Page 25 of Crazy for You
A gasp lodged in my throat. The word “kill” skipped through my brain like a bubbly child on her way to school. Only I wasn’t happy. I was ready to end Grady once and for all.
I lifted my chin, wondering if Colton agreed with Grady or if he even remembered me in our freshman year. “Is that so? Did you know that Grady is a first-class dick? And that if you keep hanging around him, you might fall into that category too?” Those words didn’t slip out unexpectedly. I was never more serious, and if he did take after Grady, then good looks or not, he wasn’t the guy for me.
One side of his lips turned upward as he leaned into my ear. “Have a good night, Skyler.” Then he slowly dragged his scruffy jaw along my smooth one.
I held back a whimper. Damn guy. Damn heart. Damn hormones.
Carrying my skateboard, he strutted out without even a backward glance. His swagger affected me in all the right places… or the wrong ones, if he turned out to be a prick.
10
Stella purred as she settled next to me on my extra pillow. I flipped onto my stomach, trying to get comfortable. Then I turned on my back. “Argh!” Kicking off the covers, I combed my fingers through my short strands.
Grady’s comment had been bothering me all night.I was prettier with long hair.I growled, when I really wanted to hunt Grady down and give him a piece of my mind.
I couldn’t get that line out of my darn head, and I was dying to know if Colton agreed with the asshat.
I puffed out a heavy breath just as Stella pawed me, as if to say she was there for me. I glanced over at her. “I love you too. You know, guys are maddening.”
One in particular. I was approaching the end of the first week of school, and it felt like so much had changed in the blink of an eye. With Dad and now Colton, my emotions were on the precipice of falling off a cliff—a perfect storm was brewing, and I knew that when it hit, I was going to fall hard, and that terrified me.
Still, I couldn’t shake the entire convo between Colton and me—or rather what had been left unsaid. He knew he was affecting me.
My hand crept down to my panties. I had a constant ache that needed some form of release. Maybe then I would feel like I wasn’t about to explode. I was a virgin, but I wasn’t exactly naïve to that pulsing between my legs. I’d slipped my fingers inside my panties when a car door slammed. I checked the time on my ceiling—I had one of those clocks that flashed the neon red numbers in the dark room. Three a.m.
It was probably Colton’s dad waltzing in like usual, drunk out of his mind. I’d said I wasn’t nosy, but I guessed I was. I had to peek. I climbed out of bed, that pulsing need gone until I ever so lightly pulled down a slat in the blinds. Then the throbbing hit me like a tornado. Colton stood against his truck, shirtless, hair messy around his strong jaw. The spotlight from his garage beamed at him like he was on stage. It took me a beat to realize he was looking up in my direction.
Oh hell no.
Faster than the Flash, I let go of the blind and slapped a hand over my heart. I didn’t know whether to be creeped out or excited beyond belief. I was going for the second option, since the butterflies were fluttering around in my stomach, seeming to travel south in droves. I squeezed my eyes closed for a breath to commit his bare chest to memory until a thought came out of nowhere.
He was just getting home and probably from a romp in the hay with Amanda. The need to scream was on the tip of my tongue.
Stella pushed her head against my leg and I jumped a mile.Do I look again? Or do I go back to bed?The answer to my second question was a flat no. I wouldn’t be able to sleep even if someone paid me a million dollars. I also wasn’t going to give Colton any ammunition to think I couldn’t keep my nose out of his business.
Given that he lived next door and the walls were thin, it would be hard not to see or hear what our neighbors were up to. Only a strip of land about twenty-five feet wide separated his house from mine.
Stella mewled at my feet as if to tell me to go back to bed. Instead, I picked her up. I needed something to quench the thirst in my dry throat. “I’m going to get some water.”
I carried her with me, passing my other window, which had a clear view of Mrs. Caldwell’s office. I pulled back my curtain, then cracked open the blinds. Her room was dark. I didn’t know what I was expecting, although Georgia’s comment came to mind:You could sneak into his room at night.
I didn’t know if Mrs. Caldwell had moved her office out to accommodate her son. I only knew the window I was looking at had been his bedroom before he’d left for the academy. One of the first weeks after I’d moved in, I’d forgotten to close my curtains, and I’d never been more horrified than when I caught Colton staring at me. It wouldn’t have been embarrassing except I’d been completely naked.
I shook off the memory as I tiptoed out, careful not to wake Nan, who was sleeping in the other bedroom on the second floor.
I set Stella down when I entered the kitchen. After getting a drink of water, I decided to check on Dad. I’d gotten into the habit of poking my head in when I couldn’t sleep.
A light filtered out of Dad’s room. Maybe he was awake. Or maybe Nan had forgotten to shut off the lights. Stella followed me in. Dad liked when she curled up with him. I did the same on occasion. His hospital bed wasn’t that big, but I always found a small nook to snuggle next to him for a few minutes.
His computer screen was brightening the room, and I zeroed in on a picture of three older women smiling at the camera from a table in a restaurant. They appeared to be having a good time, drinks in hand.
Dad snored lightly as I studied the picture. All three women had varying shades of brown hair and brown eyes, and the one in the middle snagged my attention. She wore a cool, round, silver charm necklace that had some sort of inscription on it.
Dad stirred, yawning. He blinked a couple of times, then gave me a faraway look as Stella nestled in-between his legs.
“Go back to sleep. I was just shutting off your computer.” I rubbed his nose with mine. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
With all the strength he had, which was nil, he tensed and lowered his gaze to the slim spot next to him.
