Page 11 of Heart of Gold
“Hide?”
She looks absolutely mortified as she pushes me into the bathroom and closes the door. I press my ear against it, attempting to hear what’s on the other side as I pull my shorts back on.
“Grayson’s shirt, really?” I hear her sister say from the other room.
Who is Grayson?
“I didn’t even realize I packed it, Liv. The entirety of my closet is red and black.”
I hear a brief pause and her sister speaks again, “Jake and I are going to explore a little today, you should come with.”
“Actually,” she hesitates, “I’m kind of tired. I stayed up too late. I made some new friends.”
“Okay, well, promise me that you’re okay.”
“I promise,” Daisy agrees and I hear the door close, then the one I’m leaning against flies open.
“I figured you would’ve snuck out in the middle of the night.” She huffs.
“Sorry to disappoint,” I snap. “I just thought after last night that…”
“That what?” She sasses. “Nothing happened, sooo…”
She completely flips a switch from last night, you know, when I finally had her laying on my chest not completely hating my guts.
“You know what…” I start, but think better of it, “Nevermind. I’ll see myself out.”
I pull my shirt over my head, and run my fingers through my hair, attempting to smooth it out. I wanted to spend time with her, but I wasn’t going to force her to hang out with me.
“Wait,” She whispers, apologetically. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you. A lot has been going on lately, and my sister just gets under my skin sometimes. She’s kind of judgy.”
I laugh, my mind going to Levi and his constant need to hassle me about football and my lack of social life. “I know what you mean. Levi is super judgy.”
“Levi doesn’t seem judgy,” She huffs, “He’s fun. Olivia is basically my mom.”
“I know exactly what you mean. Levi is all of two minutes older than me and he acts like I still need to be bottle fed.”
“She’s just so… I don’t know. Worrisome. Literally, the girl worries about everything.”
“What do you mean?”
She sighs, pulling at the shirt she’s wearing. “This is my ex-boyfriend’s shirt. I didn’t even realize I packed it, and now she’s worried that I might be depressed or something.”
So that’s who Grayson is. The ex.
Suddenly, I want to tear the fabric from her body in a primal rage. I feel a surge of jealousy course through my veins. A jealousy that I’m not even sure is justified.
“Why would she be worried? Was it a bad breakup?”
She shakes her head, “Not really. He was just really good at messing with my head sometimes, so she’s worried that I’ll sit around and blame myself.”
I can feel my jaw tighten. I can’t possibly imagine a reality where anything would be her fault. When I look at her, I can basically see a halo hovering above her golden hair.
“Blame yourself for what?”
She sighs, “It’s not important.”
“Sounds like it is if your sister is worried about you.”
