He was finger combing his windblown hair, fighting with the fine mousy brown strands, and trying to get some semblance of order to them. I slid the black elastic band from my wrist and passed it to him.
“Thanks,” he said as he went to work on putting his hair in a low ponytail.
No, he wasn’t the most sought-after boy in school, but his female fan base was big enough that I took a moment to smile and relish in the fact that I would be shooting so many girls’ hope and dreams of landing him clean out of the sky. He looked over and caught me staring with no doubt a goofy look on my face and wiggled his eyebrows at me before leaning in for a kiss. I was just starting to sink into the kiss when a horn blaring from behind almost made us swallow each other’s tongues. If anyone were ever to say that choking during a kiss was impossible, I would call them a damn liar! The person behind us laid on their horn again, so I drove out into the intersection and hooked a left. We were back at my house within ten minutes.
I was halfway up the stairs when I realized he wasn’t right behind me. I looked over my shoulder. “You coming?”
He had a poorly hidden smirk on his face and smoothed his hand over his bound hair. “Eden, I’m going into your room for the very first time. I am going to be in the same space you sleep, get dressed, and undressed. I need a moment to get in the right frame of mind instead of the frame of mind I’m in right now.”
“And exactly what frame of mind are you in right now Drew,” I asked innocently.
He cocked his head to the side as he stared up at me, hiking a brow in that way that drove me crazy. “Do you really need an answer to that, Eden?”
As his meaning hit me, the self-conscious embarrassment must have registered on my face because he started laughing. “Just let me have this moment to process the fact that this is not THAT type of trip to your bedroom, okay?”
I don’t know why it came as a shock that he wanted me on a physical level, it just did. But as I looked down at his handsome face and he stared up at me, it was obvious that we were now both thinking the same thing. I tore my gaze away from his as I felt Echo’s presence rise to the surface, reminding me that Drew and I were never alone. I felt her anxiety and the bitter resentment she was holding. Spinning around, I climbed the rest of the stairs and called back to Drew, “It’s the first door on the left.”
“Okay, just give me a minute,” he said, and I swore I could hear a slight shakiness to his voice.
I strolled into my room with a content smile on my face. I felt desirable because I knew that Drew still stood at the bottom of the stairs trying to reign in his hormones. A girl had to appreciate that kind of self-control in a guy. About two or three minutes later, Drew appeared in my doorway, and I glanced up at him from the middle of my floor. In front of me was the box I’d pulled from my closet’s hiding place.
He sat down opposite me, tried to stay focused on the box and failed. His eyes wandered around my room as he took it all in. His gaze continued to roam until it came to rest on my bed with its unmade sheets and comforter and lingered there before slowly transferring to me. My heart raced in my chest as he sat there staring at me like I was the most beautiful thing he’d ever laid eyes on. I could see the want and desire he felt on his face. I dropped my gaze to the box reluctantly and cleared my throat because the sexual tension that was bouncing between us was thick. If I’d kept gazing into those green eyes, I might have forgotten to breathe.
“This is the box I told you about. So, now I know for sure that at least this part of the memory was accurate. Oh, and Dad serving as a Marine, also accurate,” I said sadly.
“Why do you seem so upset then,” Drew asked scooting over until he sat beside me. “What’s wrong?”
“Dad got out because of me.”
“Okay—why is that a bad thing,” Drew asked, confused.
“Because he ended what would have probably been a great career with endless opportunities and experiences—because of me.
Drew gently reached for and turned my chin until I faced him. Damn, I loved his eyes. His gaze dropped to my lips when he said, “Sometimes, the most precious things in life can only be gained through self-sacrifice, Eden.” He ran his thumb across my bottom lip and raised his eyes to mine again. “I can promise you; from where I’m sitting, I’d sacrifice everything I have to give, for you.”
I didn’t have words, and even if I had, they would have been cut short when he kissed me. Every nerve in my body sizzled, and even though we were sitting on the carpet, I still felt it in my toes when he wrapped me up in his arms and pulled me into his lap.
I’m still here, you know, and this is getting heated really fast. Trust me when I say, I know exactly where this is going, and I don’t relish the fact that I have a front-row seat. Echo's tone was frigid.
“Damn it, Echo! We weren’t gonna go there! It was just a kiss,” I yelled as I pulled away from Drew. I looked at him apologetically. “She’s already pissed at me.
