Evangeline Lawrence has a secret. A big secret. One involving her birthday, the player, August Griffin, who's (almost) like a brother to her, and a kiss the night before he ran away. No one else knows about it, aside from August, of course, and Evan...
I sit down on one of August's chairs and say, "We need to talk."
He looks up from the stove top where he's making us coco and say, "Okay, let's talk."
"You simply can't sleep on the floor. It's not gonna happen. It' your place, after all. I'll just sleep on one of the chairs or something."
He shakes his head, amused. "You think I'm going to let you sleep on a chair."
"Well... yeah unless you have a better idea."
"I think I do," he says, winking. He walks over to the other chair and sets down two steaming cups of coco on the table. I grab a mug and sit back on the chair with my legs crossed.
"You sleep on the bed and I sleep on the floor."
I shake my head. "August, I already told you, you're not sleeping on the floor."
"And I already told you you're not sleeping on the chair."
"How about the floor?" I ask smugly.
He rolls his eyes. "Yes, Anne, I'm not going to let you sleep on the chair but I'll let you sleep on the fuçking floor."
"Great, so it's settled then." I take a sip of the coco and let the warm chocolate slide down my throat. Yum.
He shakes his head again. "Someone's stubborn."
I grin at him and then lean back into the soft cushions. It's barely past 9:30 and I'm still wide awake. I reach behind me and grab a random book of the shelves. To Kill A Mockingbird, one of my favorites.I flip through it but my brain can't seem to concentrate on the words stretching endlessly across the pages. Instead my brain goes back to what a crazy day this has been, driving to New York, seeing August for the first time in years, getting ice cream, kissing, and finally, ending up here. I did that all without Nathan knowing.
I feel a proud but that feeling quickly turns into guilt. Nathan doesn't know and I haven't texted Lisa about staying the night here. I don't really care about Nathan now because I'm still upset about the calls, upset being the understatement of the century, but Lisa doesn't deserve to worry.
I turn on my phone and see five missed texts from Lisa and two calls also from her. I also see calls from Nathan but I ignore them. I text Lisa that I'm staying at August's for the night, that she shouldn't worry, that I'm sorry and that I hope she had fun on her date. Then I turn my phone off and turn to August.
I peek up from behind the book I'm 'reading' and see him sitting across from me with a book in his hands. I study his face, clam now. I can't really wrap my head around the fact that I'm here with him right now. It's incredible. How is it that ten days ago I didn't think I would ever see him again and now, well, here I am?
He must have felt my gaze because his eyes snap up to mine and I look away quickly. I feel his gaze slide over my face and my body and I can feel my checks start to heat up. Does he know what he does to me? Does he know that every smirk he gives me sends billions of butterflies to my stomach? Does he know that with every smile, every laugh, all the blood in my body turns to warm, liquid, chocolate? Does he know that when he kisses me, I finally know what heaven is like?
I feel Anne's gaze on me a try to resist the urge to look at and grin at her like a lunatic because that's what she does to me, she drives me crazy. Unfortunately, I can't control the urge for long and I look up. She looks away from my eyes, blushing and my eyes can't help but travel down her body. She's perfect but I doubt she realizes it.
Does she know what she does to me? Does she know that when she smiles, my whole world seems brighter? Does she know that when she laughs, she makes me dizzy with happiness? I don't know what I'm feeling anymore. Two years ago, I would have said it was love, even though love was a strange and foreign concept to me. Now, however, I wouldn't say it's love because the feelings are so much stronger than they were when I left that damn town.
Love isn't a strong enough word to express what I feel about her. Nothing is. It's like that feeling you get on warm, soft summer mornings where everything looks a little bit brighter. You can't put that feeling into words, can you?
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