The Black Coats(55)

But Thea didn’t even want to wait a second more. “Tell the girls I’m going to Drew’s house.” And with that she sprinted down the driveway.

Thea pulled up in front of Drew’s house a half hour later. She climbed silently out of the car, watching as a passing cloud made darkness swallow the house. She made her way across the yard, pausing on the side of the house. Am I imagining it, or is that something rustling? She searched, but there was nothing; it was only the old oak trees stirring in the breeze. Thea straightened her shoulders and reprimanded herself for being so jumpy.

Drew’s room was on the south side of the house, bordered by some azalea bushes. She pushed her way through its branches to one of Drew’s two windows. She reached up and rapped quietly, once and then again. Silence. After a minute, she pulled out her phone and texted him:

I’m outside your window.

She waited. The wind whistled around her body, blowing her coat outward. She had reached out to knock again when the window slid open.

“Thea?” Drew’s hair was adorably messy, his eyes swollen with sleep. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Can I come in?” Thea whispered. “Is your dad asleep?”

“Yeah, I don’t hear the TV.” He looked at her for a long moment. “Fine, come on up, I guess.”

They reached for each other at the same time, their strong arms clasping. Thea felt his arms tense, and then he yanked her upward as she scrambled up and through his window. Her momentum was too fast and they both tumbled, landing squarely on the bed. Thea’s legs straddled Drew’s waist.

“Hi,” she breathed.

He pushed her hair back from her face. “Hi.”

She bent forward, running her hands over his bare, muscular chest, his skin burning beneath hers. “Drew, I’m so sor—”

He sat up underneath her. “Don’t. Don’t say sorry. I know you’re not, so you don’t get to apologize.”

Thea waited a moment. “I am, though. Truly sorry. I hate the thought of you sitting alone at the concert.”

“Oh, I wasn’t alone. I met hordes of women. And they all wanted waffles. And my body. My body covered in waffles.”

“I deserved that,” whispered Thea, overcome by the sudden need to touch him, to lose herself in Drew Porter as they burrowed together in this quiet, protective dark. Slowly, she pulled off her black coat and dropped it to the floor before wrapping her arms around his neck.

“I keep telling myself that you’re bad for me,” whispered Drew. “Then I see you, and I can’t even stay mad at you.” He kissed her, his tongue dancing with her own. He pulled back again, Thea shuddering as they separated. “But I know you’re lying to me about something, Thea. I know you’re not restoring houses.”

Thea leaned her head against his, surrendering her will to what she needed: him. “You’re right. I’m not.”

Drew was tracing a path of fire down from her cheek now, his hands finding the soft skin under the bottom of her shirt. “Okay, next question.” He kissed her hard and pulled her up against him. “Are you with another guy?”

“No,” Thea whispered, noting how deep into her core the answer went. There was only Drew. Her heart had been frozen so long in the loneliness of grief, but each time Drew touched her, she felt it melting into something warm and strong. She felt carved out by his hands, the same hands that were now trickling up her spine, driving her mad. “No other guys. There is only you. I swear.”

“Okay.” Drew said softly, “Are you a drug runner?”

Thea laughed. “No more guessing. Not tonight. One day, I’ll tell you, I promise.”

“Soon?”

Thea pressed against him, losing her mind to the whole of him. “Yes,” she whispered.

“Good,” he growled. “Because I can’t keep myself away from you, no matter what you’re doing.” With one hand, he wrapped her close to him and flipped her around so that he was on top of her. He looked down at her, emotions clashing across his face. “When I first met you, I didn’t understand what it would be like. I thought I could keep myself separate somehow, protected from the feelings that I would have for you.” He looked at her now, and Thea felt like he could see through her skin, right into the secret parts of her. “I never dreamed that I would fall in love with you.” He almost didn’t finish his sentence as Thea pulled him down onto her, their lips meeting. God, I have never wanted anything the way I want him right now. They clung desperately to each other as their passion pulled them under, secrets forgotten in a wave of lust.

Two hours later, Thea was tracing patterns onto Drew’s hip as he snored quietly beside her. She watched his chest rise and fall, his sleep unburdened by the cares that kept her awake. Silently, she tiptoed out of his bed and pulled her shirt back on before picking up her coat and slipping it over her shoulders. She eyed the window again but decided that going out the front door would probably be easier. Thea took one glance back at him, smiling at the way he nuzzled his pillow. Moving quickly, she turned and headed down the pitch-black hallway. Drew’s dad’s room was just up ahead, and so she didn’t even breathe as she turned the corner to make her way into the living room. But instead of moving to the door she bumped dead-on into a body, moving rapidly in the opposite direction.