She crawled out of bed. “I’m sorry I took over your bed last night. Did you get any sleep?”
“I slept better than I have in a long while. Maybe I like having you here or something.” I shrugged.
“I slept through the night, too. I didn’t even wake up once. I guess I like being here, too.” She smiled genuinely.
“I know you don’t drink much coffee, but the only other drink I had besides water was the apple cider from the other night,” I said, pointing at the glass on the end table. “There’s some bacon there as well if you’re hungry.”
“Has anyone told you lately how good a listener you are?” She took a sip of the apple cider and a couple of bites of bacon. “I should be heading home so I can take my meds. Are you heading to work?”
“I am,” I responded. “We can walk out together.”
She gathered her things, and we prepared to leave. We paused and stared at each other once we reached her car. “I’m going to put our book on the book club calendar for next week.”
“You’ll have to let me know when, so I can clear my schedule.” I watched her eyes linger from my eyes to my lips. I made a sly smirk. She licked her lips, and I could hardly resist. “Can I kiss you goodbye?”
“I thought you’d never ask.” She gripped my shirt in her fist and brought my mouth down onto hers. The kiss was simple and sweet but awakened far quicker than any espresso. I knew as I released her from the kiss and watched her drive away, that I would never tire of those lips.
TWENTY-SEVEN
AGE 17
Iripped open the package, hoping for a miracle. I read the first line of the letter, ‘Dear Serenity Serrano, Congratulations, you’ve been admitted!’ I burst into tears. Everything I'd done to get to this moment had finally paid off—the honors classes, volunteering, and two internships—I did it.
I immediately signed into the university portal to accept my offer. I could hardly wait to get out of this house, this town, and from Andrés. Since beginning my senior year, my mom has been home during the week and only travels on weekends. Andrés had left me alone in the last year, aside from the creepy lingering glances. I held onto so much anger toward my mom for allowing him to come back. I had no other choice in the matter, but once I left for college, I wouldn't be looking back.
I had to call Shawn to tell him the good news.
“Hey, Serenity. What’s up?”
“I got in,” I said, with a big grin on my face.
“Hell yeah,” Shawn said. “Do you want to come over and celebrate? No one's home.”
That was his way of saying we could hook up. We’d been hooking up off and on since the day he took my virginity during sophomore year. We were solely friends with benefits, but we've become more serious recently. Before, he would still date or text other girls, but he’s been all about us lately. He has been sweeter than ever before.
“I’ll be right over,” I said.
I finished preparing for the day, grabbed the keys to my new Honda Civic,and drove to Shawn’s house. I stopped telling my mom my whereabouts. She obviously didn’t care about my well-being, or she would never have allowed Andrés back into our home. Once I had all my college expenses figured out, I'd distance myself from her. I didn’t want to use her for her money, but as a teen with limited options, it’s all I could do.
I pulled up to Shawn’s house and turned off the ignition. I pulled out my admissions letter and read and reread it. This was really happening. I permitted myself to bask in the excitement for a minute longer before I headed to Shawn’s front door. I walked right in because their front door was always left unlocked—and I was practically family.
Shawn wasn’t in the living room, so I headed to his room at the back of the house. He sat on the edge of his bed playing a shooting game on his Xbox 360.
“Hey, you,” he said, slightly looking over at me, resuming his focus on his game.
“Hi,” I said, kissing him on the cheek. I crawled into his bed and took out my book to read while he played his game. I read a typical teenage romance that made me think of my relationship with Shawn. When we were alone, we were best friends who sometimes had sex, but when we were at school or with other friends, he treated me like I was one of the guys.To say I was confused about his feelings toward me would be an understatement. I didn’t want it to be that way between us anymore.
Shawn finished his game and crawled into bed and lay alongside me. “What are you reading? Let me guess, another romance?”
“They’re a good escape from the real world. You know, since they’re so unrealistic,” I said sarcastically.
He furrowed his brow. “What do you mean by that? I’m romantic!” he exclaimed, cuddling closer.
I turned on my side to face him. “But we aren’t together, are we? So, anything romantic between us has to stay between us.”
“What’s wrong with that? We don’t need people in our business all the time.”
I turned to lie on my back. “I guess. But I think I crave something more.”
