Page 136 of The Boy I Once Hated

“Noah!” she cries, already at her precipice.

“I got you, baby. I got you,” I grunt, my fingers snaking away from her hip to fondle her clit.

On cue, Sky bursts into flames, screaming my name as she comes beautifully on top of me. Unable to hold on much longer, I thrust into her channel and come inside her while telling her how much I love her. How she is the only person I can’t live without. How she is the only thing that gives meaning to my life. After we’ve both touched nirvana with our fingertips, Sky falls limply on top of me, my arms instantly wrapping themselves around her.

But as this wondrous moment subsides, fear starts to creep up my skin, its ugly nails sinking into my heart, causing panic to chill my bones. The feeling is so overwhelming that Sky immediately picks up on it.

“Noah? What’s wrong?”

I stare at her flushed cheeks, how her silver eyes are still hooded from our lovemaking.

“Nothing, baby. Everything is perfect.”

Content with my answer, she snuggles back down to me and lets out an exhale.

“It really is, isn’t it?” She sighs, nestling her face into the crook of my neck.

I tighten my hold on her, unwilling to let her go.

Because if there is something I’ve learned in my young life, it’s that sometimes love isn’t enough to keep the ones you love most in your life.

They end up leaving, whether they want to or not.

* * *

Luckily, when we get home, neither my dad nor Sky’s mom have arrived yet. Not to raise any suspicion, Sky runs into the house while I go to the garage, pretending to fiddle with my bike, as if this is where I’ve been holed up all afternoon. With Daisy working at The Scarlet Letter Café, it’s been a lot easier for no one to keep tabs on me and Sky.

Still, we’ve been careful.

Like Sky, I’m not exactly excited about telling our parents that we’re in a relationship. Not that their disapproval will have us ending it, but I know how much Sky hates disappointing her mother. And dating her stepbrother will definitely be a fucking disappointment to Clara.

But then again, it’s not like Clara has much morality to say anything about it. She was fucking my dad when he was still married to my mom, after all. Not only that, but she was also my mom’s nurse, for Christ’s sake. She watched my mom slip away while secretly sneaking off with my father to do God knows what.

Yeah.

Clara and my dad can fuck off if they have anything negative to say about Sky and me being together. We love each other and like hell I’ll let two hypocrites like them taint our happiness in any way.

When I hear my father’s truck pull into the driveaway, I’m in such a foul mood, reminiscing on the past, that I don’t even acknowledge their arrival. Thankfully, my father doesn’t pop his head into the garage, preferring to go inside the house to get ready for dinner.

But to my dismay, Clara doesn’t follow him in. Instead, she walks into the garage, nervously looking around before she gets the courage to say why she came in here in the first place. Clara never comes into the garage when I’m here. She knows this is my sanctuary. My safe space. And her coming in here uninvited only serves to piss me off more.

When it’s obvious she won’t say anything before I do, I bite the bullet.

“Can I help you?” I ask, rubbing my hands on an old oil-stained rag.

Like Sky, Clara stalls for a bit until she finds her words.

“Has Sky or Daisy ever talked to you about their dad?”

My brow furrows at the question.

“Only that he’s a deadbeat and a waste of a human being.”

“Hmm,” she mumbles. “He wasn’t always like that. We were high school sweethearts. Did they ever tell you that?”

I shake my head.

“We were.” She thins her lips as if the memory holds no joy for her. “There was a time when Grant was the most charming man I had ever met. He still is in a way. Daisy takes a lot after him. They both have this way about them. They pull you in with their charisma andjoie de vivre. When you’re young, that type of personality is exciting, thrilling even. You just want to bathe in their light.”

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