“Not a dream.” I traced her shoulder, dragging my finger down the skin and under the covers.
“What happens now?” she asked.
“I don’t know.” And this statement made me uneasy. Should we go on pretending our relationship was platonic? If we did, my situation with the Kingston’s would remain the same. I’d have a roof over my head, food in my stomach, and an education. For some reason, this thought felt shameful, deceitful.
Not for loving this vibrant girl who seemed to finally be coming out of her shell, but because without this family’s help, I was nothing. Less than nothing. I was a minor with a dead junkie for a dad who had no living relatives to consider me worth their time or effort.
“Hey.” CC’s fingertips trailed over my cheeks. “What’s wrong?”
I smiled, hoping my thoughts didn’t show, and braced myself over her body, still covered by the sheets. “Nothing’s wrong. Everything’s right.” Blocking out my worries, I draped myself over her, slid a hand under her neck, and kissed those tempting lips that tasted like sin and felt like heaven.
Her hands slid up the sides of my ribcage as she moaned into the kiss.
Already hard, I ground my hips against her pelvis, ready for a replay of last night even though I knew we should stop.
“Oh my God,” someone gasped.
I froze.That isn’t Terri.
Slowly, so slowly, I broke our lip lock to turn my head toward the direction of the voice.
Adrenaline and shock burst inside my veins.
With her mouth hanging open, Charlotte stood in the doorway, one hand on the knob and the other braced against the doorjamb, her eyes wide.
“It’s not…” CC pushed me away. “Uh, it’s not what it looks like,” she finished lamely.
Tumbling over the opposite side of the mattress, I fell to the floor and onto my discarded clothes. Squinting through the gap under the bed, I could see Charlotte’s red-painted toenails.
Fuck. I really screwed things up.
Frantically, still on my back, I grabbed my jeans, thrust both legs into the clothing, and jumped up.
“Mrs. Kingston.” I held out a hand. “Give us a moment to explain.”But really, what is there to explain?It wasexactlywhat it looked like—two teenagers who spent the night screwing each other’s brains out.
“You ungrateful piece of trash. We have given you everything, everything.” Her voice rose. “Thisis how you repay us?” Her eyes, normally cold and filled with disdain, blazed with fury.
“Stop being a bitch, Mom.” Terri wrapped the sheets around her chest and sat up. “He never asked us for anything.”
I hung my head and began moving toward the door, knowing my fate was about to become exactly what I’d feared. Destitute and homeless.
“No, Pax.” Terri shot out a hand and grabbed my wrist. “Stay.”
Charlotte crossed her arms over her chest. Her lips tightened. “I cannot believe—”
“We’re in love. Maybe we should’ve been more careful, but—”
“Inlove?” Charlotte’s laugh was forced and mocking. “In lust, maybe.” She pointed a manicured nail at me. “He doesn’t love you, Terri. He just wanted in your bed. And look where he’s at.”
Even though I was about to lose the stability I’d recently gained, the thought of losing Terri hurt more. “Ma’am, Idolove your daughter.” I looked at CC. “She’s the most amazing girl I’ve ever known.”
Carefully, Terri’s face lifted and her eyes met mine. The worry line between her brows softened and a small, sad smile lifted one corner of her lips.
The sight broke my heart. It was as if in that moment, she knew what we had was a lost cause. We were two underaged teenagers with no control over their lives, not until we turned eighteen, and even then, without a support network, we might as well have been tossed into a raging sea without life jackets.
I wanted to rage, to yell, to beat my fists against the wall at the unfairness of it all.
“Get out of here,” Charlotte growled as she stepped into the room. “By the time I’m finished speaking with Charles, you’ll be lucky if he doesn’t drive you to a state home himself, you deceitful bastard.”
