Collide: A Riverbend Novel (15 page)

"Yes. As long as you'll
have me."

He touched my lips as he
bit his. He was thinking. Lost in thoughts I wished I could hear.
He brought his lips to mine and kissed me so carefully and so
perfectly like he was taking in everything about our first kiss,
writing it down in his brain, so he'd never forget what it felt
like.

My hand cupped his cheek as
I moved even closer to him. I needed to be close to him. My eyes
closed on their own, and feelings I'd didn't know I was capable of
erupted in me.

He moved to his back and
pulled me on top of him. I felt his hand slide up my shorts as he
continued to kiss me. One hand rubbed my neck, the other my upper
thigh. The only thing that was going stop us from going all the way
was me.

"We're in your parent’s
house," I whispered as he kissed my neck, and I ran my hands up his
shirt. Yeah, my discipline sucked.

He didn't stop. He pulled
my shorts down and used his foot to slide them down my legs and off
my feet. He then rolled me over on my back and moved my arms above
my head. He slid my shirt over my head and brought his lips to my
shoulder then my chest as he unhooked my bra.

There was a light knock on
his door. "Havock? It's Garrett. You awake?"

Havock rolled off of me and
I jumped out of bed. I pulled my shorts and shirt on quickly. I
kissed Havock one more time then opened the window and climbed out.
After, I closed the window I walked along the roof to my window. I
climbed in and shut the window just as I heard Havock open the
door. I heard whispered talking.

I sighed in annoyance. I
pulled out my art book and drew. I drew Havock. All of Havock.
Every detail I've remembered since that towel fell in the hallway.
I chuckled as I remembered it.

I looked at the time and
noticed it was two on Christmas morning. Havock's family was going
to be coming today. All of them. I don't know if I want this. What
if they don't like me?

