Page 56 of Tell Me Softly
“Trust me. If you think that’s the wrong road, you don’t know half the things I have in mind for you.”
She blushed. This seemed like a good moment to make my exit. “Remember, you promised me we could talk.”
“Taylor…” The mere mention of it seemed to stress her out.
“See you in the back of the bus. Let’s go ahead and call it a date.” I touched the tip of her nose and walked off to go sit with my friends.
If only I had known what was going to happen after our little party, I’d have probably thought twice.
Fuck that! I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Kami
After lunch, we gathered in front of the bus that would take us to Falls Church. Basically all my friends were on the cheerleading team, and almost all their boyfriends were on the basketball team, so it looked like a good time was in store. But I was nervous: I hadn’t seen Thiago, and I had no idea what would happen when our eyes met again. I couldn’t keep my brain from returning over and over to what had happened with him. I was so anxious, I was shaking.
Everyone else was talking while they waited for the coaches to come take roll and let us on, but I noticed Julian standing at a distance from the rest of the team. He was leaning on a column, staring into space as if he weren’t one of us. When I caught his eye, I wandered over. I smiled, but he didn’t smile back.
“Hey,” I said. “What’s up?”
He waited a moment before responding. “I guess I’m just getting bored waiting for us to go have that coffee,” he said, voice quivering, a very serious look on his face. Was he angry at me?
“Shit, I’m sorry, Julian…”
He smirked. “I’m kidding, Kami!” His features relaxed. “I know you’re busy. Don’t worry about it.”
“No, I really am, though. If you want, I’ll come to your room tonight and we can watch a movie or something. I have the feeling everyone else is going to get wasted, and that isn’t exactly what I’m in the mood for.”
“For real?” he asked, excited.
“For real! I’m pretty sure it’s against the rules for me to go to a guy’s room, but I’ll figure out a way.”
“Huge,” he said. “Do you like horror movies?”
“I love them!”
It was so nice to see him looking happier. You don’t always know the effect you have on a person. And if Julian needed a friend, I definitely did too. He seemed like he could be a good one.
The coach arrived and called for us to line up in front of the door to the bus. Thiago was with him, holding the list with our names on it.Shit, I thought, feeling like I’d been punched in the stomach.
I fell in behind my friends and watched everyone climb the steps and take their seats, wondering what to do about that talk with Taylor. Because if I sat with him, Thiago would definitely see. I knew his threats of punishing me were serious, but was I really going to let him meddle in stuff that didn’t concern him? I got it––he hated me because of what had happened to his family. Fine, I could deal with that, even if it hurt. But his brother had different feelings, and he needed to respect that. He couldn’t tell other people what to do with their lives, and I planned on letting him know that the next time he decided he had the right to order me around.
There was another thing too: after what had happened, I was getting the feeling that Thiago’s real motivation was jealousy. No one could hold a grudge that long. The thought was so strange,though––Thiago, jealous? Thiago, attracted to me? It wasn’t real; it was like some weird dream.
The line was shrinking, and I kept moving farther back toward the end, trying to avoid contact with him. I was scared to face that moment when I’d have to look in his eyes and remember when I’d wanted him so bad. But then the moment came. Aaron Martin got in, and I was the last person left. I’d been stupid to hang back, because now there was no one there to stop him from doing or saying whatever crossed his mind.
He must have known I was trying to avoid him. I knew he had to be thinking about what we’d done the night before. I was almost squirming as I tried to walk past him, but he was like a magnet, and I froze, unable to keep myself from looking up.
He hadn’t shaved and hadn’t gelled his hair, but that only made him sexier. He looked rough, wild. And I wondered if he’d had a sleepless night too. If he had tossed and turned, with my image in his head.
“Kamila, get on the damn bus,” he said, breaking the spell. Jerk. I felt like a pathetic loser. But in my heart, I knew I was right. He wasn’t indifferent to me. He didn’t just hate me. Beneath all that, I was sure I could sense desire.
Yes. Thiago wanted me, and worst of all, he didn’t seem to be capable of hiding it.
I remembered his fingers in my mouth, his body burning like a sun. Those visions shattered as he grabbed my arm and said softly, so only I could hear him, “Please, Kam, just get in.”
Kam. The name he always used to call me.
