Page 72 of The Other Half

Her mom looks horrified, but surprisingly, her dad appears calm. Like he expected it almost.

“But, Oakley, you’re only eighteen. And you’re supposed to live in a dorm next year.”

“I’m also not going to Angelwood…” she explains, looking down at the floor. Her mom shakes her head, her face still twisted up in confusion.

“You aren’t?”

“I’m going to community college for two years instead. I didn’t get into any other colleges, and I know I won’t be able to keep up at Angelwood. It just doesn’t make sense to go somewhere knowing I’ll probably fail.”

Her dad doesn’t look happy by any stretch of the imagination, but I can tell he isn’t going to fight it either. “She’s probably right, Denise. Angelwood’s classes are extremely difficult.”

I watch as Oakley’s face deflates. I know what he’s doing, backhandedly insulting her intelligence. “She could easily do it, if she wanted to. I’d be glad to help her in any subjects that are hard for her. But she doesn’t want to.” I don’t keep the warning tone out of my voice. He’s not going to insult her in front of me without me saying something.

They glance at each other and then back at us, and then her mother nods slowly. “If that’s what you want, darling, I guess we can’t stop you. I just hope you’re choosing what’s best for you,” she says before side-eyeing me again. She gives her daughter a tight hug. I can tell that she genuinely wants what’s best for her, and I can’t blame her for that. Maybe after her marriage she’s afraid of seeing Oakley get hurt the same way she has been. There’s nothing I can do about that, except prove that I’ll always treat her like gold.

Her dad gives her a hug as well. “We’ll be proud of you no matter what you do. We just want you to reach your full potential. I know you will.” She smiles at him and hugs him tighter.

“Thanks, Dad.”

Chapter 55

Oakley

“How does it look?”

Oliver turns his head sideways as he puruses the living room. “That’s a lot of throw pillows,” he smirks.

I roll my eyes. “You know I can’t have a plain white couch without any color. That shit is way too boring for my taste.” Maybe I didn’t need to add one pillow of each color of the rainbow, but in my opinion it looks amazing.

“It looks great, babe.” He pulls me in for a side hug, tucking my head under his chin.

Our new apartment is perfect, it’s a one bedroom with a balcony that overlooks downtown Knoxville. It’s not super fancy or huge, but I absolutely adore it. We hung up a few colorful tapestries, since we’re not allowed to paint, and framed some photos of us and our families. It already feels like home after only a few weeks.

I collapse onto our queen sized bed, which also happens to have an abundance of throw pillows. Oliver follows, climbing on top of me with hooded eyes. “I’ve missed this.”

I chuckle as he grazes his lips over mine. “How? We just did it this morning.”

“Yeah, I know. I can’t get enough of your little pussy.”

A small moan escapes me and he pulls my dress over my head. “So perfect,” he leans down to take one of my nipples into his mouth, and swirls his tongue around it slowly. He pulls my underwear off in one swift motion and sticks one finger inside me, while his thumb gently circles my clit.

“Fuck, Oliver,” I moan breathlessly. I’m not complaining, I can’t get enough of him either.

For several months we had to sneak around and sex was pretty much off the table, so I guess you could say we’ve been making up for lost time.

He pulls his hand away from me and replaces it with his cock, instantly filling me to the hilt. I buck my hips against his, needing more friction because I already feel ready to burst. I lace my fingers through his curls, pulling him closer to me as our tongues war with each other.

I feel myself nearing the edge when he reaches down to slide his fingers over my clit again, still thrusting in and out of me gradually faster. My breath hitches and I squeeze his shoulders as my body bursts into flames. A moment later he follows right after me, moaning my name as he fills me with his warm liquid and collapses on top of me.

After moving out I made sure to start taking birth control immediately, because even though we both want kids one day, we definitely don’t want them right now. I’d be lying if I said I don’t think about it sometimes, though. I hope we can start a family as soon as we’re finished with school.

“That just keeps getting better,” he says breathlessly.

I giggle and nuzzle my face into the crook of his arm.

I keep waiting for the axe to drop and something to go wrong, but so far everything is perfect. For a second I wondered if it was too soon to move in together, or if we were too young to handle it. But I’m realizing now that all of our problems were caused by people and things surrounding us back in Poplar Valley. Here, we can breathe. We can be ourselves.

I can honestly say I’ve never been happier.

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