Finding Peace (Finding Series Book 1) (10 page)

“You’re pretty good at that.” She says.

“I’m good at a lot of things.” I give her my crooked grin. Tessa is just standing there watching us interact. She clears her throat.

“Okay kids. You don’t have long, so I say you get to talking. I’m going to go hang out with the girls. Find me soon. We don’t have long. Again, I’m sorry I fell asleep too.”

Kayla tells her, “Don’t worry about it. We’ll be outside if you need us.”

We make our way to our bench and sit down. Yes, I’ve decided it’s our bench. I’ll never look at these benches the same. She’s all the way at the other end of the bench. So, I slide over and put my arm behind her and rest my hand on her shoulder.

“I didn’t think you were going to come. I thought that maybe you changed your mind.”

“I haven’t changed my mind. I’m still worried about the whole situation, but I’ve decided it's ok for us to spend some time together this week. Although tonight it won’t be for very long.”

I’m not sure about what I’m getting ready to ask, but I was going to ask her even before she was late. Now that she is going to have to leave sooner than I want her to, I definitely want to ask her.

“Would you consider sneaking out of the house tonight? I know it’s probably not something that you’ve done before, but we’ve got less than an hour before you have to be home and I just want to spend some time with you.”

I watch her as her eyes widen. Her breathing has become erratic and she looks a little pale. I rub my hand up and down her arm. “If you don’t want to I completely understand. We won’t do anything you don’t want to do. We can sit here and then plan to see each other tomorrow during the day if you want.”

She is thinking, so I let her. She keeps biting her lip. I think she does that when she’s nervous and she is bouncing her right leg up and down. It’s distracting, but I know it’s because she is nervous.

I take my hand and cradle her cheek and turn her head toward me. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. We can see each other tomorrow.”

“No!” She shouts.

I remove my hand and arm. I’m stunned and I don’t know what to make of her outburst. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

She shakes her head. “I mean I want to spend time with you tonight. It’s all I’ve thought about since last night. I never should have laid down today.” She puts her head down.

“Just so we are clear. You’re saying you’ll sneak out tonight and spend some time with me?” She is looking into my eyes and I want to kiss her so badly it hurts.

She smiles at me and I smile back. The red on her cheeks almost matches her shirt.

“I’ve never done this before. I’ve never done anything like this before. I can’t seem to help myself, though.”

Leaning in slowly, I lower my lips toward hers. Closing my eyes, I lightly brush my lips to hers, giving her the chance to protest. She doesn’t though, she leans into me and returns my kiss.

I’ve been thinking about this since I first laid eyes on her. She wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me closer, pushing her hands into my hair. Just then she opens her mouth and allows me to deepen the kiss. I pull her up onto my lap. My brain is screaming for me to stop this before it gets out of hand, my body, however, has a mind of its own. I’m hoping she can stop this because I’m done for.

I wrap my arms around her back. This kiss is intense. I have to break it now. I put my hands on either side of her head and gently push her back. Her face is beautifully flushed and all I want to do is kiss her again. I lick my lips and she bashfully smiles at me.

“Don’t get bashful on me now, not after a kiss like that.”

She buries her head into my neck. Her breathing is rapid and I can feel her chest brushing against mine.

“Hey. Look at me.” She keeps her head buried and won’t pick it up. “Kayla. Look at me. Please.”

She picks her head up and the look on her face is adorable. “Don’t be embarrassed, baby. That was the best kiss I’ve ever had.” I lift her left hand in mine to kiss it. That’s when I realize her ring is gone. I lift my head to look at her and she just shrugs. “Where’s your ring?”

She gives me a small smile. I kiss her hand. And I give her a full blown smile showing my teeth, I feel like a kid in a candy store. She is going to be mine forever. She may not know it yet, nevertheless, she will be.
What the hell? Mine forever?
I've just met her and already I'm turning into some loved up buffoon. Something tells me that this character is not going to take it easy on her and hasn't in her past.

My gut instinct is to rush in and save her, do whatever it takes to get her away from her problems, mainly this guy, who is clearly playing her. Having a feeling that if she knew the things I was thinking, she’d run as fast as she could to get as far away from me as possible. Therefore, I have to play it cool before I scare her off. I have to go against everything I feel and tread lightly with her.

Even though, I have no doubt she'll be mine forever, I can't let her know that. What I need is to prove that to her before…
What the hell has gotten into me? One moment at a time McGinnis. One moment at a time.

I'm so lost in the crazy battle going on in my head that I almost miss her response. Inwardly, shaking my head, I focus on the beautiful woman in my lap. “I took it off. I’m not ever, putting it back on. I’m going to break things off with him as soon as I get back.”

I wrap her up in my arms and squeeze her. “I’m so glad you made that decision for yourself. You deserve so much better.”

Somebody who will treat her the way she deserves. More than anything, I want to be that person. The person that makes her smile, makes her laugh, that makes her feel safe. She's under my skin and the more I hold her like this, the more I realize that's just where I want her to stay.

We sit like this for a while. She has her head resting on my chest and I’m playing with her hair. She smells like vanilla and coconut. She reminds me of suntan lotion and lazy days at the beach. I love it.

“We better go find Tessa. It’s almost time for you to leave. I’ll follow y’all to the house so I know where it is. Do you think Tessa will help you?” I lift her off of my lap and onto her feet in front of me.

“I think so. She’s been pretty happy about me being open to talk to someone else. I’m just not sure she’ll agree with the whole sneaking out part.”

Pushing to my feet, I take her hand as we walk back to the front of the building. All the thoughts from earlier are still racing through my head. The thought of her being mine, for longer than this week, has a smile spreading across my face. I'm on cloud nine right now.

