Until Harry (14 page)

Kale grunted to himself, then said, “You shouldn’t be here.” He lowered his eyes to my body and swallowed. “
Especially
dressed li
ke that.”

I felt a little giddy when his eyes lingered on my midriff and legs a little longer than necessary. “Please, it’s just a skirt and crop top,” I said, waving his worries off.

He licked his lips. “Have your legs always been this long?”

I looked down at my legs, then back up to Kale, my eyebrow raised. “I’ve been five foot nothing since I was twelve. They’re still short and stumpy.”

His eyes didn’t waver from said legs. “They don’t look stumpy. They look longer.”

I snorted and shook my head. “You’re losing your mind.”

“I think I am, because your legs are seriously looking good to me right now – and so is the rest of you. Since
when
do you dress like this?” he asked, and swayed a little.

“Are you drunk?” I quickly grabbed his arms. “How much have you had to drink?”

“I’m good, just a little tipsy.” He shrugged. “Just a couple cans of Bud, but we did some Jack Daniel’s shots when we got here. Three of them, I think. Or maybe it was four?”

Whisky?
I thought on a groan.
Brilliant.

My Uncle Harry loved Jack Daniel’s, but he always said it was a grown man’s drink for a reason, and seeing Kale struggle to keep his balance proved that theory correct. He wasn’t slurring and still had his wits about him, but he was slowly starting to fade.

I opened my mouth to ask if he wanted me to get him a glass of water, but out of nowhere two girls appeared at his side and
shamelessly
pressed their bodies up against him, giggling. “Hey, Kale,” the red-headed girl on his left purred. “Do you remember
me?”

“And me?” her blonde friend murmured.

I glared at the both of them, anger and jealousy swirling inside of me. “If you have to ask, maybe neither of you was very
impressive
.”

I clamped my mouth shut when I realised I’d just spoken out loud, while Kale, on the other hand, laughed. Both girls ignored him and narrowed their eyes at me, moving to step towards me, but Kale prevented them from getting near me – thank God. He stepped forward and blocked my body with his.

“I don’t think so, ladies.”

I heard annoying complaints, and threats, but instead of Kale getting mad at the obvious ex-mattress-dancing partners he was turning down, he politely sent them on their way with the wish of them having a great and safe night.

Even tipsy he was almost too perfect, and it irritated the hell out of me. He turned to face me, grinning down at me. “Are your claws stowed, kitty?” he asked.

I pretended not to know what he was talking about. “Can I get you some water?” I asked.

He chuckled and took hold of my hand, sending jolts of electricity up and down my spine. “Come with me. I want to talk to you somewhere I can hear you clearly.”

I followed him then and was surprised to find he was leading me back up the stairs Lavender and I had just descended. At the thought of my friend, I cringed. “Shit, Lavender,” I grumbled, and looked over my shoulder but saw no sign of her.

She was probably still with Daven, the prick.

“Where are you bringing me?” I shouted over the blaring music to Kale.

“Somewhere quiet,” he replied, and led me down a long hallway and took a right, then opened the first door on the left. We entered a white bedroom that was dimly lit by a lamp in the corner of the room.

“Whose bedroom is this, pup?” I asked Kale.

I heard the door close.

“It’s a guest room.”

I blinked and turned to face him, only to find him leaning against the now closed bedroom door. “How do you know it’s a guest room?” I quizzed.

He grinned. “I’ve been here to party a few times.”

I rolled my eyes, not wanting to know how many girls he’d shagged in this house, or in this room. “I don’t want to be in here if you bring girls here for sex.”

He raised his eyebrows. “I’ve never had sex with anyone in here. I just know it’s a guest room.”

I eyed him, and when I saw the truth in his hooded eyes,
I nodded
.

“Come here,” he said.

I blinked. “Why?”

He shrugged. “’Cause I want you to.”

“Okay,” I said with a quizzical look, and I walked over to him, stopping a few inches away.

“You never answered my question downstairs,” he mumbled and reached out, placing his hands on my bare hips, causing my eyes to widen.

I blinked at the sound of my thudding heartbeat.

“What was your question?” I asked, not recalling anything I had said, because he put his hands on me.

