Ruin (9 page)

Chapter Nineteen

I’m not freaking out
—
not yet. Why hasn’t she called back?

Weston

I knew I was being ridiculous when, during class, I kept checking my phone for any missed texts or phone calls.

Kiersten hadn’t responded to me. And I hated that my mind was absolute crap, while I made excuses for why she wouldn’t talk to me.

Was it because of my dad?

Or did I push her too far too fast?

Shit.

My phone vibrated in my hand. Finally!

I looked down at the text.

We still on for 2night?

I was barely able to hide my excitement. As it was, I had such a giant-assed grin on my face, that I’m sure my professor assumed I was high, or looking at dirty pictures or something.

“Something you want to share with the rest of the class, Mr. Michels?” Crap, so she had noticed.

I cleared my throat and nodded. “I have a date.”

A few people whispered around me.

And then I received a slap or two on the back from teammates. My professor, however, seemed less than amused. She rolled her eyes and returned to her lecture. But I couldn’t concentrate. Instead, I texted her back.

Counting down the minutes.

So I’d lost every ounce of game I’d carefully pieced together throughout my existence. I didn’t want to play the cool and aloof guy. The one that had all the time in the world, because I knew I didn’t. And I wanted to capture every damn moment until it was too late.

My hands shook.

I checked my phone again.

I’d need to do another batch of meds before I saw her tonight. If I skipped my next class, took them about an hour early, and lay down, I’d probably be fine for the date. At least, fine enough not to puke all over her pretty face.

Ten minutes later, I strolled out of the room and made a beeline for the dorms.

Chapter Twenty

Why hadn’t I realized until now that I’d never been on a date? What do I wear? Are we eating? Holy crap! I’m think I’m going to be sick…

Kiersten

“Does it look okay? Really?” I asked for the twentieth time.

Gabe smacked his hand against his forehead and cursed. “Just chill out! Geez, I have half a mind to give you alcohol right now. Sit. It’s almost ready.”

I smirked.

Another deadpan expression from Gabe as he ran the iron over the white shirt. “I take this to my grave you know.”

“What? The white shirt?” I asked innocently.

“No.” He rolled his eyes and unplugged the iron. “My Martha Stewart skills.”

“He can sew too,” Lisa announced as she walked into the room and dangled a necklace in front of my face. “In fact, I’m pretty sure if you asked him to knit you a sweater you’d have one by Christmas.”

“Thanks, cousin.” Gabe flipped her off and threw the shirt at me.

“Hey!” I caught it midair. “We don’t want all your hard work going to waste.”

“I need more guy friends,” Gabe mumbled as he took a seat on the couch and sighed into his hands.

Lisa gasped. “I’m offended! You know I’m your favorite.”

His eyes narrowed. “You know you’re a loser when your best friend is your cousin.”

“Aw, Gabe.” Lisa pressed her hand to her chest. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“Right.” He folded his arms and groaned, leaning his head back on the couch. “I need a smoke.”

“You quit,” Lisa sang.

“Fine, then I need alcohol.”

“You don’t drink anymore.”

I laughed when Gabe gave me an exasperated look. He pushed to his feet and walked over to the kitchen. I heard water running and then cursing.

“Don’t mind him.” Lisa waved in Gabe’s direction. “He really isn’t as annoyed as he seems. Promise.”

“Lies,” he yelled from the kitchen.

“Now…” Lisa pointed to my t-shirt. “Strip. He worked hard on this and I want to make sure it looks good with the skirt.”

“Uh…” I shook my head no. “Gabe’s in the kitchen, like right there. I’ll change in my room.”

“It’s like he’s gay. I promise he won’t notice.” Lisa nodded emphatically. Another curse was heard from the kitchen. Poor Gabe.

“Fine.” I quickly took off my T-shirt and reached for the one she held out to me. I slowly did the buttons and then stood for her to examine me. I had a cute miniskirt with tan and white stripes that hugged every curve and a white button up blouse that hung loosely over my hips. In my mind I thought it would look awfu,l but by the large smile on Lisa’s face I could tell I was the one in the wrong.

“Damn,” Gabe said from behind me.

I jerked around.

He grinned. “Oh, and by the way, not gay and most definitely watched.” He said
watched
with such a predatory snap of his teeth that I took a step back.

“Gabe, stop scaring her,” Lisa scolded. “Now, Kiersten, put on the necklace and heels and you’ll be ready.”

I did as she said and then stood in front of both of them and did a quick turn.

Gabe leaned forward, his forearms flexing against his legs as he put pressure on his legs to stand. “Nope. Change.”