“There you are. We have to go like now. If I’m late my mom will kill me.”

Tessa seems anxious. It may not be the best time to ask her for help, but Kayla does anyway. I pull her to my side and hug her to me.

“Tessa, we need your help.” Kayla states in a matter of fact tone.

Tessa purses her lips at us. Why do I get the feeling, she already knows what we are going to ask?

Kayla

Oh my goodness, I can't believe I'm doing this. Honestly, I was worried that Tessa wouldn't agree to help me, but she did. Only after she talked to me at length about if I was sure I wanted to do this. After that discussion which seemed to take forever, we set our plan into motion.

We arrived back at her mom’s with Blake following close behind us so he would know where to pick me up. The plan was for him to follow us. Watch which house we went to and then keep driving past it. He would then circle back around and park on the street down from the house. He wouldn’t be able to stay there long because in a neighborhood like this that would cause some unwanted attention. Community watch reports any suspicious vehicles to the police station.

It was now midnight and we would have to wait for Tessa’s mom and step-dad to fall asleep. The minutes ticked by like hours.

“It won’t take them long to fall asleep. I figured they would already be in the bed when we got here. I guess they wanted to make sure we were home safe.” Tessa explained.

I’m a nervous wreck. My hands are shaking and my palms are sweaty. I have this large lump in my throat that just won’t go away. I’m feeling, a mixture of excitement and fear. Excited to see him again and the fear of not only being caught, but of also being alone with him. My emotions are all over the place. How can one person make you feel so many different things?

“This is what we are going to do. One of the downstairs bathroom windows is at ground level. It’s easy to get in and out of. Don’t ask me how I know this.”

Well, that was exactly what was getting ready to come out of my mouth, but seeing as I would have a hard time speaking anyway, I choose to remain quiet and listen to her.

“I’m not going to wait up for you, so I’ll leave the window unlocked. That way, when you come back you can get back in by yourself.”

All I can do is shake my head. I need some water but I don’t dare go out of the room and risk waking anyone up.

“Okay. Are you ready?”

I swallow hard and shake my head yes. I’ve changed into jean shorts and a bright pink V-neck baby doll T-shirt with some flip flops. My hair is curled into soft curls. It’s gathered and partially held up with a barrette. I didn’t think a dress would be a good choice since I’m crawling in and out of a window. I roll my eyes at myself. This is such a romantic first date, don’t you think?

“What are you rolling your eyes at?” Tessa asks, looking at me strangely.

I shake my head and laugh. “Nothing. I was just thinking this is so romantic.”

“I know. I think it’s great!”

I look at her like she has lost her mind. “Tessa, this is so far from romantic. I was being sarcastic.”

“Well, I think it’s romantic.”

“Okay. Whatever. Can we go? I’m sure he is getting impatient.”

“Girl, by the way he looks at you, I’d be willing to bet he’d wait all night for you.”

At that thought, I can't help but smile. Trying so hard not to get my hopes up, but I really hope he does like me.

“Whatever you say. Just go before I chicken out and decide sneaking out to meet him is the worst idea I’ve ever had.” 

She slowly opens, her bedroom door and the house is dark. We make our way down the stairs. We have to stop a few times because some of the stairs creak when we step on them. Tessa turns around and puts her finger up to her lips. Yeah, like I’m going to make any noise. I motion to her by raising my arm and hand up to sign that I need a drink. My mouth is so dry I can barely swallow. She gives me a look that says, “Really?” I shrug and shake my head yes.

When we get to the bottom step she motions that she is going to the kitchen and for me to continue to the bathroom and wait. I go into the small bathroom that you can barely turn around in. It’s a half bath which means it only has a toilet and a sink. Then I see the small window.

She has got to be kidding.
She expects me to crawl through that window. The thing is placed high on the wall almost to the ceiling and it’s not very big. It is level with the ground outside the window, but I’m going to have to figure out how to climb up to the window to get out. There’s nothing in here to stand on.

I jump at the sound of the bathroom door opening. I slap Tessa as soon as she gets close enough to me.

“What the crap?” She asks.

“You scared me!” I shout, whisper. “May I ask, how do you expect me to get up to that window to crawl out?”

“I’m going to lift you.”

What! I’m going to break my neck and then we are going to have to explain why I was trying to crawl out the window.

“This isn’t going to work.” I shake my head and look at her and then at the window. She hands me a glass of water. “Thank you.”

“It will work. Just trust me.”

Trust her, she says. Getting back in will be easy. I can just fall back in and hope I don’t break something or make a bunch of noise to wake everyone up. I drink the water and hand the glass back to her.

“Okay, I’m ready.” I take a deep breath and let it out.

Tessa walks over to me. She kneels down in front of the window and cups her hands and holds them down low with the palms up. I widen my eyes and look at her. She looks up at me and nods her head toward her hands. Looking at the window again, I decide to go for it. Placing my foot in her hands, I reach up to grab the window sill with both hands. Pulling myself up at the same time that Tessa pushes me up, I try to balance myself while unlocking the window. Trying to hold on with one hand, I use the other to attempt to push the window up and open. It doesn’t budge.

“It’s not coming open.” I grunt and look down at Tessa.

“It will. It hasn’t been opened in a long time. Try it again.”

Letting out a frustrated breath, I turn back toward the window. Losing my balance, causing me to fall, I catch myself just before I crash to the floor. Unable to help it, I'm laughing and Tessa is shushing me like crazy. This is so stupid.

Looking back up at the window, I did get it cracked open a little. At least it should be easier this time. We repeat the whole process and this time I get the window completely open. I’m partially out the window when Tessa bends down and places my feet on her shoulders and helps to boost me the rest of the way out.