Faded (Shattered Book 4) Page 7

  "Mom did. She was a great cook."

  Kenneth smiled and wiped flour from my cheek. The gesture was sweet and in any other case, I would think he simply used the excuse to touch me, but right then and there, I wanted nothing more than to ask him to leave. The idea of a friendly date was not working.

  Or maybe it was not working because I knew exactly how my guest treated this dinner, and I didn't want to give him more reasons to believe that he and I could be more than just friends. I thought it would be easy to get through the night. Sandy said she wasn't going anywhere, until fifteen minutes before Kenneth's arrival, she got an unexpected call and said she needed to run, now.

  And so, I could do nothing but wait for Kenneth and hope he wouldn't get poisoned by my pizza. Not that I ever poisoned anyone, but considering I could hardly control my thoughts and moves, anything was possible tonight.

  "You miss her, don't you?" He asked with all the concern he could possibly put into his question. "Your mom, I mean."

  "I do, all the time. But we'd better talk about something else." I remembered my breakfast with Jeffrey. Talking about my mom with him didn't feel weird, not at all. It was as if we knew each other well enough to talk about anything in the world. It felt really good.

  Speak of the devil…

  I was just about to put my pizza into the stove, when someone broke through the door. Not entered the room, not knocked at the door, but broke through it, making the poor wooden piece bump the wall with a loud cracking sound.

  Kenneth and I rushed to the living room.

  "Jeffrey? What the…" He 'walked' to the couch and fell down on it, face first.

  "Hey, man, let me help you to your room," Kenneth said, trying to help Jeffrey of the couch.

  No such luck.

  "Lea-ve me alo-ne," Jeffrey muttered into the pillow.

  "God, he's drunk." I came over to where he was lying and tried to turn his head so he wouldn't suffocate.

  He smiled with that childish smile that you can see on a Christmas morning when a kid gets the most wanted present ever.

  "Rheeaaa," he sang my name and I loved the way it rolled off his tongue. I could smell alcohol all over him, and he looked so helpless. I caught myself smiling at the situation. Or maybe I was simply so happy to see him again; I didn't really care if he was dead-drunk or sober.

  "Listen, Jeff, you need to get up," Kenneth said. "It's not our room. It's Rhea's."

  My unexpected guest smiled from ear to ear. "Perfect."

  "No, dude, you need to leave. You can't stay here." Again, Kenneth tried to help Jeffrey stand up, but it looked like the last one was not helping at all.

  "I wanna stay here!" He protested, and broke free from Kenneth's grip. "I need a drink, or better two."

  "Will double water do?" I asked with all the sarcasm I could muster at that moment.

  "Yep." Jeffrey put one hand under his head and closed his eyes, murmuring a song that sounded familiar, but I just couldn't remember it.

  Kenneth followed me to the kitchen. "We can't leave him here," he said in a whisper. "It's our date night!"

  "It's a pizza night, not a date," I corrected.

  "But he's not joining it. Period."

  "Your couch is to die for, Rhea!" Jeffrey shouted from the living room.

  I smirked. "Couldn't agree more." Louder I said, "Don't you dare die on it!"

  Kenneth's brows pulled together. "There's nothing funny about this situation."

  "Where's my water?" Jeffrey shouted again. "I'm thirsty…"

  I took the glass of water and went back to the living room, ignoring Kenneth's outraged stare.

  "Here," I said, giving the glass to my drunk neighbor. "Dying on my couch because it's so comfortable and dying on it because you're gonna actually die are two different things. Drink your water and go home. I don't want to deal with your breathless body in the morning."

  His lips glued to the glass, his eyes – to my face.

  "I'm dying without you, Rhea..." The words were soft and quiet. I thanked God Kenneth couldn't hear them. I didn't want any drama between the two of them, and knowing Kenneth, he wouldn't miss his chance to show whose date night it was.

  Someone's phone rang and I didn't immediately realize it was Kenneth's. Just when he spoke, I knew something urgent happened, "Yes, of course, Professor. I'll be right there."

