Something heavy stopped me from moving from in my sleep and when I opened my eyes, I saw a wicked tattoo directly in my line of vision. It took me a minute to register that Jackson doesn’t have any tattoos and that the guy wrapping me in his arms protectively is my mate.
Blinking quickly to get the sleep out of my eyes, I brought up my finger to gently trace the wolf tattoo on his hip, trailing towards his back. His soft skin made my heart accelerate when it came in contact with my finger and I held my breath, thinking he would wake up.
I’ve never been this close to Blake before and it’s by far the best feeling in the world. He was fast asleep with one arm under my head and the other tightly locked around my waist. I could feel his heavy breath on the top of my head and just thinking about his lips made me want to kiss him.
Pulling back slightly so I didn’t wake him, I carefully removed his arm from my waist. He didn’t move and his arm dropped on to the bed in between us. Watching him sleep peacefully, I leaned forward slowly and placed my lips on his forehead, holding them there for a while. I would have kissed him on the lips, but I didn’t want our first kiss to be while he was asleep.
I leaned back and stared at his beautiful figure sleeping calmly, brushing my fingers over his soft cheek. I wanted him to wake up and smile when he saw me, pulling me closer and telling me to lay with him. This is what I’ve always wanted; to be with him and sleep in his arms so for once in my life I felt safe.
“I love you so much, Blake.” I whispered, a tear slipping down my cheek. He didn’t wake up or even stir and I slowly crawled out of bed, keeping my head turned away from him. He’s the only person I ever wanted to be with and he doesn’t even want to be in the same pack as me.
Standing up cautiously so he didn’t wake up, I left his room without a sound and closed the door silently behind me.
Even though the only guy I’ll ever want is Blake, I still considered asking another guy to the dance. He probably won’t say yes and he probably doesn’t know who I am, but it’s worth a shot. Taking a big breath to calm my nerves, I approached the guy with his back to me.
“Incoming.” His friend in front of him mumbled and then coughed, looking the other way. I smiled at him as he turned around to see who his friend was talking about. When he saw me he raised his eyebrows and sighed.
“Hey, Jay.”
He smiled lightly and nodded his head. “Rain.”
Jay is a friend of Becks and I asked him if he’d be okay with me asking him to the dance this Friday. He laughed in my face, said good luck and then drove off.
“Can I talk to you?” I asked, glancing over at his friend who’s still staring in the opposite direction and pretending not to hear us. I learned from my mistakes to ask out a guy without his friends around.
“We are talking.” He stated.
I laughed at my stupidity and shook my head, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. “I meant-”
“I’ll leave.” His friend interjected, pushing himself off the wall and walking around the corner of the school. Jay looked at me expectantly and then pulled out a cigarette, sticking it in between his lips.
“So, you probably heard about the dance on Friday. I know it’s really short notice, but I just found out recently and since we had that project to work on together not too long ago, I figured we’re sort of friends. I guess we’re not friends, but we’re on good terms so I thought maybe you’d like to go to the dance with me this Friday?” I winced, chastising myself for rambling and adding so many unnecessary words.
Biting my lip hard, I looked at the ground and pushed around a tiny rock with my shoe. I felt bad asking another guy when I should have called off the dance when Blake denied my invitation. I promised myself to ask him later if he’s okay with it and if he says no, I won’t go to the dance at all.
“Just because we worked on a project together doesn’t mean I’m interested in you.” He stated, pulling out a lighter. “Do you have asthma?”
“Um, no.” I replied as he lit his cigarette. “And I meant that you’re the only person civil to me. We could go as friends if you’re more comfortable with that; it doesn’t have to be a date.”
I didn’t have a clue what I was saying most of the time because I felt so awkward and nervous. I don’t think he noticed how much distance I’m trying to keep between us and if he did, he didn’t comment on it.
“You don’t do this very often do you?” he asked, blowing out a puff of smoke away from me. I took a step back so the smell of smoke didn’t get on my clothes, even though Jacks isn’t home.
I laughed uneasily and cringed, “Um, no.”
He didn’t answer for a while and it got on my nerves that guys never gave a direct answer. Every guy I’ve ever talked to has dragged the suspense out and left me clueless. Part of me felt bad because he was probably thinking of the nicest way to turn me down and the other part wanted to get it over with like pulling off a band-aid.
Saving him the guilt I helped make his decision easier. “You can say no. It’s fine; I get it. I don’t want you to say yes so you don’t hurt my feelings.”
He still stared at me without any sign of an answer and I stood a good distance away awkwardly. I considered walking away and leaving him alone, but my feet couldn’t seem to move. “Alright.”
My head snapped up from the shock of his answer and he smirked at my gapping face. Either I heard him wrong and he didn’t answer yet or he’s just trying to upset me. “W-what?”
He laughed and puffed out some more smoke away from me. “I’ll be your date to the dance.”
It must have taken a few minutes for the statement to register because I stood still in complete shock. I never expected him to agree to be my date and I can’t remember why I bothered asking in the first place.
Smiling in both surprise and excitement I tried as hard as I could not to bounce up and down in front of him. “Really?! You’re not lying?”
“Nope.” He grinned and threw his cigarette on the ground, stomping it out with the toe of his boot.
I grinned like an idiot and accidentally bounced on the balls of my feet. He continued grinning down at me and made no comments on my behavior. If I wasn’t so afraid of what would happen from the contact, I would hug him or maybe even kiss him on the cheek.
“I’ll pick you up at seven thirty?” he asked.
I nodded my head quickly and watched him push off the wall, walking in the opposite direction. Once he made it around the corner I did a little happy dance and took the shortest way home so I could call Jackson.
YOU ARE READING
She Paints Pain
Werewolf(Trigger Warning) (In editing) Rain's been through hell her whole life. Between her abusive dad, her brother who blames her for everything and the bullies at school, she has it hard. But when things start to settle down and Rain discovers her long l...
