I grabbed her face a little tighter, and she bit down on that red lip. I swiped my finger up and released it. Her eyes glossed over. “What do you want to eat? And don’t even act like you’re about to walk out of my house. You and Piper are both staying here tonight, and I’ll be climbing through your window every fucking night until I feel you’re safe.”
A small growl vibrated in her throat. “I’ll eat your food, and I guess we can stay here if Piper is okay with it. But you’re not climbing through my damn window every night and staying with me. I can protect myself.”
I laughed sarcastically, then I looked over at Piper for confirmation. She shrugged. “We can stay here, but”—she glared at Ollie—“don’t get any ideas. I’m not sleeping in your bed.”
Ollie’s mouth tugged upward. He gave her the grin that made girls weak in the knees. “We’ll see.”
“Ugh,” she yelled as she plopped down on my pillows. “My first sleepover with Hayley and it’s with you two egotistical jerks.”
I fought back a true laugh, but I kept a hold of Hayley’s face.
“Chicken. I want chicken nuggets.”
I couldn’t help it. I threw my head back and let the laugh out. “Chicken nuggets?”
She pushed my hand off her chin and crawled back into my bed with Piper. But this time, she pulled the covers down and shimmied underneath.
“What are you? Five?” I asked, dumbfounded.
Her face flushed as she looked at the ceiling. “No, I’m hungry, and they’re my favorite food.”
It was difficult to keep my face neutral. “Chicken nuggets it is. Let’s go, Ol.”
He glanced at Piper. “Chicken nuggets for you too?”
She thought for a moment and shrugged. “Sure.”
“We’ll be back.” I turned around once more and glanced at Hayley. “Don’t get any fucking bright ideas to leave and go to Piper’s while we’re out getting chicken nuggets, Hayley. And lock the door behind us.”
She tried to fight a grin. “I’m locking my window tomorrow night. This is the only night we will ever spend together. You got it?”
I chuckled. “Yeah, we’ll fucking see.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Hayley
I lay in my bed, underneath the ratty quilt, and stared at the shadows on the ceiling. It was moments like this that I wished I could turn my brain off. I didn’t usually think of the past or the life I’d had. When I lay down in bed, I popped my old iPod in my ears and listened to music until I fell asleep. But tonight, my iPod was laying on the ground beside the mattress, and I just stared.
Last night was strange. It felt like a hazy dream, except I had the bumps and bruises to prove that it wasn’t. From going to the football game and trying to be a normal senior in high school, to getting attacked, then staying at Christian’s. It had all felt very surreal.
It felt like something was shifting between us. Not only did he swoop in and save the day, he bought me chicken nuggets, let Piper and me stay in his bed while we watched Gossip Girl for hours, and didn’t once scowl in my direction. After
Ollie made Piper and me breakfast—which according to Christian, he never did much of anything in the mornings—we left with the threat of Christian staying with me tonight.
Pete didn’t say a word about my face. He didn’t even glance at me when I walked through the door, and Jill was asleep when I came home this morning. I stayed upstairs in my room the entire day, working on homework and trying not to think about the past, empty threats, or Christian. When I finally caved and went downstairs a few hours ago to grab some water and food, Pete and Jill weren’t even home. I had no idea where they were—maybe on a date. I chuckled aloud to myself. Yeah right. Regardless, my door was locked at 8pm sharp, so they were back home, and Jill was probably sucking his cock as I lay up here, thinking.
Reluctantly, a certain question kept sliding into my thoughts: Would Christian really come tonight? I told him, several times, I was locking my window, so there was no use for him to even attempt, but something in my heart dinged when his gray eyes grew dark and he muttered, “I'll pop it open.”
Did I want him to climb through my window? No! Yes! Wait, no! I slapped my hands over my face and ran them down the sides of my cheeks. I hated that I liked the excitement bubbling up inside of me. I hated that I got butterflies when he took my face in his hand last night. My heart actually bloomed in my chest when he told me he wanted me safe.
The thought of meaning something to someone was new to me, and I liked it. It made me feel warm and safe, and that was very dangerous to feel in a life like mine. Things were constantly changing, revolving. People were in and out. Getting attached to anything or anyone wasn’t in the cards for me—until it was.
Now I had Piper, who I’d known for a few weeks now, but she was probably the closest friend I’d ever had. I trusted her. She didn’t turn on her heel to save herself when she found me bleeding and terrified. She didn’t run when things turned bad, and that said a lot about a person.
Then you had Ollie, who was nice to me from the very beginning, but something about his playfulness made me want to hold onto him forever.
And Christian—the boy who swore he hated me, wanted me gone, said I was part of his mom’s death, sent scowls my way in school, had Madeline dump her lunch tray on my chest the first day of school—was, for some reason, demanding I let him in my bedroom at night so he could make sure I was safe. He was now the boy who had wanted to kill Pete when he learned that he had hit me. He wanted to go back and strangle the guys who attacked me at the game. He wanted me to stay at his house, and he tended to my wounds. All those good things pulled me in, and I never wanted to let him go, but the guarded part of myself cowered beneath the surface. Pushing him away might hurt less than losing him in the long run, because I’d already lost him once in the midst of losing everything—and it stung.