Growing Pains

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Bridgette

I was pleasantly surprised to find the tension that electrified the air last night, wasn't there as we sat at dinner tonight. There was steady conversation, only trickling into silence every once and awhile, but it was mostly smooth. I even caught Gwen laughing at one of Trent's jokes, which took everyone by a bit of surprise. I looked away from the small smile he gave her, it was too intimate for me to want to look longer.

We were now roaming the streets, doing the final thing on Courtney's list: shopping. We popped into a couple of shops, none of which were satisfactory until Courtney spotted one with higher prices than the rest.

I watched as her eyes caught a white jacket and widened in lust. She bounded over to it, pulling it off the hanger to slip it on. I laughed at her childlike adoration.

Duncan seemed to also smile in her direction, which was a rare sight—Duncan with a smile. And yet, the smile felt familiar as if I had seen it a million times without ever really noticing. And I think it was only reserved for the brunette who was now frowning at her reflection.

"You look great, Court," I offered the clearly unhappy girl.

She cocked her head in a feline manner, "I don't know." Her voice was unresolved as she stared at her reflection, moving every once and awhile to glimpse a new angle.

"Princess, you could wear a potato sack and still look hot," Duncan said, making me jump at his sudden nearness. He snuck up with a stealthy quiet that I had never really been used to when it came to him. It probably helped with his criminal nature.

Her cheeks burned and I suddenly felt very out of place. "I'm gonna go find Gwen," I offered before walking away. They clearly had feelings for each other. I wondered how long they had stared at each other that way, maybe I had been too buried in my own problems to notice.

And at the thought of my problems, one of them appeared. Geoff nearly ran into me as I turned around a rack that was too full of clothing for me to see him coming.

"Sorry," he breathed.

"Its fine," I quickly responded, trying to avoid talking to him much more. I hadn't really spoken to him since we were exposed last night. I wasn't sure what to think of it all. Gwen was thankfully too wrapped up in her own sadness to pry about what happened between us, but I knew the questions were coming soon. There was only one brief joke made about it by Duncan tonight, which was silenced by Courtney's glare. I was thankful for that.

He must've read my unease because he asked, "Are we cool?"

"Why wouldn't we be?"

His cheeks heated, "Well, after, um, last night..." He trailed off, leaving my mind to finsih his obvious thought.

I forced out a laugh, trying my best to seem relaxed, "Don't worry about it. They were probably going to find out anyways. Its not like I have a very clean track record." They already probably think I'm some slut, so it wouldn't surprise them to find me hooking up with the new kid.

He frowned. "Bridge, you're not a hoe or something—in fact, no one is. Its your body, its your choice," his words were hard, not cruel, but just solid with truth. I looked up at him and saw anger edging into his pretty blue eyes.

No one has ever said that to me. No one has ever told me that I wasn't some easy girl. Albeit, no one has said I was, but I felt like one. And here was Geoff, the guy that I threw myself at twice, saying that I wasn't one.

"Thank you," I breathed, my words holding so much weight in them that they realesed a pressure on my shoulders. I knew that this wasn't going to erase my guilt, but maybe, it would be a start.

His hand reached forward as if to brush back a piece of hair that fell into my eyes, but he hesitated, then dropped his hand altogether. I felt a pull of disappointment as that hand dropped.

"Of course," he said with a warm smile. His cherry and sunscreen smell surrounded me, making my head dizzy.

I knew why I had thrown myself at him while I was drunk. I knew why I wanted to throw myself at him now. Whenever I was around him, I just felt happy. I didn't feel fixed, I didn't feel as if he cancelled out my family issues or the guilt gnawing at me, but I just felt lighter, happier.

It was nice. So for the first time in a long time, I decided I wanted something that made me happy.

I stood on my tiptoes and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek, smiling as I felt him go still beneath me. His skin was soft and warm, just as I remembered it. I wondered if his lips were as soft as I remembered, but instead of investigating, I pulled back, pleased to see the surprised expression that lit up his face like a christmas tree.

I let out a satisfied hum as I scanned his face once. Then I pushed past him, finding a soft smile displayed on my lips. Happiness was nice.