You and Everything After (Falling #2)(23)
“Dry already?” I ask, doing my best to pretend none of that happened. I pick the pillow up from my lap, laying it over the embarrassing evidence.
“No,” Ty responds, moving closer until he’s at the foot of my bed. Without pause, he slides from his chair to the bed until he’s sitting next to me. He picks up the pillow, and my stomach sinks. His smile is soft as he scoops everything into my bag, and slides it all to the floor, closing the distance between us even more until his hand is suddenly cradling my cheek.
“Just so we’re clear here, I mean this,” he says, pressing his lips softly against mine as his other hand moves to my chin, tilting my mouth toward him. I’ve been kissed by some pretty convincing boys in my life, each one wanting to make me believe something by the way their mouth worked against mine, the way their tongues coaxed their way inside. This one kiss from Ty was like removing a blindfold.
No kiss has ever felt like this. His thumbs are soft against my cheek, and his fingertips are gentle in my hair. His lips pause over mine, stroking softly before crashing into me with more force. I’m used to guys using this move to disarm me, to get me on my back so they can see how far I’ll let them go. But Ty is only pulling me closer to him, his hands sliding from my face to my shoulders and arms until I feel his strength lift me completely so I’m on his lap.
When his hands find my face again, he stops long enough to breathe, our foreheads pressed together and the tips of our noses touching. Even this simple touch is perfection. My heart is beating wildly, and I can feel my body trembling as Ty slides his hands deeper into my hair, bringing my lips to his again, this time sucking on my top lip until I give in and open up for him completely as he tastes me with his tongue.
The longer the kiss lasts, the stronger his grip on my body is, and when he finally pulls away from my mouth, he continues to hold me close, cradling my entire body to his. I feel every heavy breath escape his chest, and I start to wonder who is feeling this more—me or him? My knuckles are white from the tense grip I have on the back of his shirt, and when I finally let go, I notice how sweaty my palms feel. I don’t know what Ty has done to me, but I know I will never be the same.
Not after that kiss.
Chapter 7
Ty
The first time I kissed Cass was just my damn impulse. But this last one, yesterday…that was…
The moment she looked up at me from the floor, I was done weighing my options. Watching her hands quickly trying to cover up the brochures and pamphlets with promises to make you feel happy, pretty, popular and whole—whatever bullshit promises brochures like that make—that was enough.
I have a box full of those brochures and books, buried under an equally old tub of trophies and CDs tucked somewhere in the depths of my closet at my parents’ house. I’d get a new brochure with every new group I went to—or with every therapist I spoke to. I got them from the school, and from my mom’s whacko circle of friends who believe in holistic powers and positive thinking. And every time I got one, I’d thank the person, bring it home, and throw it in the collection.
When her backpack opened, I saw all of her insecurities spill right onto the floor, and I just knew. This one. This girl—she’s that other half my mom always talks about. I didn’t kiss her because I felt bad for her. I kissed her because I felt her. Cass is me—in every possible way. We’re both broken and pissed, fragile yet strong, careful with our hearts, but free with our words. And seeing the look on her face when I caught her in a moment of feeling less, in a moment that she felt unworthy…
“You are so much more than your sister,” I whisper to myself, amused that somehow she thinks she has something to prove. Fuck that. I have something to earn.
“Mail call!” Nate yells, tossing a hefty envelope at me as he busts through our door. It lands on my chest, so I sit up in my bed and look it over. It’s from Baker, Louisiana. Kelly lives in Baker. I toss it to the side and give Nate my full attention.
“Not gonna open it?” he asks, one eyebrow raised, tempting me.
“Nope,” I say, moving to my chair and pushing to the desk. I flip open my laptop to check my training schedule for the rest of the week.
“Wow,” Nate says. I can feel him staring at me, and I know there’s a grin on his face. “You’re smitten.”
“Shut up,” I say, following it up by tossing a pen at him from my desk. I’m more than smitten, but I’m also the one that does the dishing of crap around here. The crap doesn’t flow both ways. “You ask Rowe about the game and dinner with the parents yet?” I know he hasn’t, but this should get the focus off me and…feelings.
“Yeah…no…” he says, falling flat on his back and pulling his pillow over his eyes. “I don’t know what it is, dude, but this girl—she intimidates me.”
“Are you still tiptoeing around the boyfriend thing?” My brother saw Rowe hanging up a picture of her with another guy, and he’s too * to come right out and ask her about it—so instead, he’s taken to permanently moping. It’s annoying.
“I brought it up. She doesn’t want to talk about it. That’s about as far as it goes.” He blows out a heavy sigh.
“Well, if you don’t ask her, Cass won’t go. And if Cass doesn’t go, I’m going to kick your ass. So quit being a douchebag,” I say, grabbing his shoe and throwing it out in the hall like I always do when he irritates me. I’ve been doing this to him since he was a kid and used to want to hang out in my bedroom while I was talking on the phone to a girl.