I continued to draw for
another two hours. I looked out the window and saw it was snowing
hard. I sighed and put my art book away. I laid down and tried to
sleep.

~~~

I woke up with a start when
my door flew open. I blinked as I saw Garrett and Havock there.
"What?" I asked confused.

"It's Christmas morning!"
Garrett smiled. "Get up sleepy head!"

"We'll be down in a
minute," Havock said to Garrett. Garrett hesitated before leaving
my room.

Havock shut my door and
climbed on top of me before I could sit up.

"What are you doing?" I
asked as I laughed.

"Coming to tell my princess
Merry Christmas." He kissed my neck then my lips. "So, Merry
Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Havock,"
I whispered softly back. I smiled against his lips. "We should head
down."

"You should brush your hair
first," he teased. "It looks like you were up to no good last
night." He climbed off me and walked to the door. "See you in a
minute." He walked out.

I brushed my hair and
teeth. I then put on a pair of comfortable sweats and headed down
stairs. I smiled at everyone as I came into the kitchen.

"Merry Christmas!" I said
as I took the glass of orange juice Garrett handed me.

"Thanks."

I didn't see Havock
anywhere. When Johanna and Rick weren't looking he pointed out the
window. Smoking. Of course.

"You should talk him into
quitting. Mom's been trying since he was thirteen," Garrett said
quietly.

"I’ll try," I said as I put
some of my curls behind my ears.

"Is he being nice to you?"
he asked but I couldn't answer because Johanna and Rick came
over.

I left the kitchen and
headed into the living room. The tree was surrounded by presents.
Dad, being the mayor, he was always gone celebrating on Christmas.
It had always been me. I liked this.

"Be back." I ran upstairs
grabbed my art book I didn't mind others looking at and hurried
back downstairs. I then drew the scene before me.

Johanna opened the front
door. "Havock, come in. We're ready for presents."

Havock came in and shed his
jacket that was covered in snow. He kicked off his shoes and came
over and sat right next to me on the couch. Too close.

I drew hoping Johanna
didn't notice. Garrett came over and plopped on the other side of
me.

Garrett took the book and
pencil and set it on the floor. "Present time."

Garrett and Havock got up
and started helping their parents pass out gifts. A pile was made
for each of us.

"I have presents?" I asked
excitedly.

"Of course you do! You're
family now. I consider you a daughter and the boys have a
sister."

Havock started coughing to
cover up laughter.

Real smooth.

"Honey, you should really
quit smoking." Johanna said as she handed him the last present
under the tree.

I laughed then.

Havock didn't say anything
as he put the small box on my lap. He purposefully put it up high
on my thigh and smiled when I blushed.

He then took a seat in the
floor resting his back on the couch.

I played with the bow on
the box. "Do I open it now or wait?" I asked quietly.

“Now," Rick
smiled.

Everyone started opening
their presents. I opened the box and gasped as I saw the charm
bracelet with a crown charm on it.

"Thank you," I whispered to
him. It was beautiful and perfect.

Havock smiled up at me from
the floor. "Welcome," he whispered back.

I put it on then opened the
gift from Garrett. It was a gift card for hobby lobby. I smiled.
"Thank you." I whispered to him.

"You going to take me to
get art supplies now?"

"Whenever you
want."

"Watch it now," Havock
mumbled without looking up at us. I laughed and nudged Havock with
my foot in his ribs. He grunted and kept opening his presents. I
saw a pile of old records.

“What's up with the
records?” I asked.

“Come up to my room later
and I'll show you.” Havock grinned.

I opened the rest of my
gifts and couldn't believe what I got from Rick and Johanna. I got
books, clothes, and art supplies. I also got a straightener and
make up. "Thank you guys so much," I said with a bright
smile.

"There's one more thing!"
Johanna said as she clapped her hands. "Rick, go get it
please."

Rick went out the backdoor
and Johanna followed. While they were gone Havock got up and stole
a quick kiss.

"I'm in here," Garret
groaned.

"Don't care," Havock said
in a sing song voice to Garrett. He kissed me again then sat back
down when he heard the backdoor open.

I laughed and shoved
Havock's shoulder. "They got me enough," I said.

Their parents walked in
with a little yellow lab puppy with a giant red bow wrapped around
its neck. Johanna set it down and it ran over to me.

I gasped and picked it up.
Tears filled my eyes. "Really?!" I squealed.

"As long as you potty train
it," Rick teased.

Johanna laughed. "Yes,
really, sweetie."

"I can do that," I said
with a watery laugh. I wiped my tears then petted my new baby.
"Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. Alright,
boys. Help me clean up all this paper so we can have
breakfast."

Garrett petted the puppy
before standing to help.

I petted and played with
the puppy once the boys cleaned up the paper. After a while he
curled up in my lap and went to sleep. I looked at Havock as he
came back into the living room.

I smiled brightly at him as
he sat on the floor next to me. I nudged him with my shoulder. "So,
when will your family be here?"

"In a few hours. Garrett is
picking up some from the airport after lunch."

"I really love my gift.
Thank you, Havock," I said in a way I wanted to earlier. With my
eyes locked on his.

"I only had to give up
buying ten packs of cigarettes to get it. Damn, you must be special
or something."

I laughed. "Well, now that
I know that remind me to thank you properly later," I whispered. I
then said something to him in French. Quietly.

"What the hell?" He said
with a grin.

"Are you trying to impress
me, Princess?"

I shrugged. "Not really.
Just having fun saying stuff you don't understand." I smiled
brightly.

"How do you know I didn't
understand it?"

I blushed bright red.
"Because we'd be upstairs right now." I cleared my throat and
turned even redder.

He laughed. "Now I gotta
know what you said."

I shook my head.
"Later."

"So, what are you gonna
name him?" he asked as he petted the puppy.

"I don't know. Any
ideas?"

"Bon Scott, lead vocalist
in ACDC." He laughed when I scrunched my nose. "The rest of my
suggestions you won't like either then."

I laughed. "It took me days
to name Charlie. Dad finally told me I needed to name him because
he wanted to know what to yell when he peed in the floor." I
chuckled at the memory then suddenly pain filled me. I'm here happy
and dad is still missing. What kind of daughter did that make me?
My smile and laughter faded.

"Breakfast!" Johanna yelled
from the kitchen.

My mind jerked back to the
here and now. "So Scott. I like that," I said as I tried not to
have a break down.

Havock noticed something
was wrong but it was like he couldn't find the words to comfort me,
so he didn't even try. He nodded then helped me stand.

I kissed his cheek. "Thank
you," I whispered. Him not trying to say meaningless words helped
me pull it together. I looked at Scott as he yawned and followed
after me pulling on my pant leg.

HAVOCK

After lunch I got in a
short nap before everyone got to the house. I didn’t sleep much
last night, which I was completely okay with. Having my hands all
over my princess was more than worth it, and I’d never sleep again
if it meant being that close to her every night. I sat up and ran
my hand through my hair. I went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth,
and looked at myself in the mirror. I still had that drunken sleepy
look, so I splashed cold water on my face. I wiped my face on the
towel then walked out of the bathroom. I could hear laughter
downstairs and knew some of my family had already arrived. I felt
bad for Reese. I’m sure they were all surrounding her and making
her feel awkward. I was hoping I would be up before they all
swarmed her.

I went downstairs and to
the kitchen which was the obvious hang out spot at the moment. The
local family had brought tons of food over and this was the only
thing I liked about these gatherings. Mom smiled at me then went
back to talking to Uncle Rob. I looked around for Reese and laughed
when I saw her backed in a corner holding Scott while she nodded
and smiled at two of my aunts.

I walked over and smiled.
“Hey, there’s my two favorite aunts.” I kissed both their cheeks
and looked at Reese. “They bring the best food."

Aunt Jenn laughed and
squeezed me tight with a big kiss on the cheek. “How’s my
troublesome nephew? Causing trouble”

“You know it,” I
laughed.

Aunt Jenn ruffled my hair.
“Good boy. If your momma was dumb enough to name you Havock, you
oughta’ make her pay for it!”