“What? Why?” I felt my face fall . “Doesn’t it look good?”

“Lisa, do you want her to be taken advantage of?” He shook his head and walked around me like a tiger stalking its prey.

“The top isn’t even low! She has it buttoned for crying out loud!” Lisa argued.

“Right,” Gabe snarled.

Before I knew what was happening he’d reached around me and put two of his fingers directly on my chest at the last button. “And every damn minute of the night he’s going to wonder how many seconds it will take to strip every last button on her shirt.”

“The skirt’s fine.” Lisa stood her ground.

“Right.” Gabe’s hand moved to my skirt and gave it a little tug. “It may as well be a second skin the way it hugs every single curve, and you know what guys think.”

Lisa rolled her eyes. I, however, stood frozen in place.

“He’s going to want to touch her legs. He’s going to want to—”

“Gabe!” Lisa stood to her feet and marched over to us. “Is this about him? Or you?”

“I don’t want in her pants!” he all but yelled.

“Um, I’m standing right here,” I said in a quiet voice.

Gabe paced around the room in front of me. “It’s about him. What if he touches her? What if she can’t find her whistle, and—”

“You’re going to be
such
a great dad,” Lisa announced. “Now, it’s time to cut the apron strings. Tell her she looks pretty and let it go.”

Gabe crossed his arms and pouted.

I waited with Lisa.

Finally, he swore and looked me in the eyes. “You look really pretty.”

“Thank you!” I slowly walked over to him and kissed him on the cheek. “That means a lot.”

“Lisa,” Gabe said with gravel in his voice. “Give us a minute.”

“But—”

“I said give us a minute.”

“Fine.” She stomped off into her room leaving me alone with Gabe.

“Do you know how to hit a guy?” he asked, grabbing my hands. “If I pull you close to my body, do you know how to knee me, where to knee me?”

I lifted my knee quickly, causing Gabe to stumble back and smile. “Well done.”

“Anything else, Dad?” I laughed.

He growled and pulled me close again. “If he tries to touch you, if he does anything that you don’t want, you blow the damn whistle and call me. I don’t care what time of night it is, okay?”

I sighed and nodded.

Gabe released me.

“Why are you so protective of me? You don’t even know me.” I went to sit on the couch, waiting for Wes to come pick me up.

“No freaking clue.” Gabe took a seat next to me and put his arm around the back of the couch. “I just can’t stand the idea of something happening to you. And even though I keep saying this until I’m blue in the face, it’s not because I’m jealous. I just… I have a really bad feeling about him.”

“You gotta let the baby birds fly, Gabe.” I smacked his knee. “And you have to trust my judgment. He’s been a complete gentleman with me.”

“I know that.” Gabe pinched the bridge of his nose. “But don’t you think it’s weird? His entourage? The fact that he’s an RA? I mean, why is he an RA? I even asked a few of the other upperclassmen. It was never supposed to be him, and nobody’s talking. And then the whole football thing. One of my friends on the team said he collapsed at practice. What if he’s on drugs or something?”

“I highly doubt that.” I shook my head, refusing to believe it. “I think he’s probably just overwhelmed. I mean, wouldn’t you be?”

After a while Gabe answered. “Probably. Just be careful.”

“And for the twentieth time,” I sang out. “I will.”

At the sound of the knock on the door, my heart began thumping against my chest as if it was going to beat its way out and land on the floor.

Lisa ran from her room, nearly tripping over the table blocking her way, and stopped in front of the door, fixed her hair, and swung open the door.

Chapter Twenty-One

For the first time in a year,
I wanted to live
—
because I wanted to spend every freaking day watching her open her eyes to the world. Hell,
I wanted to be the first thing she saw. Sometimes, reality’s a bitch.

Weston

I don’t know what I’d thought she’d be wearing — but it wasn’t that. It was a short skirt, a billowy shirt, and high heels made to make guys want to touch her feet. And I was so not a foot person.

“You look…” I swallowed. “Beautiful.”

I heard Gabe grunt behind her. So clearly he still wasn’t a fan. I made a mental note to try to win him over later that week rather than sit by and listen to him grunt and groan every time I paid a compliment to the girl I liked.

Aw, crap. I was crushing. And I really didn’t have the luxury of doing that. I looked at her skirt again and the legs that led up to those full cute hips. Damn.

“You ready?” I croaked, sounding like a pubescent teen.

“Sure.” She smiled warmly and grabbed a strappy thing I can only assume was a purse, either that or a weapon. I held out my arm and escorted her out the door.

“Got your whistle?” I asked.

“Check.”

“Cell phone?”

“Check.”

“List?”

