Page 75 of Unbound

“It is because it matters,” he adds quietly, his breath easy. When I do meet his eyes, his swallow is hard, his eyes unblinking. The importance of what happened reflects in his face, his posture. We both know it matters.

Standing, he’s closer now, our bodies nearly touching as we stand motionless.

God, I want to feel his lips on mine again.

Just the memories surfacing from last night tighten my stomach and warm my heart.

Rawley’s completely silent, unmoving, maybe even not breathing. And then he clears his throat, thinking about what I just said. My stomach flips when he barely raises those long lashes to mine.

What is he thinking?It’s driving me crazy not knowing.

“Do you regret it?” The words spill from my lips before I can stop myself. I guess I need to know that he doesn’t regret last night. I know he wanted it while we were doing it, but I still wonder how he’ll react now.

The corners of his mouth tug into a slight smile and the memories of last night hit me, my breath catching remembering the way his body slid against mine, the kisses… the touches.

He comes closer, one hand on the counter, the other reaching for mine, fingers grazing one another. The feeling of him touching me sends a jolt straight to my heart. It’s the simplest of gestures, him holding my hand, but he gets it.

We started when we were kids holding hands on the way to the bus stop. So simple, so innocent, even when there was nothing ever innocent about Rawley. His eyes beg, plead for me to see the truth in what he’s about to say, and I hold my breath, waiting.

“No, that’s not one of my regrets.” His words come out easy, like a gentle breeze, and I’m left with nothing content.

“Sophie!” Raven yells from the top of the stairs. “Get up here now!”

Rawley laughs when I jump, startled by Raven’s demand. He puts his arm around my shoulders, his smile sincere but eyes, they’re sad. “You better go. She’s in a bad mood today.”

“I know,” I say, taking a step toward the stairs. I can’t help myself but when his arm slips off me, I look back to see if he’s watching me.

He is. Eyes glued to mine and then he winks and turns around to walk outside.

My heart pounds as I jog up the stairs.

The moment I open the door to my room, I’m met with Lenny on the bed, covered in mud and soaking wet. She looks awful, like she didn’t sleep at all last night and not to mention she has what looks to be bird shit on her shoulder.

“Oh my God, Lenny, what the fuck happened?” I ask, closing the door behind me. Raven’s pacing the room, shaking her head as if she’s just as confused.

“I went to the cemetery to talk to Nevaeh this morning. Like before the sun even came up.”

“Um, okay…. Why?” Raven asks, handing her a towel and then putting one under her muddy feet.

Lenny shrugs, her eyes lost in thought. “I just… I wantedherapproval.”

Raven stands in front of Lenny, her hands on her hips. “And why do you look like you just crawled out of a grave?”

Behind Raven, Nova walks in with what I know to be her second chocolate doughnut, leaving the door open behind her. She’s still in her pajamas and her curly hair is sticking out wildly in odd directions. The ceremony isn’t scheduled until three and we have at least six hours to get everyone ready.

Nova looks to Lenny, then Raven, her brow scrunched in confusion, and then a slow smile inches over her. “Oh cool! Are we having a zombie wedding?”

“No, we’re not,” Raven tells her. “Go tell Grammy we have a code red.”

She looks up at the ceiling, then to Lenny. “What’s code red?”

Raven turns her around toward the door. “Just go get her.”

Rolling her eyes, Nova huffs out a frustrated sigh as she turns to leave. “Fine.”

Lenny throws herself backwards onto the bed so she’s lying with her face covering her hands. “This sucks.”

I try to console her, not only because she’s one of my best friends, but because every time I’ve needed another new mom to talk to in the last eight months, she’s been there for me. “So what happened? How’d you end up looking like this?”

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