She rolled her eyes and tossed the sweats onto the bed, then went to her dresser where she pulled out a pair of jeans.
I watched as she pulled the tight jeans up the length of her legs, then over her ass, and realized that I wasn’t quite sure about this outfit, either.
“Damn,” I said when she buttoned them. “You look good in those.”
She smiled at me, her face heating slightly.
“It’s hard to wear pants when I have to sit all day. If they fit my waist, they’re too tight on my thighs. If they fit my thighs, then they’re too loose on my waist. So I wear sweats.” She paused. “But I’ll wear these for you.”
I licked my lips and wondered what it was about her that just did it for me.
“God, you’re beautiful,” I said when she took off her shirt.
She was braless, and it took everything I had not to reach for her and pull her into my arms.
But seriously, we were really late.
I planted my feet and crossed my arms, watching as she went to a drawer next to where she’d unearthed the jeans and pulled out a bra.
It was white cotton. So not sexy at all.
Yet, when she pulled it on, it suddenly became the stuff of Victoria’s Secret ads everywhere.
I licked my lips, and her laughter followed.
“We’re going to be late, Banner,” she said as she walked to the closet and slipped down a red and black t-shirt.
When she pulled it over her head, my eyes went to the writing.
And I suddenly got irrationally pissed.
It was a big—way too big to be hers—red t-shirt with black writing that said ‘Kilgore Bulldogs Football.’
“Where’d you get that?” I found myself saying.
She pulled the ends of her shirt together at the bottom and started to go through a pile of hair ties on her desk. When she had a black one, she began to loop it around the tail.
“I got it from my dad,” she said. “Don’t freak out there, big guy.”
I instantly calmed.
She got it from her dad.
Good.
It was worn and faded, so I knew that it wasn’t something she’d purchased recently.
But, things got worn and faded when they were worn by men. Washed a hundred times.
She walked back over to the table with her hair ties on it and pulled out a red one, looping this one in her hair.
My eyes caught on the wall above her head, and I asked a question instead of walking over to her and yanking the hair tie out of her hair.
“What’s with the star on your wall?” I asked curiously.
She walked to me and looped her arms around my waist, and I couldn’t stop myself from pulling her into me, dropping my mouth to the top of her head.
God, she smelled good.
She sighed. “Why did I know that you’d ask that?”
I grinned against her hair. “Because you know me well?”
She ran her hand along the length of my belly, causing my abs to clench.
“My dad sent that to me when he was in the hospital,” she said softly. “When he got hurt. He was there for a really long time. And he was so far away that we couldn’t go. We couldn’t afford for my mom not to work. So we stayed here and he healed halfway across the United States from us. It was bad. I missed him. And he sent me that as a reminder that he was always thinking of me. I’ve had it ever since.”
I squeezed her shoulder lightly.
“Why do you sound like that was a bad thing?” I asked curiously.
She sighed. “Not a bad thing. I just… I hate that it happened to him. I hate that the Army couldn’t do anything more for us. I mean, I spent over a year with him healing over fifteen hours away from us. It took him forever to come home… and I just feel like they could’ve done more. Should’ve done more. I’m just… I resent the military, I guess. I wish that they would take better care of their people. And I’m bitter.”
I ran my hand through her hair, causing her to roll her eyes and pull out the hair tie that she’d just put in again.
“Not everyone gets hurt like your dad,” I said softly.
“No,” she agreed. “But how many military men and women suffer from PTSD? How many are sick now from the previous wars, all because of stuff that they were exposed to overseas? And they just pretty much get told ‘oh well. Sorry for your bad luck.’”
I didn’t like her answer.
Even more, I was fairly sure that if she knew my plans to join the military at the end of my senior year, she wouldn’t be happy about it.
So I chose to keep it quiet and instead pointed out that we were going to be late.
Very, very late.
She cursed and ran to the bathroom.
“Grab me some socks and my shoes.” She pointed to them. “I’ll meet you outside.”
I did as she asked and rolled my eyes when she came down the stairs with her hair once again up.
“Hey, I don’t want to hear anything,” she said as she shouldered her backpack. “We’re about to hoof it half a mile. I’m so not wearing my hair down.”
I grinned and held out my hand.
“Let’s go.”
Chapter 17
I’ve come to a point in my life where I need a stronger word than ‘fuck.’
-Perry to Banner
Perry
We arrived at school and it felt like everyone’s eyes were on us.
Every single move I made felt like there was a full accounting of what we did and when we did it.
Lunch was much the same.
After grinning at my mother for the extra slice of pizza, I walked to the table that I shared with Banner and took my seat.
It took him so long to arrive that I was halfway through my pizza by the time that he showed.
I looked at him and immediately