She stopped walking and looked up into my eyes. “You know you really don’t have to help me with that. I mean, I’m sure I can—”

“Stop.” I pressed a finger to her lips. “We’re going to tackle the list, but remember, I said I could only help with a few. That whole falling in love thing will have to be saved for someone who’s worthy of that heart of yours.”

She laughed. “How do you know my heart’s good?”

I stopped and pressed my palm flat against her chest, relishing the way her healthy heart slammed against my skin. I could almost feel it beating for my heart, making it stronger. I pulled back, noticing the flush in her cheeks.

“It’s a good heart. Strong beat, though I’m pretty sure it skipped one when I touched you.”

“Very funny.” She looked away.

“I can tell you have a good heart…” I sighed, opening the door to the outside. “…because the minute I met you, I wanted to fight for it.”

She was silent.

“That’s how you can tell when someone has a good heart.”

“When you want to start a war?” She laughed, clearly trying to lighten my mood.

“Nah.” I sighed. “When you want to be the one to make it beat.”

I seriously needed to stop coming on so strong. I was going to send her screaming down the street, and I really didn’t want to see her sprain her ankle in those kick ass heels.

“This is me.” I pointed to the black Porsche Cayenne and opened her door for her. It was the only car I owned that wasn’t so exotic people wanted to stab me in the eye. I’d wanted a truck for my sixteenth birthday. My dad had gotten me a Mercedes that politicians drove, complete with bullet-proof glass. The Cayenne was my purchase, the first day I was able to access my trust fund.

Kiersten was quiet. I quickly ran over to my side and jumped into the SUV.

Kiersten’s hands ran down the leather seats, her eyes taking in every single detail of the interior. Funny how years ago I would have never done that, but now? Now I got it. Because you never knew when a moment would be your last. So why not soak up every last memory? Like now, the sun was just starting to go down, which meant part of it was shining into the car directly across her red hair making it appear like it was glowing.

I sighed.

She turned to look at me. “What are you doing?”

“Staring,” I answered honestly. “I think you owe me that, especially since you felt me up the first time we met.”

She hid her face in her hands. “I did not!” Her cute voice was muffled by her hands still covering her face.

“Um, you did.” I started the car. “I’ll take it to my grave, don’t worry.” Shit, I really needed to stop with those comments.

I checked my watch, hopefully I-5 wasn’t a complete mess. I really didn’t want to miss our first stop.

“So?” She fidgeted with her seatbelt. “Where are we going?”

“Bungee jumping,” I answered with a deadpan expression. “It is on your list isn’t it?”

Her eyes widened as she looked down at her skirt then back up at me.

“I won’t look. Promise.”

She swatted me across the stomach.

“Fine, fine.” I laughed. “Just don’t hit me. We’re going on a date.”

“I know that.”

“Then…” I took the first exit. “That’s really all you need to know, isn’t it?”

It had been years since I’d actually taken a girl out. With football practice and the fact that Lorelei refused to go anywhere in public unless it was some sort of celebrity event, it had been a while.

“Almost there.” I took the next left and drove down the private road. I knew she probably didn’t have any idea where we were, which kind of excited me. I didn’t want her to freak though. “Still got your whistle?”

“Why?” Her eyes darted to mine. “Am I going to need it?”

“No.” I laughed. “Just checking.”

“Are you taking me into the woods to kill me?”

“Um, no.”

She exhaled.

“If I was going to kill you, I probably wouldn’t make it known that we were out on a date at all. Pretty sure Gabe would come running around the corner, guns blazing the minute you didn’t text them to say you were okay.”

Kiersten laughed. “That’s true, I guess.”

I loved her laugh. I was turning into a lunatic — a craving, needing, drug-addicted insane person. I put the car in park and turned it off.

“What are we—”

“Get out of the car,” I said nicely. “And I’ll show you.”

We were at Lake Washington, in a private, secluded spot owned by my family. No interruptions and nothing crazy. Just us. Thank God. I even told James and David that if they showed up I’d find a way to get them fired.

Pissed, they’d finally given up when I told them they could at least track my movements and my vitals through the freaky doctor technology given to us by my dad’s so-called experts.

“So, now what?” Kiersten crossed her arms and looked out at the lake. She seemed nervous. Her eyes kept darting from the water down to the rocky ground as if she wasn’t really sure where to look. Apparently, anywhere but at me.

“One,” I said.

“What?” Her head snapped up.

“One.” I reached for her hands and pulled her against my chest. “We can cross off number one on the list.”