He smirked. “I said, since
when
do
you
dress like this?”

I nervously swallowed. “Since tonight. They’re Lavender’s clothes; I’m just borrowing them.”

He sucked his bottom lip into his mouth and let his eyes roam over me once more. He looked at me like he appreciated what he saw. He looked at me like I wasn’t a kid, or his best friend. H
e looke
d like he . . .
desired
me.

“Since when do
you
look at
me
like that?” I asked, my breathing becoming a little rapid.

Kale’s eyes flashed with fire as he grinned at me. “Since you wore those skinny jeans and I saw you in your bra two months before you turned sixteen. You started looking more like a woman than a little girl.”

I almost fell over. He’d noticed me back
then
?

I rolled my eyes as if what he said didn’t affect me. “It’s my boobs, isn’t it?” I asked, teasing.

I was trying my hardest to play it cool.

Kale’s eyes zeroed in on my chest. “It’s always the boobs, Lane.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “You perv.”

“Hey,” he smiled, flicking his whisky-coloured eyes up to mine. “You asked.”

I playfully shoved him. “If you’re done teasing me, we can go back downstairs.”

He didn’t move an inch.

“Who says I’m teasing you?” he murmured.

I cleared my throat. “I say.”

“Why?” he asked.

Did he want the list?

“Because I’m your best friend, like your sister and I’m under eighteen,” I rattled off. “Three things you always remind me of when we talk about
anything
related to sex.”

Kale’s tongue swiped across his bottom lip and got my full attention. “I say those things for
your
benefit, not mine.”

“What the hell does
that
mean?” I asked, furrowing my brows.

He blinked and looked away from me. “Shit. Nothing. Forget I said—”

“Oh, no you don’t,” I stated and grabbed hold of his T-shirt when he tried to turn away from me.

Kale grunted but didn’t resist against my hold on him.

“Explain that,” I demanded. “Now.”

He looked up at the ceiling, then back down to me and said, “What do you want me to say, Lane?”

“I want you to tell me what you meant.”

His jaw set. “You sure you want to hear this?” he asked.

“I asked, didn’t I?”

He licked his lips and said, “I know . . . I know that you . . . like me.”

I felt my pounding heart drop to my stomach.

Be cool.

“Wh-Wh-What?” I stuttered.

Be bloody cooler!

I cleared my throat. “Run that by me again?”

He gazed down at me. “I’ve known for a few years that you like me in
that
way.”

I didn’t understand what was happening.

“Why do you think that?” I asked, trying not to appear as dumbfounded as I felt.

“Come on, Lane,” he said, his lip slightly quirked. “I’ve seen the way you look at me, how you get when I talk about Drew and other girls – 
and
I’ve seen your scribbles on the back pages of your school journals.”

He. Did. Not.

I gasped in horror.
“What?”

“‘Lane
loves
Kale’” – he fully grinned – “and my persona
l f
avour
ite, ‘Mrs Lane Hunt’.”

This wasn’t happening.

“Omigod,” I breathed, and tried to push away from him.

He laughed and swayed again as he grabbed hold of me. “Don’t be embarrassed.”

Embarrassed?
my mind screamed.
I am fucking mortified.

“Let me go,” I begged. “Omigod, I can’t
ever
look you in the eye again.”

Kale continued to laugh as I struggled against his hold, and it got under my skin.

“Stop laughing at me!” I shouted.

He pressed his face against my hair, and it halted my movements. “I’m not laughing at you, just at your reaction to me knowing you fancy me.”

The surface of my face felt like a supernova.

“Shut up, Kale!”

“Oh, give over,” he said, laughing again. “If it will make you feel better, I fancy you too.”

Everything stopped.

My heartbeat.

My breathing.

Time.

“You’re playing,” I whispered after a stretch of silence.

He nudged the side of my head with his face. “Look at me.”

I did.

I lifted my head until I was staring up at his transfixing face. “I’m not playing; I do fancy you.” He said this while looking into my eyes, and his eyes spoke to me too.

He was telling the
truth
. I felt my mouth drop open.

“Since
when
?” I asked, astonished.

