Faded (Shattered Book 4) Page 11

  Next thing happened, her lips were on mine, sultry and firm, but there were so many emotions in that kiss, as if she had been waiting forever to give it to me.

  Her hands wrapped around my neck, mine – around her waist.

  We kissed like there was no tomorrow, for us or at all. Pain, fear, hate – all mixed in that one kiss. I swear I never wanted to freeze the damn time as much as I wanted it right there and then. So we could be together no matter what, with nothing to break us apart. And maybe she wasn't ready to let me stay longer than one night, I wasn't going to leave. Not now nor ever.

  ***

  The morning came with a soft light breaking through the windows of Rhea's bedroom. I looked at the clock on the wall – it showed eight in the morning. We were still in bed, wrapped in each other's embrace.

  After the kiss, we talked until late in the night, about everything: our childhood, our families, our parents. Until she fell asleep in my arms, tickling my neck with her warm breath.

  God, what is there for us in the future? Or is there a future for us at all?

  We were so young. Both trying to find the right ways to follow. We didn't live in the moment. Neither of us knew what it was like to live here and now and not to think about the future. But for the first time in my whole life, I was afraid to think about it, because chances were high she wouldn’t share it with me. At this point, it was nearly impossible to believe we would go separate ways.

  Rhea moved in my arms and said quietly, "A penny for your thoughts."

  I brushed a strand of hair away from her face and kissed her forehead. "I didn't know you were awake."

  "Have been for a couple of minutes now. Didn't want to disturb your mental talk."

  I smiled. "How do you know I like talking to myself?"

  "It's always good to talk to someone smart, isn't it?"

  "Indeed."

  She sat up and looked down at me, "I need to go to the hospital. I promised dad to visit him in the morning."

  "Do you want me to go with you?"

  "Do you want to go with me?"

  "Of course I do."

  To my surprise, she didn't argue with that. "Okay. We can have breakfast at the café around the corner."

  "Deal. Do you have a spare toothbrush I could borrow?"

  "I think I do. Check the glass shelf in the bathroom."

  I nodded and left the room, giving Rhea a chance to get changed.

  When passing by a wooden cabinet that was in the hall, I saw a picture of a woman. She was in her late thirties, with the eyes the same as Rhea's and curly black hair. Something about her looked familiar, though I was sure I had never seen her before.

  Just then, I paid attention to the dress she was wearing – it was the same dress a woman from one of my dreams was wearing. I remembered it because with the lack of the opportunity to see her face, the dress was all I could see when she was talking to my father.

  Was she real? No, scratch that – was she Rhea's mother? Did my dad know her?

  "Rhea!" I called.

  "What is it? Did you find a…" She stopped mid-sentence and looked at the picture in my hands.

  "It's your mom, right?"

  "Yeah. This picture was taken a few months before she died."

  "Maybe I'm gonna sound weird, but… Did she know my father? I mean in person."

  She shrugged. "I don't know. Why?"

  "Because I think I saw her at my house once."

  "In Pittsburgh?"

  "Yes."

  She frowned, as if she was trying to remember something.

  "She never told me she went to Pittsburgh, but a few days before she died, she went somewhere with her friend, Shelly. They returned late at night and I heard mom ask her not to tell anyone about their trip." She paused for a moment. "Do you think she went to see your father? What for?"

  "I think I know someone who could give us the answer to that question." I made a mental note to talk to my dad when he arrives in New York. Meanwhile, Rhea and I needed to make sure her father was going to be okay. I put the picture back on the cabinet and went to find the toothbrush.

  ***

  Rhea

  Three days later, I still felt like crap. My mood left much to be desired, and my desire to leave the room got to a zero point.

  "Don't you have any lectures to attend?" Sandy asked as she put a cup of steaming coffee on my bedside table.

  "I do, in the afternoon. And thanks for the coffee."

