Effortless (Thoughtless, #2)(63)

I smiled, my head still resting against his chest, almost above the tattoo of my name. His arms holding me close to his body, he sat up. I could feel his muscles flexing under his clothes and I couldn’t stop myself from picturing that hard body in its natural state—completely bare.

I giggled at first as he adjusted us both to standing, then groaned as my head loudly complained about the new angle; it had preferred lying down. Biting my lip, I swayed a little on my feet. Kellan’s hands came up to massage my temples and I smiled at him gratefully; it felt wonderful against my throbbing skull. His face was weary, but still perfect. He did not look like a man who’d been slinging back alcohol all night. With his hair all crazy from sleeping on the couch, and slight stubble along his jaw, he looked…yummy.

I looked away from his perfection, positive that I did not look quite so…yummy. His warm lips rested on my forehead for a second, then he pulled me into the kitchen. We had to step around people lying on the floor. Apparently we were not the only ones that had slept over. Even in the kitchen, there were still partygoers. A pair of them was playing cards at the table, poker, from what I could make out. Thankfully, not strip poker, since the guy and girl were still dressed.

Kellan nodded at them as they blinked and looked around, like they’d just now noticed it was light outside and the party was over. You’d really think that the person snoring at the end of the table would have clued them in to that fact.

While I rested my tired head on his back, Kellan went about making a pot of coffee. Since he’d probably woken up here on several occasions, he knew exactly where everything was in Matt’s house. When the pot was finally percolating, Kellan got me a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water. I inhaled it I was so thirsty.





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Kellan smiled at me, kissing my head as I sputtered on some of the liquid going down the wrong pipe. As I was trying to cough soundlessly, which just isn’t possible, Matt shuffled into the room. Yawning as he scratched his chest, he nodded at the pair of us. Remembering that he’d seen me half naked last night, I looked away from him, my face flaming as it probably went beet red.

“Hey, guys…good morning,” he mumbled. Cautiously, I peeked back at him. Matt had been pretty far gone last night, maybe he didn’t remember?

Leaning against the counter with me in his arms in front of him, Kellan nodded his head up. “Mornin’, how do you feel?” Matt ran a hand back through his wildly disorganized hair, then massaged his own temples; I figured his head was throbbing too. “Peachy,” he muttered sullenly, opening a cupboard to get a glass.

Kellan chuckled as he held me tight, looping his thumbs through my belt buckle straps. Matt looked over at his friend as he ran some cold water into his glass; the running faucet made my head scream and I laid it back against Kellan’s shoulder, wishing I could fast-forward through the painful part of recovery.

“God, it’s annoying how chipper you are in the morning,” Matt muttered, taking a long gulp of his H2O. Kellan only smiled wider, rocking me a bit in his arms. When Matt paused, he added, “I hope you’re not like that on the road…it would really get on my nerves.” Kellan laughed and I frowned. I didn’t want to think about that part yet. Matt made the moment worse by adding, “Bus leaves in a few hours, so we should start getting people up…especially Griffin.” Kellan sighed and nodded. I bit my lip; I really didn’t want to think about this yet. Finishing his glass, Matt frowned at me. “You okay, Kiera?” Adjusting my face, I gave him a small nod. He smiled back warmly, then his lips twisted. “You, uh…have fun last night?” 177



He asked it innocently, but his face flushed a little when he said it, and I knew that he did indeed remember. Wanting to bury my head in the sand and never come out again, I only gave him a small smile and squeaked out, “Yeah…thanks for…letting us come…” My voice trailed off as I realized what I’d just said. Matt’s light flush turned as red as mine probably was. I quickly added, “Over, thanks for letting us come over,” but it was too late…I’d already said it in a horribly embarrassing way. Matt mumbled something about needing to get ready and quickly fled the room.

Kellan behind me struggled to not laugh, but as soon as the poker players started busting up, he gave up trying to hold back. Twisting around, I smacked him repeatedly in the chest. It only made him laugh harder. Wiping his eyes, he shook his head at me. “Oh God, Kiera, you’re so damn cute.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and tried to walk away from him, but he held onto me tight, pulling my body back into his. Turning me around, he wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me in place.

Sighing at the look of total embarrassment on my face, he shook his head. “I’m gonna miss your adorable awkwardness.” He sighed again, sadder this time. “So much,” he whispered.

I bit my lip as I searched his face, feeling the impending goodbye in the air. I wasn’t ready for it. I didn’t want to say goodbye to him. Slinging my arms around his neck, I held him as tight to me as I could. I’d hold him near me forever if there was a way to, but I knew there wasn’t.

I had to let him go. I had to give him his dream, no matter how much it hurt.

Eventually the rest of the partiers woke up and shuffled off, all of them wishing Kellan and Matt a great time on their adventure. As the poker players were blinking at the sun in the doorway, Evan and Jenny stepped through it. Feeling grimy and tired, I waved at a fresh-faced Jenny. She and Evan clearly hadn’t celebrated as hard as I had.