He sheepishly smiled. “I told you. I noticed everything about you two months before you turned sixteen. You were upset over Anna O’Leary and Ally Day, and you got it into your head that you wanted a makeover. I noticed before that day that you were, um,
filling
out, but when you got your haircut and a new wardrobe, it highlighted everything that I found attractive about you. It was like a jolt of pure lust shot straight to my dick. I spent most of that day, and many more following it, trying to hide my hard-on from you.”

I could do nothing but stare at him with wide eyes as I thought,
Is he saying all this because he’s had a bit to drink?

“I know,” he breathed, taking in my reaction. “This admission is very sudden and out of the blue, but fuck, you look
insanely
hot tonight, and when you looked at me downstairs with the want in your eyes and got catty with those girls over me, it took everything in me not to kiss and touch you.”

I lifted my left hand to my right arm and pinched the skin.
I wi
nced as pain filled me, and Kale frowned. “Why did you d
o that?”

“Just making sure I’m not dreaming,” I replied.

He stared at me for a moment, and then a breathtaking smile curved his luscious lips. I smiled back at him but grabbed hold of his arms once more when he swayed on his feet.

“Shit,” he grumbled and lightly shook his head clear. “The whisky is hitting me at the
worst
time.”

I giggled. “I feel like I should make a joke about you not being able to handle your liquor.”

Kale’s lip twitched. “You try drinking Bud and downing some Jack Daniels, and we’ll see how long you’re on your feet for.”

I smirked. “Ten quid says I’d be up longer than you.”

Kale licked his lips and dropped his eyes to my mouth. “I’d take that bet.”

I grinned. “Stop looking at me like you want to eat me.”

“I
do
want to eat you.”

My playfulness disappeared. “And how would that go exactly?”

Kale growled. “Aren’t we bold tonight?”

I smiled teasingly. “I’ve dreamt of conversations like this with you. Let’s just say I’m ready to play them out in real life.”

He bit down on his lower lip, looked down at my body and took a small step backwards. “Let me see you.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “You can see me.”

He smirked as he lifted his hand, stuck up his index finger and rotated it in a circular motion. He wanted me to twirl. I playfully shook my head, smiling as I slowly twirled in a circle, swaying my hips from side to side as I moved.

“Damn, Laney Baby,” Kale whispered in a low, husky voice.

I blinked with surprise as I watched his eyes slowly scale their way down from my face to my chest, which had finally decided to develop over the last year and a half. He licked his lips as he read the word across the front of my crop top and snorted to himself before lowering his gaze further.

“You got your belly button pierced,” he murmured, more to himself than to me, then flicked his eyes up to me and asked, “What else do you have pierced?”

I licked my lips, and heat flooded my core. “No more piercings, but . . .”

“But?” Kale prompted.

“I have a tattoo on my inner thigh,” I said in a rushed breath. “I got it a couple of months ago with Lavender, like a pre-birthday present to myself for my eighteenth next month.”

Only Lavender, and now Kale, knew about my tattoo. If it got back to my parents or brothers, they’d kick my arse, never mind what they would do if they knew what kind of tattoo I got.

Kale’s features hardened. “What did you get?”

He looked in pain.

“Just two words,” I whispered.

He moved close. “What words?”

“Taste me.”

Kale’s sharp intake of breath caused my legs to shake. “You. Are. Perfect.”

My heart thudded against my chest so hard it almost hurt. “Such a sweet talker,” I murmured.

Kale lifted his hand to my face and cupped my cheek, rubbing his thumb under my left eye. “Where’s my girl gone?” he mumbled.

I frowned. “I’m right here.”

He lightly shook his head. “No, my girl wears glasses and is terrified of other people seeing her with hardly any clothes on.”

Was
terrified.

Lavender helped build my self-esteem up when she realised how shot it was. She had observed me a lot during our first few weeks of friendship, and she held off in calling me out on what she termed “hiding behind my books”. At first she thought I was just quiet, but when I let about to how Anna and Ally had made me feel about myself, she hit the roof. She blew a fuse and vowed then to always be completely honest with me, and she told me I was beautiful and that I shouldn’t hide behind the books I love so dearly because the real world was much better than fiction.