Effortless (52 page)

“What are you doing? I thought you had to go?”

Grinning at me, he crawled over the edge of the bed, making me
lie back as his body hovered over mine. “I’ve got five
minutes.”

His mouth was over mine and I giggled under his lips. “Five?” I
asked breathily as his fingers started to explore me.

Kicking off his shoes, he muttered, “Okay, fifteen then.”
Shoving off his jeans, he quickly darted under the sheet with me. I
giggled as his warm, hard body collided with mine. And as silent as
we were last night, we made up for it this morning.

He ended up running nearly a half hour behind…but it was worth
it.

I stayed in Kellan’s bed for who knows how long after he left
the house. I was stretched out on it, envisioning where I could put
all of my stuff, when I heard Kellan’s phone ringing downstairs.
Remembering that my cell was back at home, I thought that maybe
Kellan had touched down already and was trying to let me know that
he was okay.

Wrapping his sheet around me burrito-style, I dashed down to his
kitchen. Hoping I made it in time, I breathlessly picked up the
receiver. “Hello?” I panted.

“Kiera… you okay?”

A familiar accent warmed my heart and I smiled. “Hey, Denny.
Yeah, I’m good.”

A long pause. “Are you sure?”

Remembering my goodbye kiss to Kellan, I sighed. “Yeah, I’m
sure.”

He laughed a little and I figured he was probably shaking his
head at me. Denny was probably thinking, once again, that he was
glad his relationship wasn’t so complicated. I sometimes wished
mine wasn’t either; the fiery heat in our relationship sometimes
burned us both. But I wouldn’t change the love Kellan and I had for
each other for anything. I’d already had the solid, comfortable
relationship, and it hadn’t been enough. Complicated or not, Kellan
and I needed each other.

As Denny chuckled, I sighed and added, “Kellan and I had a
chance to talk about everything last night…it was a good talk.
We’re…back together, with no more secrets.”

“Good, I’m glad to hear it. And I’m a little surprised. I sort
of felt like I was dropping you off in the middle of a war zone.”
He chuckled again and I pictured him running his hand over his jaw.
“I was pretty worried about you this morning, especially when you
didn’t answer my texts. When I realized you’d probably left your
cell at home, I thought I’d try you here.”

“Oh, yeah, I guess I kind of ran out of there last night…” I
paused to bite my lip. “Hey, Denny, thank you so much for being
there for me. It meant a lot. It means a lot to me that you
still…care. After everything, you still care.”

A soft sigh met my ear. “I’ll always care about you, Kiera. We
may not be together anymore but I’m still the one you can call when
you’re…lost…alright?”

I smiled, wrapping the phone cord around my finger. “Yeah…same
here, Denny. You can always talk to me.”

“I know.” His voice, so warm and soothing, sounded completely
stress free. He really was okay. We both were. Denny’s voice
switched to inquisitiveness as he asked, “Is Kellan there? Maybe I
should talk to him, now that things are calmer.”

I shook my head, sighing a little. “No, he left early this
morning. He had to catch a flight right back.”

Denny exhaled, sounding a little relieved. Maybe he didn’t
really think Kellan had calmed down, at least not when it came to
him. He probably figured he would get yelled at again if he spoke
to Kellan. Pretty brave of him to even call here. “Quick trip,” he
muttered.

I nodded. “Yeah, he’s a busy guy.” I smiled when I said it,
thinking of all the upcoming adventures in Kellan’s life.
Adventures that maybe we would share together.

Hearing my smile in my voice, Denny’s accent thickened as he
asked, “Are you guys really okay now? After just one talk?”

I paused, considering. “It will take more than one talk, but,” I
shrugged, “we
are
talking and we’ll never stop. We both
want this, and we’re gonna fight for it.”

Even though Denny couldn’t see it, I set my jaw and lifted my
chin at my hopeful declaration. Denny made a noise like he was
impressed, and I imagined him smiling and shaking his head. “You
have
changed…you’ve grown.” Quietly laughing, I knew he
was giving me his trademark, goofy grin. “Maturity sounds good on
you.”

