“Okay. I’ll find a ride.”
Lost in a daze of stupidity and anger, I leave the doctor’s office. I spend the entire walk back to my room going over every reason why I deserve to fail. Moving to Alabama has made me doubt ever leaving home. I’ve made more poor choices in four days than I have since I was a rebellious toddler.
Replaying over and over in my mind, I hear my mom warning me not to let her down. Having been a gymnast herself, she knows how big of an accomplishment it is to be on this team. In fact, she talked about it from the moment the letter of interest arrived until the moment I walked out the door on moving day. It’s obvious she’s trying to live out her dream through me. Maybe that should bother me, but it doesn’t. Because in my crazy mind, it means she sees I’m worth something—that I have value.
Completely defeated, I sigh when I open the door to my room and find Cara curling her hair, as usual. Evening classes begin tonight, with the rest starting in the morning. I remember she has a class, but I can’t remember which one. Damn concussion. “You have class tonight, right?”
“Yeah, an art elective. This should be interesting. I can’t even draw stick people, but how bad can pottery be, right? They made it look sexy and fun in the movie Ghost. Plus Drew’s in the class. So I’m looking forward to it.”
“Maybe they’ll let you act out the scene for extra credit if your pottery sucks.”
“Girl, I wish!”
I sit down at my desk and fire up my computer. I have to figure out how far and in which direction the imaging center is so I can get on the right bus. My tired brain doesn’t want to handle all the logistics, but I don’t have a choice. I jot the directions down on a notepad, certain I’ll never be able to recall each and every turn if I don’t.
Cara sprays her hair and gags a little before walking over to my bed. She sits down and faces me at my desk. “So what happened? No practice?”
“Nope. Off for the week thanks to my Girls Gone Wild audition last night. Apparently I have a concussion and he’s sending me for a scan tonight. I was hoping you could take me, but I’ll figure something else out. I can’t drive on top of all the other shitty news.”
“Ohmigod! Sit down, put your feet up. I’ll get whatever you need.”
“Cara, I’m fine.” I laugh at her dramatics.
“I’ll call Kippy, he can take you.” She takes her cell phone off the charger and starts pushing buttons. I spring up from my bed and yank the phone out of her hands. “No!” Grabbing my head in pain, I sit back down until the pressure in my skull subsides.
“Sophie! You’re scaring me.”
“I got up too fast, I’m okay. Please, I’ll take the bus. Don’t bother your brother.” My head is killing me. I need darkness and a nap.
“You aren’t taking the damn bus, Sophie. Kippy won’t mind at all. He’s here for us, you heard him the other day. He said so.”
How do I tell her I don’t want to see her brother because I’m insanely attracted to him and he causes me to make poor life decisions that leave me wallowing in a pool of regret? “Cara, I’ll take the bus. Please drop it. It was bad enough he had to haul my hungover ass home this morning.”
“Fine, but I don’t agree with your choice. I’ll be back in a little bit. I want to see what time Drew plans on leaving for class tonight.” With her freshly curled ponytail bouncing behind her, she swiftly leaves our room with her southern attitude in full effect.
Already worn out from the day, I lie down on my bed, instantly comparing the thread count of my sheets to Kipton’s luxurious bed. I close my eyes and picture him shirtless, sprawled out with his head on his pillow and the thin sheet draped over his lower half. Only this time, it’s not covering him entirely, allowing me to see every solid inch of his manhood. I shiver from the thought.
My mind begins to take things a step farther, as I mentally reach out and scrape my fingernails down the ridges of his abdominal muscles. I take my time inspecting every inch of his skin, placing soft kisses along the way. I dip my tongue in each valley before going up and over each toned group of muscles. Over and over, I continue until I reach the end of his glorious six pack abs right above the real prize.
I pull my blanket up to my chin and start to inch my hand lower to the throbbing between my legs. Pretending my hand is his, I hesitantly touch myself. At first it feels wrong; almost shameful. But the faster I go, the better it feels. Easily working myself into a frenzy with a few quick strokes, I’m close to falling over the edge to the vision of Kipton touching me while kissing me passionately. His lips are all over me, his tongue working magic between my thighs. A few more seconds and my entire body explodes. I moan his name and ride out each and every wave of pleasure. Before I have a chance to catch my breath, my cell phone vibrates next to my head. I grab it, still slightly panting from lust overload. Tapping the talk button, I slowly open my eyes and see it’s Kipton on the other end. Panicking, I want to hang up, but can’t now that I’ve answered.
“Hello?”
“Hey.”
I suck in a deep breath, his voice igniting my pulse a second time. I focus on calming each inhale and exhale, forcing away my blissful paradise.
“Sophie? What are you doing?”
“I was resting.”
“Then why do you sound out of breath?”
“Do I? I’m not. I was laying here taking it easy like the doctor recommended.” I was picturing you naked and you gave me the best orgasm of my life.
“Is Cara there?”
“No. Cara went to Drew’s room. I only got back about twenty minutes ago.”
“So, you’re all alone?”
“Yeah, I am.” Why is he asking so many questions?
“Sophie, what were you really doing? Nobody gets that out of breath from sleeping unless they’ve woken up from a nightmare.”
“Kipton. I’m fine. Everything is fine. What do you need?”
“I need you to tell me the truth.”
He’s not going to let this go. There’s no way in hell I’m admitting I came to the vision of him touching me. And inflating his ego will only potentially add to my troubles. I’ll stay silent until he’s forced to hang up on me.
“Sophie?” He taps the receiver and pushes a few buttons. Both are too loud for my aching head to stand. I pull the phone away from my ear and curse, “Damn it, Kipton.”
“Then just answer me.”
I continue to ignore him.
“Okay. If this is how you want to play it, then you can listen. Maybe I’m way off base here, but I don’t think I am. Maybe you did lie down with the intention of resting, but the second your pretty little head hit the pillow, you were reminded of being in my bed. When you couldn’t get your mind to focus on anything else, you started picturing all the sexy ways I could please you with my body. From there, you started touching yourself and from the sounds of it . . . I just missed the best part. Am I right, Sophie? Were we both naked too?”
Holy shit! How did he do that? Was I that obvious? He’s shocked me right out of my silent treatment. “What! No. I was resting. Why don’t you believe me?”
“Tell me the truth. Who were you imagining when you touched yourself?” I can picture his sexy grin as he’s saying these words and it turns me on even more.
“This conversation is not happening. I’m going back to my nap. I’m hanging up now, Kipton.”
“Wait! Say yes or no and I’ll drop it.” Why does he even care?
“Yes or no.”
“Don’t get smart with me, Sophie. Please tell me. I need to hear you say it.”
“Jesus. Yes! Okay. YES!” I shout.
“Fuck. That’s so hot, Sophie. I gotta go. I’ll pick you up at four for your appointment.” The line goes dead before I have a chance to respond or argue. Cara. I’m going to kill Cara. I roll over and bury my face in my pillow. I’d scream but my head is hurting too bad. Everything was fine with my life before I came to this damn school. Now I’m daydreaming about a guy who throws my entire world off its axis simply by looking at me. He’s never even touched me intimately and I can’t stop wondering about all the earth-shattering ways he could make me lose control. And what is it with this bed! First the pillow, now this.