  "Lucky you. I had to wake up at six-thirty to be ready for my eight o'clock class." She looked at her reflection in the mirror and turned around a few times to make sure the new dress looked good on her. "How are things with Jeffrey going?"

  "They are going… Not sure where though."

  "Is everything that bad?"

  Jeffrey and I hadn't talked since Sunday, when he accompanied me to the hospital. Dad was feeling better, though he still needed to stay under a doctor's supervision until next week.

  "We decided to give each other some time to think about everything." It was true. So it was the deal that we made on Sunday. And considering all my thoughts ended up with the image of him kissing me in my bedroom, my attempts to find a perfect solution for our 'problem' were pointless.

  "I just don't get it guys… Do you want to be together or not?" I didn't tell Sandy about the reason for my hesitation.

  "We do… I guess." Another truth that was hard to ignore.

  "Then what's the problem?"

  "Hard to explain."

  "Ugh, this is crazy. If I were you, I wouldn't miss a single chance to make him mine."

  Smiling, I said, "Is this dress for Levy?"

  "No, but I'm sure he's gonna like it."

  "As well as what's hidden beneath."

  "Ha-ha, Miss Smartass. Levy and I… We are just trying to figure out if there's a chance for something more than friendship."

  "I'm sure he has already pictured you in all the possible and impossible 'chances' of whatever it is that is happening between you two."

  "Unlike you and Jeffrey, we, at the very least, know there can be something 'possible' and 'impossible'."

  "True." I sighed.

  Just as I was about to get up from my bed, someone knocked at the door.

  "Are you waiting for someone?" Sandy asked.

  "No." Holding a cup in my hands, I went to open the door.

  "Morning," Jeffrey said, leaning against the doorframe.

  God, he looked amazing. With a five o'clock shadow on his cheeks that made him look even sexier than ever. His hair was in a slight mess, making me want to tangle my fingers in it. And his lips… I missed them so much.

  "Morning," I said in response.

  "We ran out of coffee supplies. Do you mind sharing a cup with me?" He pointed to my coffee.

  "What a lame excuse," Sandy commented from behind me. "Starbucks is right around the corner, remember?"

  "Give me a break, Candy. I need to talk to Rhea."

  "All right, doves. Take your time." She took her phone and disappeared behind the door of her bedroom.

  "Come in, I'll make coffee for you." I closed the door behind Jeffrey and we went to the kitchen.

  He let me boil the water without saying anything or asking questions. Just as the coffee was ready and I gave him a cup, he said, "I miss you, Rhea…"

  "That makes two of us," I said quietly. I felt the urge to touch him, to dive in his embrace that always made me feel so good.

  "How's your dad doing?"

  "Better."

  "Are you going home for the weekend?"

  "I…haven't decided yet. Why?"

  "How about spending the weekend with me? Just you and me."

  Now that was a very tempting invitation.

  "What do you have in mind?"

  "Nothing dirty, I promise. Let's run away together. Just for two days."

  "Where are we going to run?"

  "It's a surprise."

  "I can't leave the city. Because of my da
d."

  "We will stay in New York."

  Was it stupid to say 'yes, please, take me anywhere you want'? Maybe… Considering I still hadn't decided anything about our relationship. But saying 'no' was even harder to do.

  "Okay…"

  He looked genuinely surprised. "You are not kidding, are you?"

  I laughed. "I am not kidding. I will go with you."

  With every passing day, it was harder to convince myself I didn't love him, to pretend I didn't want him to love me back. Because every time our eyes met, I lost myself in him, entirely and permanently.

  "Then I'll see you on Friday. Be ready by six in the evening."

  On Friday… I'm gonna count seconds until I see you again.

  "Thanks for the coffee," he said. He put the cup on the table and looked at me again. "Just before I leave…there's something I wanna do first."

  He came closer and leaned in, putting his finger under my chin. Our foreheads touched. "I missed this as well." Then his lips were on mine and he was kissing me desperately, as if it was going to be our last kiss ever. I couldn't fight the thoughts and desires running through me at that moment; they flooded my senses and turned me into a prisoner of my own weakness and his undeniable power over me.

