really believe a word she said, I let her keep going, enjoying what she said too much. “Do you think any other guy our age would have held my hair while I puked after ruining their favorite shirt? Carried their stupid, drunk friend up to their room and let them pass out in their bed while they slept in a chair? Nope. Just you.”
“You might not think that if you knew I was hitting on a twin when you almost disappeared with that guy. I could have very easily screwed up and not been there when you needed me.” I couldn’t help it. Her skin was calling me too much. I was a guy and she was a girl and that damn magnetic pull made me do it, but I rubbed my hand over her bare shoulder. I did it soft, the way girls liked, whispering my fingers around the skin I’d been admiring. God she felt good. Why didn’t other girls feel like this?
“But you still came. You bailed on that girl and found me when I needed you. You,” she poked my side. It was such a friend move that I wanted to groan. Here I was savoring the feel of her and she was poking me. Nice. When did I turn into that guy? “Sebastian Hawkins, you are a caretaker. You’ll never admit it, because you’re too busy trying to be Mr. Ladies’ Man, but you take care of people. Your mom… me…”
And there went the mood killer. “Pfft.” I pulled away from her. “I do a pretty shitty job of taking care of my mom, Woodstock. You’ve seen her tears almost as much as me and now she has this new guy. I went out for lunch with them that day we were supposed to meet, and he was good. Played the perfect guy and even told me he wanted to marry her, but I don’t even know if I can trust him.” The floodgates were open and even though I’d regret this, I couldn’t stop. “I kind of do, ya know? I think I want that normal life with two parents at home; but what if I do and he hurts her? I’m sick of not being able to protect her.”
Aspen moved closer to me. We were facing each other now, her legs crossed in those stupid, sexy pajama bottoms. “She’s your mom, Bastian. It’s not your job to take care of her and no matter if you trust the guy or not, she’s the only one who can make her own decisions. And there’s nothing wrong with wanting normal. You deserve it. You may be cocky and arrogant,” she grabbed my hand. “But you deserve to have what you want. You deserve everything.”
I wondered if she would still think that if she knew what I wanted was her. I tried to smile at her, before I eased back. I nodded my head and she settled in beside me again to watch the movie.
Chapter Nine
The rest of the week went by in a blur. DJ had taken me up on my offer and I’d had to work every day straight until Friday came along. Lame. But at least I knew I’d have some extra cash flow when I got back, since I’d pulled some from my stash for the weekend. According to Pris, the house we had would be stocked with food, but I figured there’d be some stuff we’d want to do while we were there.
Speaking of cash, I took a quick break from my packing to pull up my Hook-up Doctor account. PA still hadn’t been in contact with me. I was a little worried. Hopefully she hadn’t had any problems and things were still on track. That fifty bucks would come in handy after this trip. Plus, I kind of hoped things turned out for her. Love was in the air and all that shit.
Because I’d decided that’s what this was. I was in love. It kind of freaked me the hell out, but what could I do? Besides figure out my next step, which I needed to be doing. Did I want to believe Mom and go with all that fate and believing crap, or did I want to pretend I’d never taken a ride on the crazy train and try going back to the way things were? When I didn’t think about kissing and touching Aspen every two seconds?
But then, I wasn’t even sure I could do that.
When I saw one new message in my email folder, I clicked the little
“You might not think that if you knew I was hitting on a twin when you almost disappeared with that guy. I could have very easily screwed up and not been there when you needed me.” I couldn’t help it. Her skin was calling me too much. I was a guy and she was a girl and that damn magnetic pull made me do it, but I rubbed my hand over her bare shoulder. I did it soft, the way girls liked, whispering my fingers around the skin I’d been admiring. God she felt good. Why didn’t other girls feel like this?
“But you still came. You bailed on that girl and found me when I needed you. You,” she poked my side. It was such a friend move that I wanted to groan. Here I was savoring the feel of her and she was poking me. Nice. When did I turn into that guy? “Sebastian Hawkins, you are a caretaker. You’ll never admit it, because you’re too busy trying to be Mr. Ladies’ Man, but you take care of people. Your mom… me…”
And there went the mood killer. “Pfft.” I pulled away from her. “I do a pretty shitty job of taking care of my mom, Woodstock. You’ve seen her tears almost as much as me and now she has this new guy. I went out for lunch with them that day we were supposed to meet, and he was good. Played the perfect guy and even told me he wanted to marry her, but I don’t even know if I can trust him.” The floodgates were open and even though I’d regret this, I couldn’t stop. “I kind of do, ya know? I think I want that normal life with two parents at home; but what if I do and he hurts her? I’m sick of not being able to protect her.”
Aspen moved closer to me. We were facing each other now, her legs crossed in those stupid, sexy pajama bottoms. “She’s your mom, Bastian. It’s not your job to take care of her and no matter if you trust the guy or not, she’s the only one who can make her own decisions. And there’s nothing wrong with wanting normal. You deserve it. You may be cocky and arrogant,” she grabbed my hand. “But you deserve to have what you want. You deserve everything.”
I wondered if she would still think that if she knew what I wanted was her. I tried to smile at her, before I eased back. I nodded my head and she settled in beside me again to watch the movie.
Chapter Nine
The rest of the week went by in a blur. DJ had taken me up on my offer and I’d had to work every day straight until Friday came along. Lame. But at least I knew I’d have some extra cash flow when I got back, since I’d pulled some from my stash for the weekend. According to Pris, the house we had would be stocked with food, but I figured there’d be some stuff we’d want to do while we were there.
Speaking of cash, I took a quick break from my packing to pull up my Hook-up Doctor account. PA still hadn’t been in contact with me. I was a little worried. Hopefully she hadn’t had any problems and things were still on track. That fifty bucks would come in handy after this trip. Plus, I kind of hoped things turned out for her. Love was in the air and all that shit.
Because I’d decided that’s what this was. I was in love. It kind of freaked me the hell out, but what could I do? Besides figure out my next step, which I needed to be doing. Did I want to believe Mom and go with all that fate and believing crap, or did I want to pretend I’d never taken a ride on the crazy train and try going back to the way things were? When I didn’t think about kissing and touching Aspen every two seconds?
But then, I wasn’t even sure I could do that.
When I saw one new message in my email folder, I clicked the little
Similar Books
