Unexpected Gift(51)
Her cries start to die down, but big tears continue to roll down her face—just not as loud as before. “Any who, I got invited to a party. Me. An actual party. I got home from school and told my parents about it, and they didn’t mind. There were the obvious rules: no drinking and driving, don’t do anything stupid, like drugs, and always wear protection.” I pull her back so I can take a look at her perfect face. “You don’t know what that is, but you don’t need to right now. Again, a conversation for another time.” I lay her on my shoulder again and rub lazy circles on her back. “Anyway, Brandon, your daddy, was so protective of me. I had no idea he had come home for spring break, and he overheard me telling our parents I was going to a party. Oh, he freaked out. He said that he was going to take me and stick to me like glue. That there was no way I was going to a party alone. I argued you know. I felt betrayed by him, like he didn’t trust me or something. It was so embarrassing going to a party with him. I felt like such a little kid. We got there, and the music blared, people were drinking, and dancing.” I shake my head remembering Brandon warning me to always stay close to him.
“Anyway, a few people he knew were there, too, but I met up with some friends, and somehow Brandon always stayed where he could see me. But Thomas Prestrenski was there. My crush. He was a senior, all-star football, and baseball player. He was cute.” I sing the last word, and Posie lifts her head to stare at me with those brown eyes and giggles. “Yeah, he made me giggle too, cause he was soooo cute!” I repeat the noise, and she laughs again, throwing her arms in the air. “Anyway, he offered me a drink, and of course I said yes because this was Thomas Prestrenski. You don’t just say no to him.” I sigh, trying to remember where it all went wrong. “I was about two drinks in when I started to feel funny, like I was floating, my mind got all foggy, and Thomas acted like he cared, asking if I was okay. Then, I found myself in a bedroom.”
Her eyes widen like she can understand me, but I know better. “Yeah, don’t ever get yourself in a room with a boy. They are trouble. Anyway, he starts putting his hands on me, pawing at me and slams me against the wall. I could barely hold myself up and then….boom!” I startle her, which causes her to laugh again, making my heart soar from her small giggles. “Your daddy busts through the door like a superhero and grabs Thomas by the shirt, throwing him against the wall. He throws punch after punch, telling him ‘to stay away from my sister or I swear’ blah, blah, blah.”
Posie tries to mock me, but instead of blah, blah, blah, she says bah, bah, bah. “That’s right. Blah, blah, blah, full-of-testosterone man.”
“Bah, bah, bah.”
“Good, girl. Back to the story, Brandon picks me up and carries me back to the car and drives me back home. The next morning, I thought I’d receive a big lecture, or I thought he would yell at me, but you know what he did?”
“Bah, bah.”
“No, blah, blah. He held me. He said he had been so scared when he couldn’t find me. And from that moment on, I never wanted to do anything that would disappoint him again. He knew I didn’t need a speech. He knew, I knew I messed up. Instead, he held onto me and told me how much he loved me. Do you know I never partied like that again? One, because I was scared, and two, because I knew Brandon couldn’t always be there.” I swallow when my mind goes to the day of his funeral. “I guess he isn’t here anymore. I’ll have to figure out the blah, blah, on my own. You won’t though. You have me, Caden, your grandparents, and Kenna. Kenna is the wild, fun aunt. You won’t be able to hang out with her until you’re eighteen. Okay?”
Posie yawns, rubbing her eyes with her little fists and nestles her head on my shoulder. “Sleep, little one. You haven’t been getting enough of it.” I know because I haven’t either. My eyes start to shut as I rock us both to sleep, wishing I didn’t only see Brandon in my memories now.
A few hours later I wake up with a blanket draped over me. I blink the confusion away, squinting into the dark room. I look down and notice my arms are empty.
Posie.
I get up and nearly fall in the crib to check to see if she is there. Nothing. I run my hands over her blankets and stuffed animals, but still, she isn’t there. My heart races with panic, and I spin around, thinking of all the places she can be. I fall on my hands and knees and check under the crib, but she isn’t there, either. I jump to a stand and race out the door and down the hallway, running into the first room on the left.
“Posie!” I call for her and check underneath the bed and open the closets, but that’s ridiculous because she can’t open a door. I bypass Caden’s bedroom because I had shut the door when I went to check on Posie. My feet hurry down the steps and slide around the corner as I hang a left. I see Caden standing in the kitchen, warming a bottle of milk in a pan with Posie on his hip.
My eyes zero in on his chest, and I pull the hem of his shirt down, trying to cover my legs when I see long red scratch marks on his pecs. His hair is sticking up in different directions, and his gym shorts hang low on his hips. I can’t look away from what I know hangs between his legs. It bulges out, and memories of my hands stroking him, my tongue licking him, and my lips wrapping around him make my nipples bead, and a gush of wetness flood my thighs.
I don’t have on panties, either.
“I feel your eyes on me.”