Her brow furrowed and then realization kicked in, and her eyes widened. “Oh no! I mean, we already kissed, we did that. I—”

“Shh.” I bit down on my lip, telling myself to take my time tasting her. This wasn’t to prove a point. This was me showing her what it was like to be truly kissed. “If I remember correctly, your list said ‘kiss a hot guy
’
.”

“Yeah, but—”

“I’m changing it. You see, all guys want to be kissed by a girl. But you? You deserve to be the one receiving the kiss, not giving. That’s not how this works. So I’m deeming myself the hot guy, and I’m going to kiss you. I’m going to kiss you so hard that you forget everything but my lips pressed against yours.” I brushed some of her lush red hair away from her face and tapped my fingertips against her jaw as they ran up the side of her cheek and lightly tugged her head forward. “I’m going to taste you like you deserve to be tasted.”

Her lower lip trembled.

“I’m going to make it so hard for you to forget this first kiss that you don’t want anyone else kissing you ever again. When the guy you fall in love with kisses you — it better put this kiss to shame — if it doesn’t, then he isn’t the right guy. Because I’m going to do a damn good job, and I want the guy that earns you, that takes that heart of yours and holds it in the palm of his hands… I want that guy to be able to make you feel things I’ll just be tapping into. Do you understand, Kiersten?”

My voice was hoarse. I hadn’t meant to say all that. I hadn’t meant to turn it into a goodbye kiss before we’d really said hello
.
But that was what it felt like, because I realized in that moment. I probably wasn’t going to be that guy. I’d be cold, dead, in the ground, and she’d be warm and alive. I swallowed and touched my fingertips to her lips. “I want the earth to shift.”

My hands moved to the side of her neck, and I caressed her smooth skin and tugged her even closer to my lips until our mouths were a breath apart. “So this is me…” I kissed her softly across the mouth massaging her lower lip with mine, forming it, not pushing it, so that when she responded she knew the exact pressure it would take for the kiss to be sealed. “A hot boy…” I smiled against her mouth “…trying to kiss, a very pretty, very beautiful, very deserving girl.” My hand slipped to her chest, not to feel her up, but to touch what I so craved. Her heart beat wildly against my hand. “This is me, taking the very first thing off your list. And now I’m going to stop talking…”

Her breath hitched as my mouth met hers in such a whisper that it was almost as if we weren’t touching, but we were. Her lips were wet. I licked along the seam, breaking them apart, and then slowly letting her taste take over. I pushed my tongue against the inside of her mouth loving the way her body tensed as the pressure increased.

She moaned, putting her arms around my neck. I helped her, rocking her harder against my body. My hands came around her back, and I tried to get all of her to press against me. I’d never felt so alive as when that girl, that perfectly strange girl who I’d only met days before, was near me. I could almost believe her heartbeat was my own as her tongue danced with mine. I increased the pressure, cupping her chin with my hand. I moved my lips down her neck and behind her ear. Alternating between trailing hot kisses down her neck and blowing against the coolness my kisses left when my lips released their hold. Damn, I wanted to bite her. I wanted to keep tasting her over and over again until I had no strength left, but that was just the thing. Always a time limit, always a buzzer when it came to me.

We broke apart slowly, both of our chests heaving.

She opened her mouth, but I pressed my fingers against it.

“Ready for the next part of your date?” I didn’t want her to discuss the kiss like most girls would, or feel awkward about it. So I just changed the subject. Mainly because I didn’t want her to embarrass herself, and also because I was feeling a hell of a lot of arousal in my body, and I didn’t want to draw attention to myself. My self control was that of a thirteen-year-old boy. It took everything in me not to be selfish and throw her against my car, lifting that tiny skirt until my hands—

Right.

I shook my head. Clearly the kiss had affected me. I wanted it to be romantic for her. I told her I wanted her world to change. Hadn’t expected mine to shift as well.

“The other part of the date?” She grinned. Her face was flushed. “You mean you didn’t just take me out here to make out?”

“Yes.” I grinned. “No.” Cursing, I ran my hands through my hair. “Okay, guilty on both accounts. Fine. To be fair, I wish I could kiss you all damn night, but kissing always leads to…”

“Hugging?” She gave me a saucy wink.

“Right.” I laughed and looked away. “Lots of tight, uh, hugging.”

“So…” She looked back at the car. “Do we get in or what?”

“Nope.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out a blindfold. “Now you trust me.”

“Should have known you’d wait until after you kissed me to kill me.”

“All the good serial killers seduce and then kill.” I sighed. “Now, give me two minutes to set up and we’ll be ready to go.”

“Okay.”

I waved in front of her face to make sure she couldn’t see and then ran back to the Cayenne.