  Jeffrey and I shared a look. I swear if I didn't know he was drunk, I would think he was glad to hear what Kenneth just said into the phone. He gave the glass back to me and lay down on the couch, with his eyes still focused on me.

  "Rhea, I'm so sorry, I gotta go."

  I looked at Kenneth. "What happened?"

  "Someone broke into the lab where I'd been working on a new project."

  "Oh, no… Has something been damaged?"

  "I'm not sure. I need to go and find it out."

  "Okay, I understand."

  He scowled at Jeffrey. "I'll call Levy and ask him to come here and take him away."

  "Leave him." My eyes traveled to the couch. "Obviously, he'd better stay still. I don't want him to puke on my floor."

  "Okay, then… I’ll stop by later to check on you. And maybe try your pizza after all."

  I forced a smile. "Sure." If it ever turns into a more or less eatable thing, of course.

  He kissed my cheek and left.

  I closed the door and turned back to Jeffrey. "How are you feeling? Shall I bring you a pot or something? In case you get sick, I mean."

  "No, but thanks for your concern. I'm touched."

  "Idiot." I sighed and sat down on a chair that was next to the couch. "Why the hell did you drink that much? And by the way, don't you know that drinking on campus is forbidden?"

  "Thanks for the reminder, Miss Obvious. But I needed a drink. I still feel like I need one…"

  "I hoped the water would make you feel better."

  "You would make me feel better." His eyes met mine and there was not a trace of drunk delusions. He was dead serious.

  "What do you mean by that?" I dared to ask, already knowing it was a mistake. But damn, if I didn't want to hear the answer. Heart raced in my chest. It was like playing with the fire that was too dangerous to touch, but too alluring to stay away from it.

  "You know what I mean…" The look in his eyes darkened, making the sparkles of excitement become even more evident.

  He was right, I knew exactly what he meant. He could press just a little harder, if not drunk and daydreaming, light the matches and make the fire inside me burn.

  He knew what I was thinking, I knew what he was thinking, but…

  "Pizza!" The burning smell coming from the kitchen made me jump from the chair and run.

  Jeffrey's sardonic laughter followed me.

  "It's not funny!" I shouted back, taking the ruined meal out from the stove. "What a waste of time…"

  "You mean your date or the piece of dough?"

  He stood at the door, leaning against the doorframe.

  "I thought you said you were dying," I snapped, with my hands on my sides. "Now look at you – you look pretty much alive."

  "What can I say? Your magical water has rescued me."

  "No, shit?"

  He came closer and shook his head, looking at my burned pizza. "Looks like Kenneth will have to find a new girlfriend before you kill him with your cooking skills."

  "Oh, you…" I tried to punch his chest, but he caught my wrists before my hands landed on him.

  "It doesn't really matter how hard you hit me, or how long you'll be denying the obvious, Rhea…we both know what's gonna happen in the end."

  With his chest pressed to mine, I could feel his heart beating beneath his shirt. I wondered if he could feel mine as well.

  "What do you want, Jeffrey?"

  He didn't rush with the response, though I was sure he would say 'You'.

  "There are so many things I want right now, I don't know what to start with." His eyes slipped to my lips and he licked his low
er lip, then bit it with his teeth. "The most important question is - what do you want, Rhea?"

  Every fiber of me was vibrating with excitement. And the need to feel him closer, much closer…

  "It's just an illusion, Jeffrey… Whatever is happening between us is just an instinct, a pulse of attraction. It will fade away as soon as the attraction is gone – faster than you can imagine."

  He swallowed and leaned closer to my face, whispering, "What if I don't want it to fade away? How do I keep you close to me? What do I do to make you stay with me?"

  Wrong words, wrong place, wrong time.

  Everything felt wrong about the moment, except it was so good to be with him; just the two of us, lost in our wishes, with no expectations for tomorrow.

  "You need to sleep it off," I breathed against his lips. The more time I spent with Jeffrey, the less I was sure about anything. Every next moment was taking us away from the day we first met. Maybe if there was no attraction between us, everything would be so much easier – no troubled dreams, no sleepless nights, no fear about what was gonna happen next, no emptiness when away from each other.