I pursed my lips, wishing he was here so I could smack him for
his comment, then I laughed with him, thinking maybe I wasn’t so
mature after all. “Yeah, well, I should get going if I want to make
it to class on time.” I sighed dramatically, remembering that I had
obligations and couldn’t lounge in Kellan’s bed all day, even if I
really wanted to. “Some of us still need to work on
graduating.”

I grinned ear-to-ear that I was so close to being done with the
pressures and stress of academics. That only left me the pressures
of what I was going to do with the rest of my life…but, like every
college graduate, I’d deal with that later.

Chuckling at my comment, Denny agreed with me and wished me
luck.

We said goodbye to each other and I hung up the phone. After
taking a long, hot shower, I got dressed with some spare clothes
that I kept at Kellan’s place. Sticking my fingers into the pockets
of my jeans, I felt something in the bottom of one. Shaking my
head, I pulled out a tiny scrap of notebook paper. On it, in
Kellan’s surprisingly neat handwriting, was one last note.

‘
Remember today, that I love you.’

Smiling like an idiot, I shoved the memento back in my pocket,
and finished getting ready for school.

So much had happened in the past few hours that doing something
as mundane as going to a writing class felt sort of odd. My secret
about Denny was out. Kellan’s secret about his dad was out. I was
going to try trusting him with the assortment of floozies that
seemed to hover around him, and he was going to trust me to be just
friends with my ex.

It was sort of…epic…for us, and a huge step in the right
direction. Maybe it was too soon, but I felt good about our future.
No, I felt great about it.

Skipping a little as I made my way to the door, I stopped and
grabbed the Chevelle keys. Kellan had tossed them on the half-moon
table that we’d often used as a dumping area for our various car
keys when we’d all lived here together, ages ago.

Not having brought my schoolwork to Kellan’s last night, I
locked up Kellan’s home, started Kellan’s car, and made my way back
to my place. Well, my place for now. I’d have to tell my sister
that she’d have a room free for the baby. I wasn’t sure if that
would make her decision on keeping the baby easier or not. She’d
have more space, but she’d be on her own. Sort of. I’d never let
her be truly alone.

She was in the kitchen when I opened our door. Having gathered
her bravery, she was again reading through the book about
pregnancy. The part she was reading must not have been too scary,
she had a small smile on her face and a hand on her belly.

Used to seeing her up at an earlier hour, since she’d started
going to bed at a more respectable time, I smiled at her. “Hey,
sis.”

She glanced up from her book, small tears in her eyes. “Hey,
Kiera. Did you know that the baby is about the size of a grape, and
she’s already forming fingers and toes?”

Walking up to glance at the book she was reading, I contained a
smile. “She?” I asked casually, catching the feminine pronoun.

Swishing her hand in the air, she raised an eyebrow at me.
“Yeah, I’m having a girl.” She shook her head. “There’s just no way
I’d put another Griffin on this earth.”

I let my smile show through, amused that she thought she had any
say on the matter. I did hope she was right though. The firmness of
her statement also made me happy. She’d said
I’m
having a
girl. She’d personalized the pregnancy in a way that she hadn’t
before. She was bonding with the baby growing in her belly. That
was definitely a good thing.

Not saying anything that might sway her one way or the other, I
grabbed my bag off of the dining room table. I felt my sister’s
eyes watching me and I knew I had a sappy smile on my face. I just
felt better about Kellan and me than I had in a long time.

Setting her book down, Anna crossed her arms over her chest…her
getting larger chest. “Are you just now getting home? Where were
you last night?” She narrowed her eyes when she said it, like she
was sure I’d been with Denny.

Smiling at whose arms I’d been wrapped in, I shrugged. “I stayed
at Kellan’s.”

She blinked. “Oh…alone?”

Smiling wider, I shook my head. “No…”

I trailed off, remembering Kellan’s fingers on my body, his lips
on my neck. Anna took my satisfied expression to mean one thing—she
smacked me upside the head. “Damn it, Kiera. You hooked up with
Denny, didn’t you?”

