“I-I do like you,” I stammer. “Are you jealous?”
“Insanely.”
“Onyx…” I begin reproachfully. “You blow hot and cold. I never know where I stand with you. One moment I think you’re being genuine, the next you act like you hate me.”
“I’m sorry-” he begins but I hold up a hand to cut him off. To my surprise, he listens to me.
“I like you, Onyx. But I’m not about to rush into having sex with you-”
I’m cut off by Onyx planting his lips on mine. Whilst I wasn’t expecting him to kiss me, I always thought that when he did, it would be a bruising, punishing, angry kind of kiss. He takes me by surprise in more ways than one. His kiss is the most tender, the most hesitant. Like he’s waiting for me to pull away and hit him. Which I don’t.
“What was that for?” I ask, eyes wide.
“Ninety percent jealousy, ten percent to shut you up.” He grins.
“Well I wouldn’t want you to feel left out,” I tease. I raise up onto my tiptoes and wrap my arms around Onyx’s neck, kissing him again. This time I set the pace, letting him know it’s okay to go a little further with me. He’s more than happy to oblige.
“I’m not going to sleep with you,” I gasp as he starts kissing his way down my jawline to my ear.
“Mmm-hmm,” he murmurs.
“I mean it, O! Oh,” I groan as he starts to lick the sensitive little dip behind my ear. I feel my resolve instantly weakening. Who am I kidding? It isn’t weakening. It’s crumbled faster than the Berlin Wall came down.
I press my body closer to his and he lifts me easily, moving us both to the bed. He lies back down with me straddling him, a clear message that I’m in control. I lean forward and kiss him again, sliding my hand up under his shirt. He pulls it off to give me free reign of every golden bump and ridge. As I explore him further, Onyx’s hands stray across my exposed abdomen. I tremble from his feather-light touches.
“Onyx,” I gasp as he flips us over so that I’m on my back. He grinds against me and my eyes flutter closed. I’m trying to remember why this was a bad idea. What were my reasons again for not sleeping with him?
“Amelie…” he whispers, and I swear to god right now if the next words out of his mouth are even close to saying how much he wants me, I’ll be ripping off our clothes in a frenzy.
“Hmm?”
“I need you…”
“God yeah.”
“I need you...to put your trainers on. We’ve got running to do.”
His words are a bucket of ice-cold water thrown over me, the sudden cold air between our bodies is my wake up call.
“Bastard,” I hiss.
“Last one to the oval’s a rotten egg!” he cries, winking at me and taking off.
I groan knowing that Onyx just played me like a fiddle, but laugh because I know it’s all in fun. His kiss was unexpected,as was how much I enjoyed it. Will these Knox boys ever stop surprising me?
I jump up, grab my trainers and race out of the door after Onyx, laughing. I’m not mad that he played me, I know the moment we just shared was genuine, and I like this more playful side to him. It doesn’t take me long to catch up to him, I suspect because he’s been waiting for me, and we fall into an easy silent rhythm beside one another. I can’t wipe the grin from my face.
We run for longer than we normally would, until it’s almost dark. Onyx helps me with my cool down stretches afterwards, but they have the opposite effect. His touch sets me on fire. He offers to shower with me but now that he’s not distracting me with kisses, my resolve is firmly back in place. I shut him down, meaning to make him wait until we’ve developed a better connection. If he wants me, he can get to know me properly.
I give him a peck on the cheek as I say goodbye and trudge back towards my dorm. My legs feel like jelly and I can’t wait to get in the shower. Actually, I’d really kill for a long hot bubble bath, but I don’t have one, so a shower will have to suffice.
As I walk along the corridor towards my room, I see that fresh red paint is dripping above the “whore”. Trepidation fills me as I approach. What has Kalen done now? I thought we were good? As I get closer and can distinguish the text, a loud laugh falls from my lips. Painted in blood red to match the original Kalen has added “World’s Best Sister” so it now reads that I’m the world’s best sister whore. I crease up laughing and slip into my room to grab my phone. I power it up, check the coast is clear, and then snap a picture of the door. I know that it’ll be cleaned off by maintenance by the morning, and I want to keep this memento.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Amelie
I can’t believe it’s Halloween and that I’ve been here for over a month already. It’s funny how quickly I’ve adjusted and life at Knox has become my new normal. The one thing I’ve not gotten used to though, is the weather. I don’t think I will ever get used to the cold. Or how bloody wet it is here. When I moan about it, Kalen and Elsie just laugh and tell me that I’ve not seen anything yet. I dread to think what that means. I bought - or should I say Kalen bought me - a coat on our shopping trip, but something tells me I’m going to need a warmer one soon.
