Page 23 of Breaking Free (Guarded Hearts)
“Mom, I wish you would have told me you were coming.”
She clears her throat. “I didn’t expect you to have company. You usually don’t when you’re home.”
My cheeks redden. “Mom, this is Holly, my girlfriend.” There’s that damn word again.
Drew’s mother smiles at me. “Well, as unexpected as this is, I have to say I’m happy to see someone has finally convinced him to calm down. Maya, why don’t we set another place at the table? That way, Andrew and Holly can get their stuff put away.”
Drew places her down on the floor and she runs for the kitchen with her mother slowly following behind her. I lean back against the wall and bury my face in my hands. What a way to meet someone’s mother. Half-naked, pressed against a wall, and about to have sex. She is just going to love me.
“Hey.” I look up at Drew. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know that they would be here.”
“It’s okay. I’m going to go put on a shirt, though.” I look around the enormous house. “Where do I go?”
He laughs. “The entire second floor is mine so walk into any door you like. We’ll be in the kitchen, which is straight through there.” He points his finger where Maya and his mom disappeared. Then he leans down and kisses me before turning around and walking to join his family.
I climb the steps and walk to the first door I see. When I open it, the size of the room takes my breath away. It’s absolutely gigantic. There is a huge four poster bed against the wall directly in front of me, off to the side there’s a large couch and flat screen TV, and then there are three other doors which I can only imagine hold things just as nice. I walk over to the bed, place my bag on it, and begin searching through it for a nice shirt.
I pull on a scoop neck sweater and then make my way downstairs. I can hear them talking as I get closer to the room, and even though I know it’s wrong, I quietly listen.
“So you haven’t told her about Sarah?”
Who the hell is Sarah?
“No, Mom, drop it please.”
“Andrew, you can’t just sweep it under the rug. You’ve done that for six years. If you’re serious about this girl at all then you need to tell her.”
I can’t believe this. I need to know what’s going on. Just then I hear his sister. “Drew Drew, I’m gonna go get Holly.”Shit.I quietly make my way back to the steps, and when Maya walks up, I pretend that I had just come down. “Hi!” She grabs my hand and I flinch as she leads me into the room with Drew and his mom.
He looks up at me and I can tell that whatever his mom said got to him. I stand next to him and look down at the pizza boxes and paper plates on the table. I smile, feeling more comfortable than I did when I thought it would be a formal dinner. Everyone sits down, and once we all have pizza, Drew’s mom turns to me.
“So, Holly, tell me about yourself.”
I hate questions like this. I mean, how the heck are you supposed to answer that? “I’m in school right now, but I really have no idea what I want to major in. I’m from North Carolina and I live with my two best friends who go to the same school.”
She smiles. “How did you and Andrew meet?”
“We met before one of my shows near Holly’s school.” Thank God he saved me.
“Why were you guys kissing? Kissing is disgusting!” Maya blurts out from across the table. We all erupt in laughter.
The rest of the dinner is nice. His mom asks me a few more questions, but nothing serious, and his sister is absolutely adorable. We sit around talking long after dinner is finished and I love it because I’m uncovering different things about Drew that I never knew. Apparently, he’s had a fear of lighting since he was five and has been playing different instruments since he was six. When he was in first grade, he played The Tin Man inTheWizard of Oz, of which his mom has promised pictures and Drew isnothappy. I feel like I fit in with them, which is really great.
Maya is yawning and seems like she is barely able to keep her eyes open so Drew’s mom decides it’s time to leave. “It was really nice to meet you, Mrs. Walker.”
She smiles at me. “Please call me Elizabeth, Holly. It was absolutely wonderful to meet you. Andrew is coming home on Monday for Maya’s birthday; I hope that I will see you then.” She goes to give me a hug and I see no way around it so I grit my teeth as she does.
I pull away before she does, feeling like I can finally breathe when we separate. Once their car pulls away, Drew closes the door and gives me a mischievous look. “What?”
He laughs and pulls me so I’m flush against him. “This is going to be the best fucking six hours of my life.”
My cheeks redden, and then I think about how I can get my revenge from the plane ride. “Six hours?” He nods his head against my neck as he’s kissing it. “It’s nine-thirty. We got to your house around five-thirty, and that means you only have two hours left.”
Chapter Eight
His mouth stills and he raises his head to meet mine. “That’s dirty, James.”
I shrug my shoulders. “I wouldn’t waste my time talking if I were you.” Drew immediately wraps his arm around my legs and throws me over his shoulder like a damn caveman. He carries me into his bedroom and tosses me onto the bed from about two feet away.
