the radar. Very few people at school knew who she was, and I intended to keep it that way. If she caught the attention of the football team, she’d be flooded with dates. So I ignored her at all costs so as to not draw any attention her way. I couldn’t risk that someone would take her away from me.

Sure, she was dating Daniel Bennett, but he was a tool. I wanted to kill him on a daily basis when I saw them together at school. But what was I supposed to do? She wasn’t mine—at least, not that anyone knew.

“What did Bennett give you?” I asked just to size up the competition. He wasn’t loaded, but he had a car and took her out on dates every weekend. I was curious, but it made her smile fall.

She mumbled something, but I couldn’t quite hear her.

“Huh?”

She looked up and repeated, “Ladybug earrings.”

I blinked at her for a minute before doubling over in laughter.

“Shut up!” she said sternly. Then she laughed right along with me.

“Doodle, just let me make sure I have this straight. He bought a girl who has never had her ears pierced and is terrified of insects, ladybug earrings?” I went back to laughing.

“Oh, it gets worse. I wasn’t sure what to say when I opened them, so I told him I loved them. Now I’m gonna have to get my ears pierced so he doesn’t feel bad.”

“What? That’s ridiculous.” I stopped laughing. “You’re scared of needles. You know that’s how they do that, right?”

“Well, holy crap. Till Page. You actually listen to me when I talk!” She smiled and wrapped her arms around my waist, hugging me again. “Thank you.”

“I hear everything you say. Even the boring stuff.”

She giggled, and I kissed the top of her head.

“The light turned off,” Quarry said, suddenly appearing, scaring us both.

Eliza must have jumped ten feet in the air.

“Jesus, Q! Don’t sneak up on people like that!” I barked as I tried to slow my own racing heart.

“Sorry,” he said, embarrassed, and I immediately felt guilty for yelling at him.

“Hey, it’s all right, buddy.”

“Is this Quarry?” Eliza all but squealed.

“We should get going,” I grumbled, not wanting her to cross over into the real world.

“Yep. I’m Quarry.” He bounced on his toes.

“Wow. You’re a cutie.” Eliza squatted down in front of him, and all I could think about was that she would notice his dirty shirt.

“Come on, Q.” I started to walk away, but they both ignored me.

“Thanks!” Quarry grinned. “Hey, when I’m older, maybe we can go on a date or something?” My head snapped to his as I popped a questioning eyebrow.

“I’d really like that,” Eliza managed to say through a muffled laugh. “I should probably tell you my name first though. You know, so you can find me in a few years.”