Effortless (Thoughtless, #2)(108)

Looking down I shook my head and remembered Denny’s words. “I have

no

proof

that

he’s

cheating,

just

a

short

glimpse

of…familiarity…with a girl that I don’t know. That‘s not enough to start cornering him with questions.” I peeked back up at her and smiled sadly. “I don’t want to be the jealous girl back home who can’t handle the fame of her guy. That’s how couple’s like us break apart.” Sighing herself, she reached up to tuck some hair behind my ear.

“Yeah, I suppose.” Brightening, her face way too attractive for the insane 301



hour, she exclaimed, “I could ask Griffin? I’m sure he knows who that girl is.” She frowned right after she said it, like if Griffin knew her, then he knew her intimately.

Biting my lip, I shook my head. “No, any answers need to come from him. I can’t be the girl who uses his friends to spy on him, either.” Closing my eyes, I pushed the computer away from the both of us. “No…I need to let this go. I need to trust him.” I opened my eyes and shrugged.

“That’s the only way we’re going to work, if we start trusting each other…and it’s probably nothing anyway.”

She nodded, agreeing with me. “Yeah, I’m sure. He’s way too crazy in love to do anything as stupid as cheat on you.” I nodded, smiling softly. As Anna gave me a hug, a stray thought entered my brain and I asked Anna about it on a whim. “Hey, what’s Griffin’s cell number?”

Her eyes got wider as she stared at me, the perfectly emerald shade more than a little surprised that I’d want to know that; Griffin and I didn’t exactly talk. I generally avoided any conversation with him. I just couldn’t get that weird text out of my head, not with this new information exposed to me.

“I just…I need…Kellan got this…” I sighed. “What’s his number?” She rattled it off instantly and I sighed and closed my eyes. The number that had been on Kellan’s phone was burned into my brain…and the number Anna had just given me wasn’t it. The text hadn’t been from Griffin. Kellan had lied.

When I finally passed out from exhaustion, I had a dream. Well, nightmare really. In it, I kept running into women wearing matching promise rings. Then I kept finding notes tucked all over his house that were addressed to other girls. I think I even dreamt that he proposed to the Halle Berry lookalike on National TV. My dream version of Denny was there, giving me sympathetic, supportive glances, like he knew my pain. It only made me feel worse. When I startled awake, I felt like I hadn’t slept at all.





302


Irritated at myself, I knew I was overacting. One plus one didn’t always equal two.

Forcing myself to shower and get ready for the day, I was instantly grateful that my class was this afternoon; I’d have slept right through it if I’d had a morning one. Leaving my hair damp and dripping, I shuffled out to the living room, where I could hear Anna watching cartoons while she slurped down a bowl of cereal.

Pushing all doubt out of my brain, I sat beside her, laying my wet head on her shoulder. She glanced over at me in-between spoonfuls, then nonchalantly said, “Do you remember when I came home and you and Kellan were seriously making out on the couch?” I straightened, staring at her with wide eyes. “Yeah…” How could I forget, I’d been mortified.

It had been back when we weren’t having sex yet, but we were definitely pushing the envelope. He’d been shirtless, jeans unbuttoned. I’d had a light tank top on but he’d scrunched it all the way up my stomach.

The memory of his lips on my belly assaulted me as I rewound back to that night.

His hands on my hips, pulling at the fabric of my light shorts, like he’d wanted to tear them off. My fingers tangling in his hair, as I yanked his mouth back to mine. The moans I made as his lean body pressed against every square inch of me. Our breaths fast as we both considered how far to take the moment. We’d been going slow, together for more than two months, but we’d still held back, wanting it to be perfect. And holding back with Kellan was hard.

As was his body, as he rhythmically pressed his hips into mine. I remembered momentarily losing control, and grabbing his hand. I’d just needed him to touch me again. I’d led his fingers up my thigh, wanting him to feel the swollen ache that I had for him, wanting him to know that I needed him. It was the first time he’d touched me down there since the affair.

Understanding my directive, his hand had quickly darted under my clothing. When his thumb circled over my wet flesh, we’d both sucked in 303



quick breaths, groaning. I can still clearly remember him dropping his head to my shoulder and huskily telling me that he’d missed feeling this…that he’d missed me.

Knowing just the right amount of pressure to use, knowing just the perfect pattern to follow, he’d had me on the brink of releasing in just a few seconds. Wanting to please him, too, I’d ducked my hand into his open jeans.

And, of course, that had been when my sister had unexpectedly come home. It had been as close to being caught in the act that I’d ever been. It was also the last time Kellan and I ever took things that far in a public room.

Blushing horribly, I averted my eyes to the TV. Anna laughed huskily, slurping another bite of sugary green circles. “God, that was pretty hot. I did feel really bad for ruining your climax though.” I glared at her and she laughed again. “Remember? I told you I’d duck into my room for a few minutes if you wanted to finish.”