  "I wanna stay," followed his barely audible response. "I'll behave, I promise."

  I smiled and so did he. "Do you even know how to behave?"

  "It's never too late to learn something new."

  He pressed his forehead to mine, still holding my wrists. "I missed you, Rhea. Every single day…"

  I shut my eyes, afraid to give his words too much thought. I wish I could close the door that he broke through, close my heart and never let it feel what it felt for him. But I couldn't…

  I was helpless against him, and he knew it.

  "Okay, you can stay."

  His lips brushed mine like a feather. It wasn't a kiss, not really, more like a tease that promised hot troubles and pleasure never known before. He slowly released my wrists and wrapped his arms around me. Even back then, I knew I never wanted to leave his embrace. If only I could make that night last forever…

  ***

  Jeffrey

  I never thought waking up with a girl lying by my side would feel so good.

  I took a deep breath and let Rhea's smell fill me up from within. She was still asleep and the clock on her bedside table showed five in the morning, but the first rays of the morning sun shamelessly broke through the curtains and ruined my dream. Though somehow, what was real now was so much better than my dream.

  Her head rested on my chest, my arms were wrapped around her. Even in my dream, I didn't want to let her go. Last night when she said I could stay, I felt like I won the biggest prize ever. I asked if I could stay in her room and she nodded in response. Silently, we walked to her bed, and just lay there for hours, until we fell asleep in each other's embrace. We didn't talk, but words were not needed. I could feel her hesitation, as well as my own. I knew I shouldn't have stayed or complicated her life with my presence, because I still didn't know if I had a right to promise her anything. I didn't know if I could keep my word and make things between us work. My focus has shifted from classes to her, and this kind of a distraction was not on my to-do list for the nearest future.

  But I needed her by my side.

  I wanted to see her smiling at me, laughing with me; I even wanted to try her pizza, made especially for me, and not for Kenneth or someone else.

  Speaking of Kenneth… The break-in and the urgent call were my ideas, parts of my plan. I just couldn't let him spend the night with Rhea. Knowing how much he wanted to stay not just for a pizza, I knew I needed to come up with something to stop whatever the jerk had in that smart mind of his. Not that I had a right to ruin their date, but I couldn't help it.

  I asked Sandy to help me and she agreed, in exchange for a ticket to her favorite band's show. Unlike Rhea, she was an easy book to read.

  Just before we went to bed last night, I locked the door to Rhea's room, knowing that Sandy wouldn't be back until early in the morning.

  As for Kenneth – he was no longer welcome at the burned pizza party; it was all about her and me now. I wondered if she knew it was just a show and that I was as sober as ever. Even if she knew the truth, she let it go.

  I ran my palm down her back and she moved her head to look at me. She didn't say a word, but I swear it was the best 'good-morning' ever.

  "I thought you were deep asleep," I said.

  "I was. But then, I felt your embrace tighten. I couldn't breathe."

  I chuckled. "Sorry, I didn't realize I was doing it."

  "I'm just kidding." She smiled and rested her chin on her hands, still watching me. "You snore."

  "You are lying. I don't."

  "Yes, you do. Which means it was the first and the last night that I let you spend in my bed."

  "Okay, next time we will fall asleep in mine."

  "Who said there will be a next time?" She sat up, and looked down at me with those big blue eyes of hers; her hair fell down one shoulder in soft waves. God, was she beautiful, like a dream I never wanted to wake up from.

  "There will be many next times," I said. "I promise you that."

  And so, I made the first promise that was out of my plan. It was also the first promise that I failed to keep…

  Chapter 8

  Rhea

  "So…how was your night?" Sandy asked, painting her nails bright purple.

  "What do you mean?" I yawned and poured hot water into a cup.

  "You know what I mean – you and Jeffrey… Come on, girl! I need all the details!"

