little at his scalp, pulling his head back and kissing him. When I let my hands drop he returns the favor, lacing his fingers in my hair and tugging, exposing my throat to the air. He licks a long, steady line up my tender flesh and kisses beneath my jaw just as he wraps his hand around my waist. His other hand drops from my hair and reaches down to part my naked thighs wider, and he laughs about something, low and in my ear, before he slides –
My phone’s morning alarm goes off. Selena groans, and I swear vibrantly and jam my hand on the button. When I take my underwear off to change them, they’re so damp I think I’ve peed them until I smell it – musky and wet and entirely Lee’s fault. I’m going to smack him. After I do him. Or maybe during.
Decisions, decisions.
Chapter Six
In Which Lee Montenegro Finally Says No To A Girl
The first time Grace texts, it confuses the hell out of me.
“What did you do to him.”
It’s not a question – no question mark. She obviously means Lee. I text her – “What do you mean?”. She doesn’t get back to me until the next morning.
“He’s done a complete 180 – he’s cleaned the whole apartment three times, he’s looking up bakeries in France, and he told his usual bootycall girls to piss off. What the hell did you do? It must’ve been you.”
Something twists around in my heart. His bootycalls? He told them to leave. For me – because of me? Guys aren’t like that, at least playboy types like Lee aren’t. They want to get laid whenever they can – I’ve been in college long enough to learn that.
“I just told him I liked him,” I text back. After hours of studying with no reply from her I realize she’s probably upset – me, her sort-of buddy, sort-of dating her brother without telling her. I’d be mad.
“I’m sorry.” I text. “I should’ve told you about this sooner.”
“No, it’s okay,” She replies almost instantly. “It’s your guys’ relationship, not mine. Besides, I always hoped it’d happen. He’s liked you forever, you know. In middle and high school he told me he’d have dreams of you sometimes. He’s a sappy dork like that.”
The twisting in my heart becomes a sweet pain, burning like candy acid.
“Why does he like me?” I text back. “I can’t remember anything about him. Was it something to do with us as kids?”
“Go to your Grandpa’s house. The creek in the back of the property might jog your memory. Lee never told me what happened, but he talked about the creek a lot. Whatever happened might’ve been there.”
The creek. Riley and I and the other kids used to play in it when the summer got too hot to bear. Did something happen there? In my sunflower dreams, before they were taken over by the sex dreams, I remember hearing the rush of water. Something must’ve happened there. Something that made me lose my memory and convinced Lee he liked me. But what?
“I will. Thanks Grace.”
“No problem. Oh, and you might want to check page 167 of this month’s issue of Seventeen. <3”
She signs it with a heart, and that makes me dread it more. No. It can’t be –
“Selena!” I shake my roommate awake. “Selena, do you have this month’s issue of Seventeen?”
“Blurghf – what?” Selena sits up and rubs her eyes. “Where’s the fire?”
“Seventeen. This month’s. Do you have it?”
“Duh,” She waves her hand at a pile of magazines. I flip to page 167 and nearly drop it.
There, in the beautiful blue silk shirt they gave me and staring out from the page with smoky, sultry eyes, is a girl who looks like me. But she can’t be me – her body is too airbrushed, there’s no scars or pimples or birthmarks, but her hair is the same blonde dishwater shade as mine. Somehow they made the color look beautiful, the same color as the sand I’m lying on. Grace’s arms are around my neck and her face is in my shoulder, her fierce dark looks piercing through me when I stare at her for too
My phone’s morning alarm goes off. Selena groans, and I swear vibrantly and jam my hand on the button. When I take my underwear off to change them, they’re so damp I think I’ve peed them until I smell it – musky and wet and entirely Lee’s fault. I’m going to smack him. After I do him. Or maybe during.
Decisions, decisions.
Chapter Six
In Which Lee Montenegro Finally Says No To A Girl
The first time Grace texts, it confuses the hell out of me.
“What did you do to him.”
It’s not a question – no question mark. She obviously means Lee. I text her – “What do you mean?”. She doesn’t get back to me until the next morning.
“He’s done a complete 180 – he’s cleaned the whole apartment three times, he’s looking up bakeries in France, and he told his usual bootycall girls to piss off. What the hell did you do? It must’ve been you.”
Something twists around in my heart. His bootycalls? He told them to leave. For me – because of me? Guys aren’t like that, at least playboy types like Lee aren’t. They want to get laid whenever they can – I’ve been in college long enough to learn that.
“I just told him I liked him,” I text back. After hours of studying with no reply from her I realize she’s probably upset – me, her sort-of buddy, sort-of dating her brother without telling her. I’d be mad.
“I’m sorry.” I text. “I should’ve told you about this sooner.”
“No, it’s okay,” She replies almost instantly. “It’s your guys’ relationship, not mine. Besides, I always hoped it’d happen. He’s liked you forever, you know. In middle and high school he told me he’d have dreams of you sometimes. He’s a sappy dork like that.”
The twisting in my heart becomes a sweet pain, burning like candy acid.
“Why does he like me?” I text back. “I can’t remember anything about him. Was it something to do with us as kids?”
“Go to your Grandpa’s house. The creek in the back of the property might jog your memory. Lee never told me what happened, but he talked about the creek a lot. Whatever happened might’ve been there.”
The creek. Riley and I and the other kids used to play in it when the summer got too hot to bear. Did something happen there? In my sunflower dreams, before they were taken over by the sex dreams, I remember hearing the rush of water. Something must’ve happened there. Something that made me lose my memory and convinced Lee he liked me. But what?
“I will. Thanks Grace.”
“No problem. Oh, and you might want to check page 167 of this month’s issue of Seventeen. <3”
She signs it with a heart, and that makes me dread it more. No. It can’t be –
“Selena!” I shake my roommate awake. “Selena, do you have this month’s issue of Seventeen?”
“Blurghf – what?” Selena sits up and rubs her eyes. “Where’s the fire?”
“Seventeen. This month’s. Do you have it?”
“Duh,” She waves her hand at a pile of magazines. I flip to page 167 and nearly drop it.
There, in the beautiful blue silk shirt they gave me and staring out from the page with smoky, sultry eyes, is a girl who looks like me. But she can’t be me – her body is too airbrushed, there’s no scars or pimples or birthmarks, but her hair is the same blonde dishwater shade as mine. Somehow they made the color look beautiful, the same color as the sand I’m lying on. Grace’s arms are around my neck and her face is in my shoulder, her fierce dark looks piercing through me when I stare at her for too
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