I had five more pills to take, but I needed to eat first. I quickly jumped in the shower, brushed my teeth, and was dressed, all within fifteen minutes.
I checked my watch. Kiersten was probably just getting ready. I didn’t want her to see me taking any pills — I didn’t feel right lying to her face when she asked me why I was taking an entire medicine cabinet full of rainbow-colored chemicals, so I stuffed them in my pocket and told myself not to forget to take them after breakfast.
If I did… well, I’d be absolutely no fun for the remainder of break, not to mention it just gave that cranky tumor one more day without a defense, meaning it would grow… and the idea that its tentacles were slowly choking parts of my heart was a mental picture I could really do without.
Chapter Thirty-Two
I would never get the mental picture out of my head — Wes was hot, his body was ridiculous, and I’d slept plastered against him all night. Oh gosh, I probably even drooled. Well here’s to hoping he still wanted to be my boyfriend after I clung to him like a twelve–year-old Justin Bieber fan. Yay.
Kiersten
I got lost twice on my way down to the kitchen. The first time I went left instead of right, the second time I was distracted by the middle of the stairway where a few family pictures hung. Wes and his brother stood side by side. They almost looked like twins. My heart clenched a bit when I thought of how awful it would be to lose your brother to something like suicide. You’d probably live to regret every single conversation, every single moment you could have said something different, possibly changed the outcome. I shuddered and went down the wrong side of the staircase leading into the master bedroom.
Crap. Finally, I made my way back up the stairway and down again to the other side, where I could smell the cinnamon wafting from the kitchen. Yeah, I could learn to live with Wes’s life. Waking up to fresh rolls in the morning after I sleep in a mansion. Right, life should be so hard; the guy had no idea how lucky he was.
Laughter floated from the kitchen.
Feeling like I was interrupting, I cleared my throat while I walked in. Wes was standing in the corner with Melda, both of whomm were frosting rolls and joking with each other.
The kitchen was full of food. Everywhere I looked the granite counters were covered with different boxes of things, plates, silverware, chips, dips. Crap, were we throwing a Thanksgiving party?
“Kiersten!” Wes crooked his finger. “Come here.”
Smiling, I made my way over and stopped right in front of him. He lifted his frosting covered finger to my lips and whispered, “Open.”
Well, I wasn’t really in a position to say no. My stomach clenched, it was so hungry. I opened my mouth as his finger swiped frosting across my lips and then my tongue wrapped around the frosting, sucking on his finger until it was gone.
His eyes darkened as he pulled his finger away and then touched his lips to mine. I heard someone clearing a throat but really all I cared about was the fact that Wes’s lips were pressed against mine. He tasted like coffee and sugar, and wow, what I wouldn’t give to spend every morning with that taste in my mouth.
“Ahem,” Melda said again.
We broke apart. I could feel my face erupt into flames. Wes bit down on his lower lip and looked innocently at Melda. “Sorry, Kiersten’s just a messy eater. I was helping her clean up.”
“So that’s what the kids are calling it these days.” Melda’s eyebrows rose as she stirred the remaining frosting and dropped it onto the last few rolls. “Now, I only have one rule for Thanksgiving.”
“What?” I asked, reaching for a roll.
“Stay out of the kitchen.” She smiled and the wrinkles around her eyes crinkled with mischief. “Young Wes used to hide in the cupboards and scare me. Just last year Wes tried it again and I spilled turkey all over the floor.” The twinkle left her eyes as she wrung her hands together and licked her lips.
“Tragic death for that bird.” Wes shook his head and pulled Melda into his arms. “I promise we’ll be good.”
“You.” Melda poked his chest, clearly forgetting her sadness. “Stay away from this area. I’ll call you when I need you, until then, try to occupy yourself.”
Wes’s eyes turned to mine. “Hmm, I think I can find something to occupy myself.”
Pretty sure I was that something. Not that I cared. He held out his hand, I gripped it like a lifeline.
Melda shook her head and handed Wes a large plate full of rolls. “Here you go. Why don’t you go into the breakfast room and have some protein and juice. I’ve set up the breakfast bar for you two, so you won’t have any excuses to come back in here.”
“She’s really thought of everything.” I laughed.
“Thanksgiving is her favorite holiday. She doesn’t want me ruining it.” Wes took my hand and led me into another large room different than the one we ate in last night. “And this is the breakfast room.”
The room was entirely covered in windows on the east side. The sun was already up, but I could tell why they ate there in the morning. It was beautiful and warm, almost like a sun room.
“Juice?” Wes called from behind me.
“Sure.” I went over to the table and sat facing the windows.
“So.” Wes rubbed his hands together. “You ready to knock some more things off that list of yours?”
I took a sip of juice and nearly cried. It was the perfect mixture of sweet and pulp. “We gonna go bungee jumping on Thanksgiving?”
“Nah.” Wes put some of the roll in his mouth. “We’re going to skinny dip.”
I choked on my juice.
“Of course, we can’t do that in broad daylight. After all, what would Melda say? Swimming lessons first, nakedness second.”
“I’m almost afraid to ask what third is.” I didn’t chance looking at him and losing my composure. I mean, I hadn’t kissed a guy before him.
“Kiersten,” he purred, his lips close to my ear. “You mean to tell me you don’t know what comes after being naked?”
Oh. My. Hell. Somebody open a window. His hand grazed my arm as he chuckled deeply into my ear. My body was tense with nervousness and anticipation as his hand made its way up to my shoulder and then he cupped my neck pulling me closer so our lips were nearly touching.
“Cranberry sauce.”
“Wh-what?” I shook my head. “That comes after being naked?”
Wes’s eyes lit up. “Of course, I mean that is how you wrote the list right? Or am I missing a few in between?” He tapped his fingers against his lips. “Maybe I have it mixed up, but I’m pretty sure you still haven’t done that.”
I shook my head no, not trusting myself to speak.
“Then it’s settled.”
“Right.” My voice was hoarse. “Swimming. Naked. Cranberry sauce.”
“SNC.”
“Awesome, like a code.”
Wes pulled back and popped some more food into his mouth. “Exactly.” He reached into his pocket and then his gaze furrowed for a few brief seconds before he pulled something out and kept it in his hand.
My eyes were trained on his hand as he kept it clenched tight.
Weird.
I turned my head and looked back out at the Puget Sound.
“So…” Wes’s hands were both empty as he braced himself on either side of my chair, his hands massaging my shoulders. “What do you say we eat some more breakfast and then go get ready for a morning swim?”
“Is it going to be cold?” I asked like a five-year-old not wanting to take swimming lessons.
“Heated pool,” Wes answered. “Besides, it’s not as if you won’t have me to warm you up.”
“Probably shouldn’t be doing any warming when we’re naked.”
“You sure about that?” His hands froze on my shoulders. Holy crap, what was I supposed to say?