Her Destiny (Reverie #2)(31)
But is that enough? Everyone thinks we’re young and stupid and they’re probably right.
Muttering in frustration, I run to my bedroom and go to my dresser, pulling open the top drawer. I dig beneath my panties and bras to pull out the tiny rose-colored glass bottle, the one that Nick gave me for my birthday.
I stare at the label, the neatly printed “dreams” centered perfectly in the center. I had dreams. I believed in them too. They were taken from me, one after another over the last few months and I let that deter me. Nearly let it destroy me.
“Hey.”
I glance up to find Nick standing in my bedroom doorway, one arm braced above him and gripping the wood frame. He looks good in a pair of charcoal gray sweats sitting low on his hips, his long-sleeved white T-shirt riding up a bit, displaying a sliver of his flat stomach. A shiver moves through me and I drop the bottle back into the drawer and shut it with a firm slam. “Hi,” I say as I turn to face him completely.
“I brought breakfast.” He doesn’t enter my room, almost as if he’s afraid to, and I go to him, my steps tentative, my mind turning over and over the discussion I had with Evan.
“I heard. Thank you.” I stop just in front of him. He smells good. Looks even better. “Doughnuts?”
He nods, a faint smile curling his lips. He didn’t shave this morning and there’s a faint growth of stubble lining his jaw, tinged with gold. I want to rub my palm against his face. Press my cheek to his. But I restrain myself. “Evan says they’re your favorite.”
“My guilty pleasure.” I could call him the same.
His smile grows. “I like that you actually have a guilty pleasure.”
“Ha ha.” I reach out to slug his shoulder but he’s quicker than me, grabbing my wrist and pulling me into him. I brace my other hand on his chest, my fingers curling into his T-shirt and I lift my head to find his descending, his mouth drawing closer, closer…
His lips are on mine, soft and damp. I let him kiss me, a shiver stealing through my body when he lets go of my wrist to entwine our hands, lacing our fingers together as he delves his tongue deep inside my mouth. The kiss goes from sweet to hot in a matter of seconds and his arm tightens around my waist when I try to pull away.
I can’t focus when he does that. And I think he knows it.
“I couldn’t sleep last night,” he whispers against my lips when we break apart. “All I could think about was you.”
“Nick,” I start but he kisses me again, silencing me. His magical kisses won’t let me forget what I wanted to say though.
I just choose not to say it. Classic avoidance technique, but I don’t want to face reality right now. I don’t think he wants to either.
We go to the kitchen and I flip open the lid of the giant pink box that’s sitting on the counter, grabbing a maple bar and plopping it on a napkin. Evan joins us minutes later, fresh out of his shower and dressed for work.
“I think you should call into work,” my brother suggests casually right before he sinks his teeth into a chocolate frosted doughnut.
I’m shocked. Since we’ve been on our own, we’ve never called in sick to our jobs. We need every hour—and every dollar that hour brings—that we can get. “Are you serious?”
He shrugs and takes a sip from the to-go cup of coffee Nick brought him. “It’s going to be a long day for you. The faster you get back up there and give your statement to the police, the faster it’s all done.”
Ugh. I know what he means, but Evan can be so rude sometimes. I send him a look, wishing he would shut up so he doesn’t hurt Nick’s feelings.
“I think you should too,” Nick says, settling onto the barstool right next to mine. “I agree with your brother. The faster we get this handled, the better. There’s a storm brewing out there too you know.”
“There is?” A shiver races down my spine and I wonder if he’s being literal or referring to something else. There have been lots of storms brewing lately, all around me. Some of them even I created.
Evan leaps up and goes to the front window, jerking open the blinds, allowing the weak morning light to filter in. The sky outside is unusually dark and foreboding, the wind blowing through the bare trees, rocking their branches almost violently. “Hell yeah, there is.” He turns to study us, his brows lowered, a frown on his face. “Maybe you should wait it out.”
Ah, my worried brother. I still marvel at how much he’s changed in such a short amount of time. I guess responsibility does that to a person. “Make up your mind,” I tease him. “Either we stay or we go.”
“We should definitely go,” Nick says firmly as his gaze meets mine for the briefest second before he returns his attention to Evan, who walks back to the counter and grabs his doughnut. “She can call in to her work, we’ll get on the road and take care of this.”
“Just…be careful. I bet traffic will be for shit and the road conditions bad,” Evan says, shoving the last of his doughnut into his mouth before he reaches into the box and grabs another one. “I hate driving in the rain and dealing with idiots who speed.”
“You should hear yourself right now,” I say, barely repressing the laugh that wants to escape. Once upon a time he was the idiot who was always speeding. “You sound like an old man.”