  His kiss was made of pure fire that he so easily managed to plant inside my heart and make it burn for him solemnly. Move by move, he prolonged his seduction, making me melt into him, forget my own name and breathe him instead of the air.

  "Rhea… Rhea Burns," the name said in a whisper tickled my lips. I swear it never sounded so wonderful. "I gotta go, or I'm gonna be late for my class." He traced a line above my lower lip and smiled. "Not that I mind staying to see where this day could take us."

  "Go." I slightly pushed him away, no matter how much I wanted him to stay.

  "Friday, six o'clock. Be ready." He stepped back, but never broke eye contact with me.

  "I'll be ready." I swallowed and bit my lower lip not to show him just how excited I was about the upcoming weekend. Butterflies in my stomach did a crazy dance.

  God, I was getting obsessed with this guy. Two days already felt like forever until I would see him again.

  "My, my…" Sandy said, walking into the kitchen. "You look like melted jelly!"

  I quickly turned away from her piercing eyes. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

  "Right… Anyway, I'm leaving. So don't forget to lock the door when you go for classes later today. Oh, and…don't wait for me in the evening. Chances are high I might be back late."

  My eyebrows rose in a silent question.

  "Levy said he wants to have a closer look at my new dress."

  I chuckled. "I knew this dress would be trouble."

  "Me and the dress – double perfect trouble!" Sandy danced-walked to the door. "Have a nice day, doll! Muah!"

  CHAPTER 12

  Jeffrey

  "Mr. Coleman, would you stop texting, please?"

  Professor Pitts hated students using their phones during his lectures, as well as many others of course, but I needed to tell Levy I was gonna leave for the weekend, so he knew the entire room would be all for him. As far as I knew, Kenneth was going to spend a few days at home. Someone told him he saw me kissing Rhea, and he got furious. Not that I felt guilty about it.

  "Sorry," I said to the professor and performed my best smile. I hid my phone in my jeans pocket and took the pen, pretending I was all ready to write every word he was gonna say next. His disapproving look said he didn't buy it.

  "I wanna see your notes at the end of this class, Mr. Coleman."

  Oh, shit…

  "Sure." Where the hell do I get previous notes from this damn lecture?

  "You can take mine," a girl sitting next to me said. I didn't even know her name, but she looked like one of those students who always had everything under control.

  "Thanks…"

  "Erin."

  "Right. I have a bad memory for names. Sorry."

  She smiled and adjusted her glasses that looked too big for her face. Or maybe it was all about fashion. Who the hell knows, right?

  The lecture went on and when it was time to show Professor Pitts my notes, Erin gave me her notebook and told me to return it by Monday.

  "Who would have thought you had such beautiful handwriting, Mr. Coleman?"

  Shit… I should have looked at Erin's notes first.

  "All thanks to my mom. She always wanted a girl."

  "I bet." The professor gave me a suspicious look. "Be more attentive during my next lecture. I'll give every student a special task and I hope to have it done in time."

  "Of course."

  He returned Erin's notebook and started packing his bag. "Before you go, Mr. Coleman, I wanted to ask you something."

  "What is it, Professor?"

  "Are you going to attend your father's lecture next week?"

  "Yes. Why?"

  "I thought you would want to be prepared for his questions. Here," he gave me a folder that contained two pages full of questions that my father obviously wanted to ask the students."

  "Thank you," I said, not sure why he suddenly wanted to help me.

  "I know you are smart enough to answer them, but I also know what it's like to be the son of a man like your father."

  I got curious. "Who is your father, Professor?" He was around forty and I wondered if I knew the man he called his dad.

  "Next time you go to Professor Lander's lecture, ask what he thinks about The Great Recession. He and I could never come to the same conclusion about its causes."

  My mouth opened and shut in surprise.

