Page 25 of Race to Me

I try to keep the hair from blanketing my face as I lean over the edge. “I’m really sorry about my parents. They’re dicks.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re lucky they care about you so much.”

I hate that he’s sticking up for them; he deserves better. “She should have never called you a low-life.”

He shrugs, saying, “They want what’s best for you.” He gestures to the mansion in front of him and then to himself, adding, “I’m not really the kind of guy you bring home to mom.”

“Yes, you are.”A normal mom would love you.

Foster flashes a smile, but I can hardly see him in the black of night. “I’m going home. Text me if you need anything.”

When I sniffle from my crying session before, he grabs the wooden lattice underneath my window and pulls on it. When it doesn’t give, he begins to climb. “What the hell are you doing!”

“Coming to kiss you.”

“You can’t sneak in here. My parents will kill you!” My heart races the closer he gets, imagining his lips near mine again. He continues his climb. “I’m not Rapunzel!” I remind him, but I don’t mention that I do need saving.

I lean out of my window when he gets close, and the sudden wave of nausea I feel from seeing him dangling on the lattice and vines from two stories up scares me more than my dad killing him. “Get in. You can leave through the back door.” I plead, but he shakes his head and wraps his fingers around the ledge of my window.

“Like I said,” He leans forward, and so do I. “I just came up here to kiss you.”

Our lips touch, not wild like earlier, but calm. Like they’ve known each other for years. No tongue involved, just a slow, delicious kiss on the mouth. My eyes are still closed when I feel the warm breeze brush across where his lips once were.

He looks at me as he climbs down, and my heart lurches when one of his hands slips from the wood. “Foster!” I half whisper, half shriek, hoping not to wake my parents.

Foster only laughs, waving it in the air. “I’m kidding, Sky.”

He jumps when he’s about three feet from the ground, and when his boots collide with the pavement, I release the breath that I was holding.

“I’m really sorry about tonight!” I call down as he walks away, not caring if I’m quiet anymore. He’s almost away from here; almost away from them.

He waves it off, walking away. “Goodnight, Freckles.”

“Goodnight, Foster.” I smile when he doesn’t correct me.

Eleven

“Ryder is amazing!” Kate flops down on my bed, wearing the same clothes from the night before.

I smile through sleepy eyes. “Who let you in?” I can’t help but notice that I’m waking up with a smile as big as Kate’s. I’m still reeling from my moment with Foster last night but hurt by my parents’ words. I heard them leave this morning without saying a word.

“Rita,” She grins, holding a muffin and handing me my keys.

“You stayed the night together?” My inner enthusiasm doesn’t match the tone of my voice, and she notices.

“What happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I say quietly.

Kate sits up, scrunching her nose. “What did Ghost do?”

“Nothing,” I sit up too, my cheeks instantly heating. “Foster’s ... different than I thought he would be.” I admit. “He’s so sweet, Kate. I know he hides it, but there’s more to him.”

She listens intently, grinning. Kate’s never heard me talk about a guy like this. “I’m so happy for you!” Then, she frowns. “So why does it look like you cried all night?”

I avert my eyes towards the window. “Just a bad night ...”

She grabs my hands when I don’t respond, her crimson hair so long that it brushes my fingers. “Come stay with me at the dorm tonight.”

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