Page 35 of Reckless

She produced a satisfied sound, turned around and bolted for the door. One of her small hands was squeezing something. I immediately positioned myself in front of her, took her hand in mine and opened her palm. That whole situation felt way too familiar, but I still couldn’t connect the dots.

“What the hell are you doing?” I asked again and a second later I saw it. The keychain.

“You little thief,” I grinned. I didn’t mind her taking it. That thing meant nothing to me. Apparently that wasn’t the case with little miss Spencer.

She pushed me away and stormed out of my room. I followed her to the hallway.

“I will need my keys back.”

She stopped mid-step, turned around to face me and started taking off my keys with shaky hands. Her whole body was trembling with barely controlled rage. She threw the keys at me, and they scattered on the floor around us.

She reached to open the door of the room she was sharing with Clem, but I grabbed her by the elbow, spun her around and dragged her closer to me. Her face was inches away from mine.

“I gave you something for it, remember?” I asked and her full pink lips parted. “Don’t you think you should givemesomething now that you are taking it back?”

My mouth hovered over hers. I waited for a sign, any indication she was a willing participant in this. She was too young and angry. I was drunk and attracted to her despite my better judgment. Not a good combination.

She lifted her head up just an inch closer to me and that was all I needed. I slammed my mouth down on hers. A voice inside my head was screaming to me that this might be the most stupid thing I had ever done, but I just couldn’t stop.

I dug my fingers in her back and pressed her against me. Her stiff and tense body started melting into mine. She slid her fingers in my hair and a soft moan escaped her lips.

That sound made me stop pretending I had any control over myself. I took a step back towards my room with her in my arms, and the hell with the consequences. She followed, not allowing an inch of empty space to appear between us. We were so consumed by each other that my back hit the wall instead of passing through the open door. Hannah pushed herself off me and without breaking our kiss tried to stir me in the right direction. I tilted her head back and exposed her neck. I scraped it with my teeth and I felt the goosebumps appearing everywhere on her naked skin.

A sound of someone clearing his throat made us both freeze. A second later light blinded us. I forced my eyes open and took a look at Hannah’s beautiful face. She didn’t look worried or embarrassed. Just startled. Her lips were puffy from our kiss. Her eyes filled with emotion I didn’t dare to name.

I turned my gaze to find my father standing in the middle of the hallway with arms crossed over his chest. At least it wasn’t Clementine. I didn’t know how she would react if she found me messing around with her best friend, but knowing my sister I knew she wouldn’t just let it slide.

I ran a reassuring hand on Hannah’s back and pushed her towards her bedroom.

“Go.”

“No…” she tried to protest, but I just shook my head not taking the risk of looking at her, and she stopped.

My fingertips were still brushing her back through her tank top and I knew it only would take one step for her to slip away from my touch.

“Go,” I repeated.

She didn’t move, so I removed my hand from her body and pushed my hands in my front pockets. I focused on my father and fought every cell in body that screamed for me to concentrate on Hannah. To concentrate on the young, impressionable girl who I was just about to sneak into my room.

I already knew how the next morning would go for the both of us, so I decided to distance myself now instead of confusing her even more.

I saw with my periphery how Hannah turned away from me and Dad. When she finally left us alone, we spent a few beats just staring at each other.

“Are you out of your mind? She’s seventeen.”

“I know.”

“She’s your sister’s best friend. Her only friend.” I remained silent. “Fix it. Tomorrow. Sit her down and fix it.”

Dad turned his back on me and went back to his bedroom. I squatted down to collect my keys and went back to mine. I took a shower and half an hour later I left the house without saying a word to anyone.

Chapter Twelve

Hannah

The present

Isteppedoutofthe car and looked around. The pictures I saw on that vineyard’s website looked amazing, but it was breathtaking in person. Tyler’s idea to visit the venues turned out not bad at all. I should have probably told him that, but he didn’t like it when people praised him on anything.

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