  "Your father is the head of the University?"

  "No wonder I never got a single A+ in his classes." He smiled and left the classroom.

  Professor Lander was a well-known pain in the ass. No one ever got an A+ from him.

  I looked at the folder in my hands again. Turned out I wasn't the only son on the planet who was afraid to disappoint his father. Though I was sure, my dad was a much easier going person than the one whose name hit like ton of bricks every student crossing the threshold of his classroom.

  About ten minutes later, Levy and I met for lunch at Starbucks.

  "So what are you up to?" He asked, chewing his sandwich.

  "Not telling you a thing."

  "Why?" He took a napkin and wiped sauce from his mouth. "I'm almost your best friend."

  "Almost is the keyword here."

  "Damn, I'm hurt… I genuinely believed we were good friends." We both knew his words and mine were just a joke.

  "Don't start crying. You don't want the girls sitting over there to think you are a ninny."

  He turned to the table I just nodded to and winked at the girls sitting there.

  "Does Sandy know you are flirting with every girl who smiles at you?"

  "If she didn't, she would never want to date me."

  "So you two are dating?"

  "Something of the sort. I bought her flowers yesterday and today we are having dinner together. Does that sound like dating?"

  "Much like it to me."

  "Then yes, we are dating."

  "Good. I think you are a perfect match." I said as serious as ever.

  "Really? I thought we were polar opposites, but now that we have spent more time together, I can see that we have a lot in common."

  "No, shit?" I almost laughed. Almost.

  "I thought you said we were a perfect match."

  "I didn't know you would take it that seriously."

  He threw a napkin at me and said, "What kind of a friend are you?"

  "Sorry. Sandy is a good girl. I mean it."

  The look in his eyes said he doubted I did.

  "Anyway, what are you going to do while Kenneth and I are off for the weekend?"

  "I'll come up with something, don't worry."

  "I bet you will."

  "Speaking of Kenneth. He said he would move to a different room. Guess why?"

  "Surpris
e me."

  "You lucky son of a bitch – because he said he couldn't stand sharing a room with a traitor."

  "I didn't betray him."

  "Of course not. You stole his girl."

  "She wasn't his, or anyone's for that matter. I simply used my chances with her. And winners can't be judged." I looked at my watch. "Sorry, I gotta go. There's something I need to do."

  "If 'the something' is Rhea, she's at the first-aid post."

  "What happened to her?"

  "Have no idea. I saw her going in there on my way here."

  "Why am I the last person to hear about it?"

  "Sorry, man. It passed out of my mind."

  Worried, I left Starbucks and rushed to the first-aid post. What could have happened to Rhea?

  "Not so fast, young man!"

  I turned around and saw a nurse running after me.

  "Where do you think you are going?"

  "I'm looking for Rhea Burns. She came here about half an hour ago."

  "Miss Burns is talking to the doctor now. Please wait here," she pointed at the chair near the window.

  I didn't take a seat. "Is she all right?"

  "She has a foot dislocation. It's not too serious. But she will need to wear an elastic bandage for a couple of days."

  Next second, the door to the doctor's office opened and I saw Rhea accompanied by the doctor.

  "Jeffrey? How did you know I was here?"

  "Are you a friend of hers?" The doctor asked.

  "Yes, I am."

  "Good. Take this prescription and buy the needed ointment. She needs to apply it twice a day, three days in a row."

  "Will do."

  "You don't need to help me," Rhea said, limping slightly. Her left foot was covered with a bandage.

  "How the hell did this happen?" I pointed to her foot.

  "The floor in the hall was wet after the cleaning. I didn't notice it and slipped."

  "Don't worry, your foot will be OK till the wedding day."

  "Hope so. I don't want to limp to the altar."

  A weird feeling crept up my spine. I never felt it before, but now I knew exactly what it was – jealousy. For a second, I imagined Rhea marrying someone else; everything inside me protested against it.