Effortless (Thoughtless, #2)(90)

I sat up straight, clutching the sheet to my chest; it fell off Kellan a little in the process. “Breakfast…is Dad up?” Anna clicked her heels together, smiling devilishly. “Yep.” She pointed at Kellan. “And he better get out of here, before Dad realizes he’s not on the couch.”

I scrambled into action, pushing Kellan out of the blankets. He squirmed and fought me, obviously wanting to stay where he was.

“Kiera, relax.”

Shaking my head, I pushed him harder. “No, Anna’s right, he’s gonna kill you if you’re up here.”

Twisting his lips at me, Kellan raised an eyebrow. “What’s he going to do, really? Ground you?”

251



Shoving his shoulder, I nodded. “Yes, right after he castrates you.” Sighing, Kellan stood up…not bothering to hide himself at all. My sister grinned at his nakedness and I slapped my hand over her eyes. Narrowing mine at Kellan, as I kept Anna from prying away my fingers, I watched him slip his clothes back on. Smirking at me, he muttered,

“Fine, I’ll sneak into the hallway so he’ll think I was in the bathroom.” I shook my head. “No, you should sneak out the window. Make him think you went for a walk or something.”

Zipping up his jeans, Kellan dropped his mouth open. Since he was mostly dressed, I stopped fighting with Anna to keep my hand over her eyes; she scowled when she noticed how covered Kellan was, then smiled at how un covered he still was. Holding his shirt in his hands, he pointed at the window with his thumb. “We’re on the second story, Kiera.”

Wrapping a sheet around me, I shook my head. “Please, he won’t believe that you were just in the bathroom.” I pointed out the window.

“There’s a store about a block from here that should still be open. You could pick up some milk…my mom would love you for that.” He shook his head, his hands on his hips. “My shoes and jacket are downstairs in the living room?”

Anna brightened, popping her head up. “No they aren’t. I put them outside when I woke up.”

I looked over at her, surprised. Anna shrugged as she giggled. “It’s not the first time I’ve had to hide a boy, Kiera.” She winked at me and I shook my head at the adventurous girl.

Kellan groaned, slipping on his shirt. Frowning, he muttered, “Damn it, I haven’t snuck out of a woman’s window since I was fifteen.” I rolled my eyes at him, but Anna giggled. “Kellan, I think you and I seriously need to swap some stories someday.” He looked back at Anna 252



with a crooked grin and she winked at him. I rolled my eyes at the adventurous pair. Standing up, I shoved him towards the window.

He sighed, opening it. Glancing out at the wintery landscape before him, the frozen trellis he’d have to climb down, he looked back at me with a pitiful expression. “You’re an adult, Kiera. He really would probably get over it quicker than you think.”

I bit my lip. I hadn’t told Kellan how hard it had been to get Dad to let him even stay in the same building as me. “He was going to have you sleep in a tent, Kellan…in the backyard.” I raised my eyebrow at him, my expression completely serious.

He started to laugh until he realized that I wasn’t joking. Sighing, he rolled his eyes. “Fine,” he leaned in to kiss my cheek, “but you owe me, big time.”

I giggled as he pinched my butt. Anna giggled too. Saluting us with two fingers above his eyebrow, he ducked out the window. I held my breath as I watched him, hoping he didn’t fall. When he was at the ledge of the roof, I whispered, “Be careful.”

He looked up at me, a puff of air leaving his mouth as he shivered in his long-sleeved t-shirt. Anna came to join me as I stared out the window and Kellan smirked at the two of us. Twisting his lip devilishly, he muttered, “You’re lucky last night was completely worth this…” I flushed and Anna let out a throaty laugh. As Kellan began descend-ing, I quietly said his name. When he looked up at me, light snowflakes falling on his rosy cheeks, I smiled and said, “Pick up some eggnog too.” He closed his eyes and shook his head, continuing his retreat from my bedroom. Laughing at the look on his face, I silently closed the window.

After I quickly shrugged out of my sheet burrito, I threw on some I-just-woke-up pajamas. Anna helped me put all of the covers back onto my bed. We were sitting on the edge of it, laughing over Kellan’s sullen expression, when my door swung open. Smoothing my hair into a pony tail, I smiled as Dad poked his head in.

253



Staring at him warmly, I watched his light brown eyes scour my room for intruders. The thinning hair on his head was streaked with gray, and as I watched him frown at me, at my empty room, and then at my sister, I was pretty sure we were both to blame for the color change.

“Merry Christmas, Dad,” I said brightly, hopping up to give him a hug.

Seeing my room with no trace of a boy in it, he relaxed and hugged me back. “Merry Christmas, sweetheart.” Pulling apart from me, he did his best to contain a smile. “Did that Kellan fellow decide to not stay here then? I see that he’s not downstairs.”

I frowned as best as I could and looked back at Anna sitting on my squeaky mattress. “He’s not? He was there last night when I went to bed?” I looked back at Dad, keeping my voice as even as I could. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the last year had made me a better liar than I’d ever wished to be.