Underneath the Sycamore Tree(43)

Oh my God.

Is this spooning?

My heart is going haywire in my chest. I’ve never cuddled with a boy before, much less slept next to one. The fact he’s so content only makes my anxiety worse.

“Kaiden?”

“Go to sleep.”

“What are you doing here?”

I jerk when I feel his teeth nip the top of my shoulder. “I thought we established that. I’m—”

I wiggle away from him only to press my butt against something hard. “In my hometown, Kaiden.”

He groans and holds my hips still. “I need you to stop moving around unless you’re willing to help me out.”

Brows pinched, I consider his words in silence while his breathing evens out. When I put two and two together, my throat thickens and I carefully scoot away until I’m on the edge of the already tiny bed. Gripping the mattress, I stare at the carpet and wait for him to answer.

“I was bored.”

“Most people watch television or, I don’t know, hang out with friends.” Trying to get comfortable leaves me struggling for balance, and I almost fall on the floor until Kaiden hooks his arm around me and yanks me over to him.

Body heating when he moves to hover over me, I try looking at anything but him. His large frame takes over my senses though as he cages me in. All I see is how his red cotton shirt drapes from the collar just enough to see the sculpted body underneath. His natural woodsy scent reminds me of the trees I climbed once upon a time. But it’s his eyes, dark and penetrating, that get me the most. Once I lock my gaze on them I’m stuck there.

Licking my dry lips, I murmur, “It isn’t like you don’t have a following of minions you could force to hang out with you. If you were that bored, you could have asked Rachel. I doubt it would take much.”

His lips curve. “That sounds oddly like jealousy, Mouse. For the record, I’m still pissed at Rachel for pulling what she did. I didn’t know she took your key at school or grabbed the one outside.”

We stare for a moment.

Then I shrug.

I vaguely remember Rachel bumping into me at school. I dropped my things and watched as she picked a few of them up. Silly me for thinking she was being nice.

He flicks my chin. “Rach and I used to be close when we were younger. Honestly, she annoys the shit out of me now.”

I hesitate to reply. “So why do you hang out with her?”

He doesn’t answer.

“Kaiden.”

His smirk is wide. “Have to say, Em, I like my name on that mouth of yours.”

I suck in a breath when he dips down, thinking he’s about to kiss me. I don’t want my first kiss to be on my old bed in the room my sister died in. And I shouldn’t want it to be with Kaiden.

Instead, his lips brush the right side of my mouth, then trail to my ear. “Nostalgia.”

I blink.

He pushes himself back up. “Rachel reminds me of what it was like before I let everything get to me. Before your dad came into the picture, Mom was always on my ass about my feelings and shit. It was…” He paused. “Rachel helped me forget about it all.”

Frowning over his response, I soak in the way his features softened. He likes Rachel, respects her maybe. Yet, it seems like whatever they have going on is on two different levels of understanding.

“I don’t like your father,” he continues, brushing his knuckles across my jaw. “But I don’t hate him either. He distracts my mom.”

Swallowing is hard with my heart lodged in my throat. “You talk to her more. That must mean you want something from her. She loves you so much.”

His touches stop, his knuckles lingering against the edge of my chin. He doesn’t make eye contact with me, but his gaze drifts across every piece of my face like he’s looking for something, searching.

“I do it for you,” he hums under his breath.

Without another word, he settles on his side and draws me into him. My shoulder presses against his chest, and I don’t bother fighting him when he repositions us so we’re both laying on our sides. This time we’re facing each other, but I can’t look at his expression.

I focus on his shirt, the way his chests rises and falls, and I exhale slowly. “Why did you bother coming here? Be honest.”

His hand finds mine between us. He guides my palms to his chest and leaves them there, curling one of his arms around me until our bodies have no room left between us. Without mobility of my hands, I can’t push him away.

Do I want to?

We spend a while listening to each other’s breathing. After enough time passes, I settle into the bed, letting one hand drape around his side and the other fall onto the mattress.

“You didn’t say goodbye,” he whispers.

I close my eyes and breathe in his scent.

“I was coming back.”

His silence tells me what I already know.

He doesn’t do well with goodbyes either.

The longer we lay in silence, the more my body settles back into comfort until my lids get heavy. I’m half asleep when I feel his hand go to my hair and brush some behind my ear. I’m too tired to worry about what his touch will do to the fragile strands.

He leans toward me. “I was worried about you, Em. That’s why.”

His voice fades.

The room fades.