Rubbing my skull, I frowned and considered smacking her back.
The baby in her belly was the only thing that stayed my hand. “No,
I did not, thank you very much.” As she frowned at me, her full
lips forming a perfect pout, I rolled my eyes and clarified.
“Kellan flew in last night to surprise me. I spent the night with
him.”

I flushed after saying it, our heated night fresh in my brain.
Anna blinked again. “Oh…oh!” She gave me a hug. “Oh, I’m so
relieved. I was going to kill you if you’d gotten yourself stuck in
another love triangle.” Rolling her eyes, she shook her head.
“Especially if it was the
same
love triangle.” Smirking,
she added, “If you’re gonna be an idiot…at least branch out.”

That time I did smack her, just on the arm, though.

Thinking of Kellan, and everything that had been discussed
between us, I felt heat entering my cheeks. There was one part of
last night that Anna wasn’t going to like, one part that I sort of
hadn’t meant to tell Kellan, but I’d had to, to defend myself.

As I bit my lip, Anna scrunched her brow. “What?” she asked
cautiously.

“Don’t be mad…”

She instantly got mad. Tossing her hands in the air, she
screeched, “You told him! Kellan is Griffin’s best friend, and you
told him? Kiera!”

I stepped back from her harsh tone, then scrunched my own brows.
“Kellan is Griffin’s best friend? Really?” Kellan had always
seemed…tolerant of his bassist, at best.

Anna dropped her head into her hands. “Goddamn it, Kiera, you
promised.”

Feeling bad, I put my hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, I had
to.”

She glared at me between her fingers. “You had to?”

Sighing, I removed my hand from her body. “Kellan found the bag
of tests…” Remembering his face when he’d broken up with me, I
frowned. “He thought
I
was pregnant…”

Anna immediately stopped her pissy attitude, her hands covering
her mouth as she gasped. “Oh God, Kiera…I’m sorry. I didn’t
think…I’m so sorry.” I smiled feebly at her and she touched my
shoulder, her face now only showing concern. “Are you guys okay?
Are you still…together?” she whispered.

Thinking of his grin when he’d said goodbye, I nodded. “Yeah,
we…talked it out.” Talked, accused, cried, yelled…made love.

Exhaling in relief, she smiled. “Oh good, I’d hate to think that
I…” Her face hardened back up as she remembered her situation. “He
won’t say anything to Griffin, right? You told him not to,
right?”

I tilted my head, trying to remember if I’d ever told Kellan,
specifically, to not say anything to the soon-to-be dad. “Um, well,
things were a little intense and I don’t think I actually…”

She shoved my shoulder back. “Kiera?”

Frowning at her shifting moods, I shook my head. “I told him you
were considering adoption, so I’m sure he won’t mention anything to
Griffin until you’ve decided.”

Her mouth dropped open and a hand subconsciously rested on her
belly. “You told him I was thinking of giving her up? Why would you
tell him?”

Interested by her reaction, I said, “He needed to know why I
didn’t tell him about the pregnancy right away.” I shook my head.
“There was too much tension between us and I couldn’t lie. I’m
sorry, I had to tell him the truth.”

She nodded, then sat in a folding chair by the table. Tears
immediately started filling her eyes. “So now Kellan thinks I’m
awful, huh? Giving up my baby…”

She swallowed, choking back a sob and I squatted in front of
her. Holding her hands, I shook my head. “No, no of course not.
Kellan…understands.” I wasn’t sure if Kellan did or not, but I
couldn’t say anything else to Anna, she was on the verge of losing
it.

She nodded a few times as tears started trickling from her eyes.
Then her mood shifted another way. It happened so fast, I nearly
got whiplash. Standing up, her face was instantly fiery. “You need
to call Kellan, and make him keep his mouth shut!”

Her fast movement had made me lose balance and from my new seat
on the floor, I glanced up at her. “What?”

Rummaging through my bag, Anna found my phone and flung it at
me. “Call him! Do whatever you have to do!” She indicated my body
with her finger. “Do that heavy breathing and moaning thing that I
hear through the walls all the time—whatever you have to do!” She
pointed at me, adding, “But make sure he keeps his big mouth
shut!”