  "Nothing happened. He was drunk…well, kind of. Kenneth had an emergency in the lab, so I let Jeffrey stay here and sleep it off."

  "You forgot to mention that it was your bed where you let him sleep it off."

  I cursed mentally and turned to look at Sandy. "We fell asleep and that's it, okay?"

  Her smiling eyes told me she didn't believe a word of what I was saying. "Okay."

  I wasn't going to tell her about Jeffrey staying in my bed, or in my room for that matter. But Sandy walked in right when he was about to leave, and considering the door had been locked and she had to open it with a key, she put two and two together and came to an obvious conclusion.

  "So what's next?" She asked, refusing to let the topic go.

  "Nothing." I sipped my coffee and winced – it was too bitter because of the lack of sugar in the kitchen.

  "Does Jeffrey know about the 'nothing' part? He looked pretty damn sure there would be something very interesting when he stays in your bed next time."

  "There will be no 'next time' and he knows that."

  She put her nail polish bottle on the table and frowned. "I don't get it… You like him, it's obvious. He likes you too, which is even more obvious. You spend the night in the same bed, and you are telling me nothing is going to happen next? Ridiculous…"

  "Neither of us is ready for a relationship, if that's what you mean. It's just the beginning of our first year here, we need to focus on classes."

  She made the funniest face ever – a mixture of 'You bore me to death' and 'I'm gonna be sick right now'.

  "Can we talk about something else instead?"

  She nodded. "Sure. I saw Kenneth knocking at our door this morning."

  "What?"

  "You heard me. He was here, but you – obviously – were too busy to open the damn door."

  "Did he ask anything about me?"

  "Yes, but I told him you went to bed late and probably needed a few more hours to rest."

  "Good."

  "It's not good, girl. He's crazy about you. If you don't want to be with him, just say it."

  I sighed and took a chair facing Sandy. "I wish it was that simple. You didn't see him last night… He acted like a jealous boyfriend, even though I made it clear we could be just friends."

  "Hope springs eternal and the guy doesn't want to give up on you."

  "What would you do if you were me?"

  She smiled devilishly and looked at me. "Do you really want to hear
the answer?"

  "Oh, God, no. I should have thought twice before asking you that question."

  "Kenneth is a nice guy, but the chemistry that sparks between you and Jeff is something I would never let go just like that. Besides, who said that classes and a bit of romance don't go well together?"

  "Jeffrey is not here for a bit of romance." I recalled our talk about his choice of profession. He sounded so passionate when talking about the subjects he was going to study. And despite how little he wanted to be like his father, he was his son, and he was full of intentions to prove it.

  "What about you, Rhea? Doesn't your career matter as much as Jeffrey's?"

  "It does and this is exactly why I think we shouldn't rush things."

  ***

  Jeffrey

  Pizza just didn't taste the same anymore. Ever since the night Rhea and I spent together, everything looked, tasted and felt different to me. It had been almost a month since we woke up in the same bed, but I still remembered every single word we shared that night. But more than that, I couldn't stop thinking about the way she made me feel that night. It was as if she wrapped all of my inner torments in a blanket made of pure peace and harmony and tied it around me, so I would never feel any of the above again. It was priceless.

  "Are you gonna eat that last piece?" Levy asked, with his hand half-way to my place.

  "No. Take it if you want it."

  "What's wrong with your mood?" He asked, chewing a piece of bacon.

  "My father called me this morning. He'll be here to do a lecture next month. He wants me to attend it."

  "I don't see what the problem is."

  "The problem is he wants me to say a few words about how I chose to follow in his footsteps, and I hate the idea of everyone thinking I'm here because of his money."

  "Oh, I see… Then don't go to the lecture, problem solved."

  "Easier said than done. You don't know my dad. If he wants me to be there, no excuse is gonna work."

  "Relax, man. Everyone in your group knows that you are smart enough to be here without your daddy's support. Now tell me, how are things with Rhea going?"

  I leaned against the back of my seat and crossed my arms, thinking of the best answer I could give to his question. "Still nothing," turned out to be the only one I could come up with at that moment.